Best lipo charger for sensible money ?
 

As per title, what do people rate as the top charger for sensible cash ?
Ideally one that runs from both the mains and 12 volt without the need for a separate power supply.

bantam bc6

the BC6 is a great charger. costs around £110, but is very small and includes mains and 12v. not bad value when compared to a £60 balancing charger and seperate £40 power supply.

Most people have separate power supplies but for £60 you can have one that Ansmann do.

why bc6 they over heat whats the fuss about them my mate wont use his as its so unreliable thermal cut out all the time

Imax b6
cheap and do a gud joob;)

LRP quadra pro 2

Is about £90 and has dual input voltage.

http://http://www.m-k-racing.com/product_info.php?cPath=54_102&products_id=7454&<os Csid>

does that balance cells?

doubt it ive been using the the core charger no issues ant the psu is about a tenner:thumbsup:

Yes Mark, Has built in balancer and you can view each individual cell voltage as most balance chargers.

Updated link, MK racing has the one i mean in stock. :thumbup:

http://http://www.m-k-racing.com/product_info.php?cPath=54_102&products_id=7454&<os Csid>

i've had mine a while now and it's been ace. no over heating issues at all and it is normally on constantly for 8 hours on a race day.

It's good because of the compact size. it's no bigger than a normal 12v only charger. the build quality is excellent, and it can link to pretty much any combination of battery/connector/balance port out their. The additional balance boards if you need them are only about £3 each.

imagine your mate has a slight problem with his one, he should send it back for a service

A 'proper' charger won't be 12V and mains, but if you must, a much better charger than all those suggested so far is the Fusion RC LX61B Pro. At £99.99, cheaper than the Bantam, and it'll do 8A, not 5, 120W charge power (on 12V), and 90W charge power on 230, rather than 50W with the Bantam.

The Bantam was a good charger, but it is so dated now, I cannot see why people still recommend it like it's the best and most technologically advanced charger on the market.

udc30 works a treat

i wish he would hes been using my spare ice charger for 12months:woot:

I'll second that, class little charger and cheap as chips:thumbsup:

Graupner Ultramat 14, it has a power supply built in and works of a 12v supply. You do need to buy the correct break out board for the balancing connector but overall a top charger.

Without a doubt, the Turnigy Accucel 6 is the best for the money. Same as IMAX B6, but with a cooling fan and it's cheaper. $25.

Btw, as a side project, you may want to convert a pc power supply to RC use. They have 12v outputs, 3v, and 5v (good fur breaking in motors, running cooling fans,etc). A 500w PS will run about $20, or sometimes
free if bought second hand. Only basic
soldering skills are needed to do a great job,
google it.


Jon

I still think you get what you pay for, my own personal test with a DVM have shown that the accuracy of cheap chargers can be way off. From said same testing (only of about maybe 10 here), the most accurate was the Orion Advantage I already had (as was 100% accurate to the Fluke meter I borrowed from work calibrated to 3dp) so I bought another 2nd hand which is as accurate as the 1st one I had.

If you get a cheap one that is close to accurate you're laughing, if you find you have to stop it manually as the cells were at 8.53V and still not turned off, then do what I did and send it back (and start testing chargers like a saddo).

If I were buying one tomorrow I'd take a punt on an Orion one but I've no data to go with that other than current experience with the Advantage.

Core-RC UDC30, a bargain at under £56.99 and optional power supply is only £17. Comes with loads of leads and a built-in balancer.

To be honest, I think Dan is correct. I've tested a few of the cheaper chargers and none of them were actually correct. In fairness most of them slipped to the safe side -i.e pack read 8.35V.

3-4 years ago, most people accepted that you got what you paid for, and happily bought Orion's, Novak's and LRP's. We were then told that it didn't matter for lipo and cheap chargers were fine. Well i've never really bought into that idea and hence have recently bought a GM/Groupner Ultra Duo 40. Don't get me wrong, expensive, but a very nice charger IMHO.