best power supply

[Losi..Sam]

hi everyone
im just wondering witch is the best power supply without spending £90

cheers

sam

[Si Coe]

Well you can get little laptop types ones for some chargers, but I prefer one of these which, whilst a touch clunky can power 2 chargers running a 4A without issue, or 1 charger at 9A, if your charger can do that......

[Marvin]

You don't need to spend £90 for a decent power supply, 13.8v 20A output PS is enough, even for my 1/8th batteries (6.1A charge at 25.2V). Something like:

• This power supply is £36.99, has up to a 20A output, at 13.8V and has a single set of output connectors.
• This one is exactly the same, only it's £44.99, as it has two sets of output connectors.

[jim76]

the pro-peak ones are the standard 20a supplies. half the price of the much more ones and just as good.
Marvins ones look the same just re-badged. They come in single or double outputs.

http://www.ripmax.com/item.asp?itemi...0&Category=070

[Losi..Sam]

iv heard that the propeak ones burn out easily
and could they hold :
2 chargers
novac smart tray
stand/fan
???

cheers

sam

[Marvin]

The Pro-Peak supplies don't burn up easily, I work at a model shop where we sell dozens of Pro-Peak power supplies, and latterly, the LogicRC PSs, and we've only had one back, which didn't work out of the box.

If you've got 2 power supplies then yes. If you really need that much power, be prepared to spend the money. Surely you don't need all that lot on at the same time, is it all necessary? Why do you need two chargers on at the same time? If you really do need all this stuff, try one of these. 40A at whatever voltage you want. It doesn't come cheap though.

It does depend on what cells you are charging though, at what rate, and what the power consumption of the discharge tray and fan is.

[stox217]

they do burn up easley
how about having one go in a few month's and seeing more do the same!
best bet is to shop around

[jim76]

2 chargers are not going to draw more than 10a, the smart tray draws sod all, as will a car stand fan.

i share one with a friend and we've used ours for a few years. If you overload it then it probably will struggle, but we've ran two chargers and smart trays on ours in the past (no longer with lipo!) and it's been fine.

As stated before, if you want something uber reliable then pay the money. But i certainly wouldn't pay the £90 for a much more one, they are no better.

[Marvin]

Originally Posted by jim76

2 chargers are not going to draw more than 10a, the smart tray draws sod all, as will a car stand fan.

It depends what Losi..Sam is charging. With 1 charger I am drawing about 13A from my power supply (though that is at 6.1A with a 6S Lipo). It is likely that they will be 7.2V stick packs charged at around 5A, so 5A x 9V = 45W. 45/0.85 (for 85% efficiency) is 52.9W drawn per charger. A fan may need more than you think, it depends what it is, though the Smart Tray should use very little. So it looks as though one of those power supplies would be enough, you're most probably right, it's just I have been doing 1/8 electric for so long now that I'm used to the high demands on the equipment used.

I've been using a Pro-Peak for 3 years, and it was second hand when I got it, and not in fantastic condition then, and I've had no issues. I think the main problem is that you only ever hear about the 'failed ones.'

[Col]

Originally Posted by Marvin

I think the main problem is that you only ever hear about the 'failed ones.'

Between club and regionals I must have seen at least 100 propeak supply's and have never heard of a fault. I've seen speedo's melt chassis's, servo give up on the last lap of he final, etc and these are considered consumable. I even carry both speedo and servo as spares.
Never heard of anyone who carries a spare propeak supply and they only cost £44

[showtime]

me & Flanders both use the propeak ones with the amp display & we regularly pull 18A plus out of ours with no problems so far!
at the Neo race he was charging 2 lipos at once with his cellpro 10s & i had about 5 peoples chargers cliped onto mine without any issue

i bought another power supply "just in case" after reaing some bleating on here about ProPeak failures but its still in its box in a cupboard & will probably be there for quite some time

mines been in use for around 2 years & has been abroad 8 or 9 times so has had a kicking from the throwers (sorry, baggage handlers) & still works ok so talking from my own experince i'd say they are a usable product


obviously now its going to catch fire next time i use it

[showtime]

this is probably one of the most cost effective 25~30A power supplys

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Manson-PS8250-...4.c0.m14.l1262

have a nose around that sellers shop where you can get up to 60A supplys for semi sensible money

[Losi..Sam]

I will be charging 4600 12th batteries.

[Marvin]

Ok, so I'm guessing you'll charge those at 5A, 5A * 6V = 30W. The charger is only 80-85% efficient, so 30/0.85 = 35.29W consumed by the charger. You have two chargers running, so 70.58W. The fan would be about 5W at most I'm guessing, so 75.58W and the Smart Tray must need practically zero.

One of those dual output Propeaks or similar would be enough, then you could also power your soldering iron off that too.

[Hog]

I use one of the ProPeak twin supplies with Amp display.

Top bit of kit. Regularly have 2 chargers running 5.5Amps each for a quick turnaround when racing 1/12th oval. Plus a Trickbits soldering iron, fans, Tranny charger, etc etc.............fine so far.

[Losi..Sam]

ok thanks everyone
im going to get the propeak one with the display

cheers

sam

[caciqueconnection]

Manson PS8250 offers 25A, but at 15V?