Lithium and Nickel based battery charger?

[SamTexas]

I'm looking into buying a charger for Li-Ion (6S), NiCd (15S) and NiMh (15S). Which of the following would you recommend or NOT recommend? And why? I'm assuming that all of them are capable of BALANCING the Lithium cells to within 0.01V. Am I wrong?

$18 HobbyKing Variable 6S 50W 5A Balancer/Chargervw/ accessories
$18 IMAX B6 Charger/Discharger 1-6 Cells (COPY)
$19 HobbyKing ECO6 50W 5A Balancer/Charger w/ accessories
$23 Turnigy Accucel-6 50W 6A Balancer/Charger w/ accessories
$25 IMAX B6 Charger/Discharger 1-6 Cells (GENUINE)

Thanks,
Sam

 

[Jethro56]

How big of packs are you running?

 

[SamTexas]

For now, my biggest pack is a 6S2P 5Ah made with used laptops' 18650 cells. I'm also putting together a couple NiMh 12S1P 2.5Ah (also laptop) packs and a couple NiCd 15S1P 2Ah (power tools) packs.

 

[neptronix]

iCharger can do all of those.
And allow you to set high/low voltages for each cell type.
And allow you to set amperage charge ratings for each cell type.

And give you great accuracy.
And prevent you from doing stupid things that will blow up your house.

And have more than enough power to charge those 6s, or even 10s strands all in one go if you get the 1010b+ / 3010b+.

 

[neptronix]

Oh by the way, ichargers are calibrated from the factory. So their voltage accuracy should be very good.
And they come with a 1 year warranty, and as long as you don't abuse them they are really bullet proof. ( mine tolerated shorting the balance wires out and kept on ticking.. )

 

[Jethro56]

I'm sure many people think I'm nuts for going with the big charger. (1420i) But with 4 tractors, 2 trucks, combine,and now an ebike I'm battery poor. I think having a logging charger will help me maintain all of these batteries better. I've been reading up on how to bring poorly performing Lead Acid batteries back from the dead if it works just once it'll pay for itself.

 

[neptronix]

I'm sure many people think I'm nuts for going with the big charger. (1420i) But with 4 tractors, 2 trucks, combine,and now an ebike I'm battery poor. I think having a logging charger will help me maintain all of these batteries better. I've been reading up on how to bring poorly performing Lead Acid batteries back from the dead if it works just once it'll pay for itself.

Sounds like you have similar functionality as the iCharger line.

IMHO a good charger is really priceless.

Anything that is hooked up to $400 worth of batteries that can potentially burn your house down ( I'm talking about ALL batteries ) is worth spending some extra money on.

You made the right choice. I am now wishing for one of those hyperions as my iCharger 1010b+ 5amp charge at 10S is no longer cutting the mustard on a 20ah pack.

 

[SamTexas]

$18 HobbyKing Variable 6S 50W 5A Balancer/Chargervw/ accessories
$18 IMAX B6 Charger/Discharger 1-6 Cells (COPY)
$19 HobbyKing ECO6 50W 5A Balancer/Charger w/ accessories
$23 Turnigy Accucel-6 50W 6A Balancer/Charger w/ accessories
$25 IMAX B6 Charger/Discharger 1-6 Cells (GENUINE)

Bump. Has anyone used one of these chargers? If so, please share your experience with it.

 

[dogman dan]

Of that list, get the genuine b6. Mine work good, but I've only done lipo with it. Sloww, like all 50 watters.

 

[zukster]

Of that list, get the genuine b6. Mine work good, but I've only done lipo with it. Sloww, like all 50 watters.

Can you set the HVC or max charge for each cell? For example, if I only wanted to charge some Lipo to 4.1V rather that 4.2V to prolong life.