What Lipo Charger Do You Like the Best?

hie2kolob

hie2kolob

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As I have read through the various posts I have been unable to unearth any good solid recommendation on "The eBike Lipo Charger of Choice."

I have a few years of lipo RC experience however everything I have used in the past has been limited to much smaller RC battery application - usually 3s 2200mah. As we all know everything related to the eBike battery world is much larger.

Just recently I put together a lipo battery pack for my 750w 25A Bafang consisting of 4 - 6s 5800mah batteries (12s2p 11.6ah). http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=25525

Now, I may be wrong but I think it might be best to use 2 different chargers:

1 - a balanced charger to be used every 4 to 5 charge cycles for cell maintenance.

2 - a bulk charger that could possibly fast charge the whole pack all at once.

My current RC charger a Turnigy Accucel-6 http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__7028__Turnigy_Accucel_6_50W_6A_Balancer_Charger_w_Accessories.html will eventually do the job but is slow and underpowered.

I recently purchased a Thunder 1220 http://www.hobbypartz.com/75p-1220-charger.html#scProductReviews and blew the inboard 30A fuse 2 minutes into the first charge (trying to charge two batteries - 12 cells) so it has been returned.

So please tell me, what are your recommendations for a more powerful duo, quad or 12s balance charger and a 48v bulk charger?
 
Did you miss wire the 1220 during hookup. I like my 1220. It charges at 6.8amps 12s. Well I have 2-1220 to charge a 24s from hobbypartz. I did return my first one. But all is fine now for three months. I had a 1420 hyperion which I blown up do to cross wire hookup. Plus you can't buy the 1420 any more. Plus it was very fickle and would just shut down ? I think the 1220 is good for the price.
I have a hp600 power supply with two sets of out wires coming out. I called the supplier and he did say it's for two charges. But I have two power supplies so never tried.
 
I've been using the Hyperion 1420i for over 3 years, but it's out of production now and I would receommend the Thunder 1220 or the Thunder 1430C now. The 1220 has proven to be a favorite for 12s charging. It's possible you just got unlucky with a defective unit. If you want a really fast charge, the 1430 will provide that, but at a premium price. Even though I've done it a few times, I don't recommend bulk charging at all. You can use any 12s balance charger to bulk charge by just not hooking up the balance leads. if you have to bulk charge for some reason, never get more than a few seconds away from it while charging. Though not very often, bad things can and do happen. It would be best to use external balancers if you have to bulk charge and charge voltage should never exceed max pack voltage. I don't want to scare anyone, as I've dome most of these things, but one needs to be aware of the risk. Although slight, it's there.
 
i like all of my chargers :)
i started with a maxpro6 which is quite unknown, then an icharger 206b+, then a bc168 and now a un-a6plus. powered by an 850w hp server power supply.
and several bulk chargers ranging from 350 to 1000w.
each one of those has its pros. and as i have several led torches as well it's nice to charge those 18650 cells. i can charge 8 of them at the same time, each of them monitored on a cell base.
 
999zip999 said:
Did you miss wire the 1220 during hookup.
Click to expand...
No, the wiring was correct... Sounds like there are some 1220 favorable opinions out there.
 
Yep! 1220 charging 12S (split) A123 20 amp pouches for well over a year daily. No problems at all.
otherDoc
 
izeman said:
i like all of my chargers :)
i started with a maxpro6 which is quite unknown, then an icharger 206b+, then a bc168 and now a un-a6plus. powered by an 850w hp server power supply.
Click to expand...
Looks like you are using computer power supplies. Are these supplies that you scrap out of old computers or do you recommend new?
 
I use the icharger 1010b. I have 2, one at work and one at home. This is a 10 cell charger which is vey convenient for balance charging a 10s pack. It will do most battery chemistry. I also have a few other 6 cell chargers. The nice thing about the RC hobby chargers is the menus are all pretty much the same so once you get your head around one it's easy. There is also a lot of tutorials and advice online for this type of charger.

The down side Is the fiddly little connectors they use for balance charging. They are designed for flexibility but are prone to failure and incorrect connection. I have made a dedicated lead and hard wired it to the PCB of the charger to avoid the connectors breaking after endless plugging and unplugging. I use an industrial multi pin connector which plugs into the battery pack. I have made a break out adaptor if I ever need to charge RC batteries.
The Icharger is the cheapest 10cell charger I can find at A$135 and maybe others are better in this area. If you are not handy with a soldering iron I would look very closely at the quality and robustness of the connectors.

Apart from that it does everything I need.
It uses a 12vdc input so you can use a power supply or a car battery, handy if you are away from mains power.

I would also recommend balance charging LiPo s every time if possible.
 
Apparently there are some issues with the wattage output on the Thunder TP1430C. An eBike user from Canada on RCGroup voices his complaints:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2191248
 
I'm on my third Hyperion 1420i. The first two had major problems and I had to return them. This one works well but it gets finicky if one connection somewhere is a little less than totally perfect. Then I waste time finding which connection to fix it before I can get rid of the charger's many fault messages. But it works well when it works well. I liked my Revolektrix 10S chargers, they always worked for many years, I just didn't like the lack of adjustments on them but they were and still are very reliable chargers. I had a Thunder Power 1430C for a few minutes, something blew up inside the first time I plugged it to a power supply. I got a refund for that and that's good since this thing was so expensive.
Right now, I mostly use a BC168 to balance charge my scooter battery after it's been bulk charged and to charge any RC toy battery I have. Used every single day for many months. Close to a year I think. It's my work horse, it charges any lipo I have perfectly.
 
If you want 1000W out of the TP1430C, you will need a minimum of 1300W into it. Something that rc guy doesn't seem to understand. It's limited to a 40A input, so that means you need at minimum a 33V 40A PSU. It's rated for up to 36V nominal input. 3 12V car batteries which can reach 40V easily. I don't have one. This is based on the published specs in the manual. If I had one I'd use a 36V 40A PSU (1440W) PSU if I expected to get a 1000W output.
I've only got a 24V 600W PSU to my Hyperion 11420i and I can't get 550W out of it either. I'd need a 700W supply to do that. As it is iirc I get ~450W.
 
The more cells you plug into the TP1430C, the less amps it is able to use to charge. At least that is the way I understand it from the instructions.

a6871908-24-Capture.JPG
 
I use two 1220's running two hp 600 12v40amp 550 watt power supply. Charging two 12s A123 20ah for 24s. That's 6.8amps charging ea 12s or 13.6amps on the 24s. Not bad for as cheep as you can go for what you get. Hobbypartz is where I got it. I would get a power supply from icecube57 here in E.S.
 
I like the Thunder 1220. I did a video in thread below how to bulk charge.

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=59481

[youtube]SwRSlXQ1mrY[/youtube]
 
mistercrash said:
The more cells you plug into the TP1430C, the less amps it is able to use to charge. At least that is the way I understand it from the instructions.
Click to expand...
The charts show the default max charge rates. Those can be overridden up to a higher value. So you aren't limited to 10A for a 12s-14s pack as the chart shows unless your input power is not enough to support the higher amperage. So, with a large enough PSU source you should be able to get 1000W output to a 12s pack. With 80% efficiency, you'd need about a 1400W power source at 32V or higher. It will atke ~20A for max output to a 12s pack. There's a video on youtube that shows this being done on a 10s pack raising the 20A default to 25A. Like I said, some people just don't understand how it works. Wish I had one, but no need for one.

The manual states you can only increase the charge rate by 25% or the max allowed based in the voltage of the battery. This may limit you to 12.5A charge rate If you selected a 1C default charge rate.
 
"What Lipo Charger Do You Like the Best?"

The sun. All you need is proper voltage cutoff(s) and a good climate. Nothing beats riding an ebike charged by the sun. It's true independence from the man.
 
izeman said:
put my battery into the sun the whole day long. got warm. that's it. so i prefer my icharger. it works even in the dark. ;)
Click to expand...

Ha ha. I have a solar panel charging a 12 car battery in my shed. I sometimes plug my icharger into that to charge up the bike, so it is solar powered too even at night. :D The solar is just for lighting so too small to do this all the time so I normally use a power supply. I might upgrade one day to a larger system but the power supply is much cheaper.
It might give a nice fuzzy feeling that I am saving the planet or something but in reality is costing a lot more than its worth saving a few cents in power. :cry: Still it would make an interesting project .
 
yep. the cost relation between solar panel and wall outlet is easy to calculate. i guess i could charge my battery once a day forever to reach the costs of 2 solar panels plus converter. still i would like to have this "environmental good feeling" to charge directly from the sun. it just makes you feel good.just a few months ago i got asked for offers for professional photofoltaic panels on my house's roof. but it just doesn't pay itself - which of course may be different for different regions of the world depending on cost of goods, cost of work and cost of electricity. powering my AC from the sun would still be great and it always on my mind ;)
 
I am charging two 48 volt 12 cell battery packs - so tell me if the following true?

In order to most efficiently charge my batteries and keep the charge time to a minimum I need to use a higher voltage power supply such as a 24 to 48 volt supply matched with a compatible charger?

Used with a 24v charger: http://www.progressiverc.com/icharger-308duo.html

Used with a 48v charger: http://www.progressiverc.com/icharger-4010duo.html

The biggest drawn back is the price...
 
The biggest drawback, beside the price, is these are not 12s chargers. the first is a dual 8s and the second is a dual 10s. Meaning you'll have to split a 12s pack to charge them using dual channel mode. A real 12s or higher would be better imo. But if you're looking for a really fast charge, either will do it.
 
wesnewell said:
The biggest drawback, beside the price, is these are not 12s chargers. the first is a dual 8s and the second is a dual 10s. Meaning you'll have to split a 12s pack to charge them using dual channel mode. A real 12s or higher would be better imo. But if you're looking for a really fast charge, either will do it.
Click to expand...

Yes these are not 12s chargers which doesn't necessarily pose a problem for me. It only take seconds to plug and unplug four 6s 5.800mah batteries with XT90 battery connectors (two sets tied together in series that are then attached in parallel). Time well spent when you consider the balanced safety and speed of charging at 48v with the 4010 iCharger.
 
teslanv said:
For bulk charging 12S LiPo I like the Mean Well HLG-320H-48A Charger.

http://pge.powergatellc.com/product_info.php/products_id/5150
Click to expand...

Thanks, great information! Here is a link to a great thread by teslanv about chargers: http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=61539

Question: This bulk Mean Well "power supply" doesn't say anything about being lipo charge compatible. How long have you been using it and how long does it take to charge your pack?
 
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