IS this the original?

[Docwolf]

I saw this IMax B6AC in amazon

Amazon.com: Dual Power B6ac 80w Super Multi Charger Balancer for Lithium (Li-po,), Ni-cd, Ni-mh, and Pb Battery: Electronics

Hobbyking has the knock off for less, but $36 seems likes a pretty decent price.

https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...uct=55057.html

I smoked my Eco6 this AM by hooking it up in the wrong order ( did lipo then source, I knew better) so I am on the hunt for a new charger.

[Johnnysplits]

I wouldn't use the HK one to charge my flashlight battery lol

[Docwolf]

that was constructive. I own a lot of HK products have really good luck with them. these uber cheapo chargers are the exception, but what do you expect for $17?

[Wade]

Your house burning down

Cheers
Wade

[Docwolf]

I don't charge LiPos inside. Never have, never will. That is a risk associated with LiPos period.

[Docwolf]

Ok, here is the thing. If you don't have any experience with the device, don't comment. I didn't ask for opinions of HK because I have my own, and those opinions are positive. Snide comments about your assumption of my charging practices and attempting to connect the risk associated with those assumptions to the charger rather than the battery chemistry is a bit ignorant. Actually, it is extremely ignorant. I already stated that I never expected much from a $17 dollar charger so further commentary on the subject was unneeded. Now if you would like to suggest a charger in the same price range I would be happy to take that information into consideration, otherwise I welcome you to see yourself out of this conversation.

[ghtpdm5]

i've been using the hk one for a long time.

the interior construction isn't too bad, the balance area is the only thing that bugs me. lines of tiny smd resistors and no active cooling. the rest is solidly made and i've never had a problem with the charger. the 4mm jacks are big chunks of brass soldered to the board. there are better ways to do this, but this is a unit built down to a price. many of the parts are through hole, so if something does pop (the caps on chinese stuff are always low quality) and that makes it easy to replace things, even for beginners.

the other one in my stable is the accucell 6. i've got a dc supply in the house and then some large batteries in the pickup, so being dc only doesn't bother me. it uses a larger smd resistor gang on the balance side. a fan is placed right over it. i do like the layout of the accucell more than the b6ac in general, just seems like more time went into it and seems a bit more high quality.

both chargers feature a more or less standard way of doing the right angle riser balance board (without a connector that is). the riser board is soldered to the main board. basically they cut the boards to interlock and then ran solder on some exposed ground plane. effective, but not very tough. again, never personally had a problem with this method, and any fault can easily be touched up with a soldering iron. as long as you're not forcing plugs hard into it or ripping them out, should last a good long time, i've been using the b6ac for years and still works every time i plug it in, no fuss, all function.

ideally, i'd like to see heat sinks with a fan blowing heat out of the case on the balance area, the bleeder resistors used to balance out the pack or dicharge it are the main worry. that's where you're going to see the biggest heat spikes and sinking that out would up the life of the unit.

[JeremyH]

Originally Posted by Docwolf

Ok, here is the thing. If you don't have any experience with the device, don't comment. I didn't ask for opinions of HK because I have my own, and those opinions are positive. Snide comments about your assumption of my charging practices and attempting to connect the risk associated with those assumptions to the charger rather than the battery chemistry is a bit ignorant. Actually, it is extremely ignorant. I already stated that I never expected much from a $17 dollar charger so further commentary on the subject was unneeded. Now if you would like to suggest a charger in the same price range I would be happy to take that information into consideration, otherwise I welcome you to see yourself out of this conversation.

No need to overreact. It wasn't too clear what you were asking in your first post.

IMO, cheap balance chargers do not properly balance lipos which will result in them being damaged. I don't have experience with either of those specific chargers, but I have used several low budget chargers and this is my experience. I now use the Hitec 4 port. I have not had any issues and they provide GREAT customer service.

[z50king]

There are no originals made anymore. I use one to parallel charge my goped batteries. Takes about 10 hours each time I charge them. The charger has probably ran for 1000 hours. I only balance them with a small fan blowing over the unit.

[Docwolf]

Originally Posted by ghtpdm5

i've been using the hk one for a long time.

the interior construction isn't too bad, the balance area is the only thing that bugs me. lines of tiny smd resistors and no active cooling. the rest is solidly made and i've never had a problem with the charger. the 4mm jacks are big chunks of brass soldered to the board. there are better ways to do this, but this is a unit built down to a price. many of the parts are through hole, so if something does pop (the caps on chinese stuff are always low quality) and that makes it easy to replace things, even for beginners.

the other one in my stable is the accucell 6. i've got a dc supply in the house and then some large batteries in the pickup, so being dc only doesn't bother me. it uses a larger smd resistor gang on the balance side. a fan is placed right over it. i do like the layout of the accucell more than the b6ac in general, just seems like more time went into it and seems a bit more high quality.

both chargers feature a more or less standard way of doing the right angle riser balance board (without a connector that is). the riser board is soldered to the main board. basically they cut the boards to interlock and then ran solder on some exposed ground plane. effective, but not very tough. again, never personally had a problem with this method, and any fault can easily be touched up with a soldering iron. as long as you're not forcing plugs hard into it or ripping them out, should last a good long time, i've been using the b6ac for years and still works every time i plug it in, no fuss, all function.

ideally, i'd like to see heat sinks with a fan blowing heat out of the case on the balance area, the bleeder resistors used to balance out the pack or dicharge it are the main worry. that's where you're going to see the biggest heat spikes and sinking that out would up the life of the unit.

Good info here, thank you for taking the time.