What's Difference Between 50W AC/DC Lipo Chargers?

[alexchen86]

So I'm in the market of purchasing a reliable charger AC/DC for a single lipo at a time is fine since I just purchased a replacement charger when my Hyperion crapped out.

I always purchase name brand as much as my budget will allow for peace of mind as well as the fact that that product has been proven in the market.

With that being said my first real hobby charger was a Hyperion EOS0606i AC/DC which I purchased about 3 years ago when I got out of nitro.

Purchased at a LHS and it was recommended by everyone and even the shop had 3 they keep in their repair facility. So I purchased it for around $130 + tax and then the balance port bugged out on me 2 years later saying all 20+ of my lipos were either over charged or low voltage.

I hooked a couple up to a different charger and they worked fine. Voltmeter confirmed all the cells were balanced as well. I always put my lipos to storage mode even if I'm not going to run them for 2 days.

So long story short I purchased a Hitec X1 AC/DC also 50W just as powerful as the Hyperion EOS0606i, has all the same bells and whistles just not aluminum and more compact but for $70 + tax!!

At that price if the X1 craps out on me I don't mind purchasing another. When I called Empire to see if they could repair my Hyperion they said go buy another one. Also anyone find it odd that the new Traxxas lipo charger looks exactly like the Hitec X1 AC/DC except it's in blue??? Lol.

Also I've been hearing good things about the iMax B6 charger from HobbyPartz but I just don't know about the name....

 

[SMR 510RR]

A lot of the budget chargers are passed around between many companies that sticker them up and send them on their way. I personally dont see why anyone would pay over $100 for a charger, I got a pair of chargers that were each $30 or so and have yet to have a problem.

 

[Rok Krawl]

I would just go with something that in case you have a problem, you can get tech support, or replaced if under a warranty issue.

I have 2 dynamite ultra passports. Yeah 100 bux each. But charge batts home or at field for planes, boats, crawler, you name it. Had them for quite a while now and they work great.

Also a good charger is the Triton. They have a ac/dc version. My dc only unit is about 8 years old now and still charging without a problem. I am sure there are good cheap chargers out there, but Ill spend a few extra bucks for a good reliable unit.

Oh the triton is around 100 bux i believe.

 

[hibbs]

I have had several RC battery chargers over the years. I'm new to lipo. I went with the imax B606 AC charger. They are AC/DC. I find the beeps/alarms way to friggin loud, but they are really top notch chargers. They have metal housings and are easy to use. They charge NiMH, NiCd, LiPO and i believe LiFe (not sure on this one). I bought 2 for ~$50 each. they are only 50W chargers but I think they charge plenty fast for my needs. If you want super fast charging look for higher wattage. like a 200W charger.

I looked at the website where I bought mine and they don't carry it anymore. I believe you can get them from hobbyking.com I found one on an RC heli site but it was for $70... If you do go with one of these, make sure to get the AC model else it won't have a powersupply built in. Good luck man.

 

[Deerhurst]

Thunder ac6 or ac680 and never look back. I run the ac6 and love it. Usually charges my sky 5000mAh pack in around 35-45 minutes from storage without balance.

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk

 

[stanmondz]

iv had my imax B6 for a couple years now. got it from hobbyking. its been a great charger. as said above, the beeps are real loud

 

[dkf]

I'm in the market for a new charger also.

I'm thinking I'll go with this one.

 

[Rok Krawl]

anyone have a charger that will charge 2 packs at one time? Carrying around 2 chargers with me to charge crawler batts, airplanes, boats, etc.. over time becomes a hassle.

I would love to have a charger that I could put 2 diff batteries on, and charge at diff rates.

For ex. a 14.8v for crawler, and a 11.1v for all my lights on my night runs.

I know there was a charger by super brain? but dual batts were killing the charger, and I have yet to see a good one out there.

 

[ohh EPiC FAiL]

i have a thunder AC6(50w) and a skycharger 6200(200w) that are both from hobbypartz. both have served me very well. the only reason i have the 200w is cuz 50w can only charge my 4s 5000mah race pack at like 3A and i wanted to be able to charge it at 1C. i've had the thunder for over a year and the skycharger for like 8 months and both have worked flawlessly, and they're dirt cheap "thumbsup"

edit: forgot to mention that i got a skycharger 6200 that was DOA and with a few emails back and forth they shipped me a new one.

 

[ohh EPiC FAiL]

anyone have a charger that will charge 2 packs at one time? Carrying around 2 chargers with me to charge crawler batts, airplanes, boats, etc.. over time becomes a hassle.

I would love to have a charger that I could put 2 diff batteries on, and charge at diff rates.

For ex. a 14.8v for crawler, and a 11.1v for all my lights on my night runs.

I know there was a charger by super brain? but dual batts were killing the charger, and I have yet to see a good one out there.

hobbyking has a couple great multi-battery charger options.

 

[Rok Krawl]

eh I just dont trust hobby king. All the headaches on bad batteries. Seen to many people buy RTR from them only to have to replace the electrics.

If it works, then blows up , going to be quite hard to send back, call and talk to someone, and get speedy service.

Ill spend the few extra bux on a good name brand unit.

You may have great luck with your chargers. I just have had issues that I will look elsewhere.

 

[stanmondz]

where do you think the high end chargers come from? everythings made in china now, unless you scratch build it in your garage, good chance some of the parts or tools you'll use for that build are from china.

quote from OP "When I called Empire to see if they could repair my Hyperion they said go buy another one" now thats top notch customer service there from a top brand

heres a losi multipro it was a 100 bucks when i started running lipo
Losi MultiPro Intelligent balance charger » Red RC – RC Car News

imax b6, 25 bucks, same charger without a extra $75 worth of stickers
HobbyKing R/C Hobby Store : IMAX B6 Charger/Discharger 1-6 Cells (GENUINE)

 

[dkf]

Seen to many people buy RTR from them only to have to replace the electrics.

I never bought an RTR that at I didn't replace the electrics on in a fairly short amount of time. Especially when it comes to the radio and servos. Some RTRs on the market now come with good ESCs and motors from the factory but that is almost always brushless.

There are only so many companies in China that make chargers like we use.;-)

 

[ohh EPiC FAiL]

yup the chargers are all pretty much made by the same people as generics, then the name brand companies put their label on it.

and do the math, if you spend $120 on a name brand charger you'll have the support, but if you buy a $25 charger that's identical without the name brand and can't get support, you'd have to go through FIVE of them before you've wasted a penny!! just think and be open minded and you'll see that the name brand chargers aren't such a great deal "thumbsup"

 

[Meatwad]

Same here on the cheap chinese chargers. One from hobbypartz and one from hk, running at almost 3 yrs now. Even the old school racist one :lmao:

Call me lucky but i've also never had a bad pack from hk in about 3yrs and about 15 lipo packs now.