What is a good charger for charging 4S batteries???

[Mad Racer]

Hi.

I'm new to boating and just bought some new 4s batteries but my Quad charger will only put in 3.5 amps at the max setting . I have been told that my charger isn't high in watt output.

So why charger is good without breaking my bank wide open.

Cheers
Mark

[LiPo Power]

How many watts is your charger?
Any other charger more powerful than yours will give you
more charging power. All up to your budget. You may also
need stronger power supply 12-18-24 volt depending
on charger requirements.

[siberianhusky]

Powerlab 6 or 8 from Revolectrix. Need a good power supply though to make use of one though.
Not cheap but you would never need another charger for ANYTHING, will charge your lipos all the way up to you vehicle starting battery and everything in between.

[oscarel]

And no need to break the bank on power supply, one of these for 12v or 2 for 24v will make the powerlab happy.

[thaynes]

Hey Dude....lots of opinions around the forums on chargers BUT...I've have 2 - Triton 2 EQ chargers that I've had for over 5 years and they both have well over 300 cycles on them and they're still going. Not too complicated to set up and use...good manual...they are AC / DC chargers for indoors and at the pond. They can be bought from Tower and RC Planet for $165-$195.00 ea...depending on sales...maybe even cheaper at other places but I haven't seen them and Tower has coupons! They have a good balancing program and that is important on lipos.
Tommy

[rickwess]

You shouldn't make a habit of charging at a rate higher than 1C. Assuming that you have 5000mAh batteries, that's 5A.

Patience is a virtue when it comes to charging. Your batteries will thank you for it.

[thaynes]

Not sure where that came from! The charge rate is adjustable up to 8 amps I believe.

[rickwess]

It wasn't a comment on your post. That's why I didn't quote you. It was simply a comment on good charging practice. Just because you can charge at 2C-6C, doesn't mean that you should.

The OP wanted a charger for 4S that wouldn't break the bank. Knowing that 1C would be the typical charge rate certainly would help in the decision.

[kfxguy]

If your looking for a good charger that isn't extremely expensive, works well, doesnt require a seperate power supply, has a storage mode, easy to use and can charge/ balance up to 6s and has the capability to charge 2 batts at a time.....get this charger

http://traxxas.com/products/parts/chargers/2933ezpeakchargerplus6amp

It charges nimh, lipo, lifepo, nicad and lead acid.

[Chilli]

Look for something with at least 80 watts of output to be able to charge a 4s 5000 pack at 1C. Wattage output is a very important number. Some chargers claim it can charge up to a 6S pack or 7 amp charge rate but if it has 50 watts of output, it aint going to charge a 6s pack at 7 amps. It more likely going to take at least two hours to charge a 6S 5000 mAh pack. Also be careful of the specs of AC/DC chargers. Many will have a lower output when plugged into AC power.

As for charging at more than 1C. If the packs say they can take it... why not. I rarely go over 1C on my boat packs but I do have a couple of 2S 5000 packs I charge at 2c with no problems. I even use them for SAWs.

[Mad Racer]

Thanks for all the replys guys.

My charger is a Hobbyking Quatro and is 200w but each channel is 50w. When I first got into boats my packs were 3s and it had no problen charging them at 1c . Now I have got 4s batteries for my other boat the most it charges is 3.5A from a 10% charge left. I agree that you shouldn't charge more then 1c of the battery to prolong the life but it takes a very long time at below 1c for any battery .

My power supply is a 15A and just bought a 30A one as well . Looking at getting a twin charge of 200W x2 ( 400w total) . It''s a different ball game with bigger boat batteries.

Cheers

[rickwess]

Sounds like you are coming from a similar place as myself. All my race 1/10 buggies and trucks were 2S and were 4000mAh max.

You're on the right track if you have a 30A power supply. I assume it's @24V if are trying to get 400W out of your charger.

[Mad Racer]

My new power supply is a H/K one and is adj to 24v. I had to wind it right back to get it down to 13v for my charger.

Yes many yrs in 1/10th off road (over 25) .. I'm very well equipped for anything in 1/10th off road but have been bitten by the boat bug and leaving my cars in peace for a yr and giving fast electric boating a go. So it's steep learning curve even though I have 2 ATR boats and building a Apparition up from a bare hull for next years racing.

Thanks for all the advise guys. Great forum!!!

[JohnZ]

I use FMA Cell Pro chargers exclusively: 1 is a 4S and 2-10S chargers. The 10S chargers can be set up to dialog with my computer using XP and the accompanying software downloaded from FMA to control and monitor charging, which I like. Very easy to change charge rates and even monitor internal resistance. Now I need to get a bigger power supply. Trying to use both 10S chargers at once when charging larger packs is too much for the power supply I'm currently using. The chargers will shut down and I then have to resort to using only one charger at a time....no good.
So I've been lookin' around for a decent power supply that won't bust the budget.LOL