hv chargers.....what are my options?

[flraptor07]

True

it would be great if they had better specs on their site..

Very true, I talked to Express RC Hobbies in Hollywood Fl, they are a distributor for Elan gears he said the Elangears web site is real vague. He's been selling these chargers for about a year now and said he's had only one warentee claim and customer service was excellent.

[PatrickM]

As evidenced by this e-mail response from Revolectrix, their chargers are not all capable of charging the HV cells to full capacity. Odd that their website would infer the opposite..... The Multi4 has a max overvoltage of 4.25v.

Good Day,

The Cellpro Multi4 currently has a maximum charge voltage of 4.2 volts per cell. You would not be able to take advantage of the higher voltage but it will definitely make yours pack last longer by only charging to 4.2 VPC. Our design engineer is currently working on firmware updates for our chargers to support the newer high voltage packs. We will make an announcement when the presets are available for this, thanks.

Discovered this after purchasing a Multi4 and some 4800 Silver packs... caveat emptor!

[keithbradley]

As evidenced by this e-mail response from Revolectrix, their chargers are not all capable of charging the HV cells to full capacity. Odd that their website would infer the opposite..... The Multi4 has a max overvoltage of 4.25v.

Good Day,

The Cellpro Multi4 currently has a maximum charge voltage of 4.2 volts per cell. You would not be able to take advantage of the higher voltage but it will definitely make yours pack last longer by only charging to 4.2 VPC. Our design engineer is currently working on firmware updates for our chargers to support the newer high voltage packs. We will make an announcement when the presets are available for this, thanks.

Discovered this after purchasing a Multi4 and some 4800 Silver packs... caveat emptor!

What lead you to believe that the Multi4 would charge at higher voltages?
The only thing I see on the Revo site is this:

"Charging Instructions. *!**All good RC Hobby chargers can still charge to 4.2V per cell level but for fullest capacity extreme performance using an intelligent charger to 4.27V.*!**"

Odd choice of words there, but I think it's pretty clear that not all chargers will charge to HV cell levels. The Multi4 is an old charger. I didn't even think you could still buy it. Their power lab chargers are the "intelligent" line. Multi4 is the lowest model they offer, isn't it?

[Jdpb614]

Yes that is why I went with the Icharger. I was specifically looking at picking up revolectrix hv series battery and this had the ability to charge them. I do think based on the math I've done and the research that the elanwhatever charger specs and claims are ridiculous.

[PatrickM]

What lead you to believe that the Multi4 would charge at higher voltages?

It must have been the first line in the Multi4 description: "The Cellpro Multi4 charger directly supports all Cellpro Revolectrix battery packs." Omitting the fact that it doesn't support all packs to full capacity must have been a simple oversight.

The Multi4 is an old charger. I didn't even think you could still buy it. Their power lab chargers are the "intelligent" line. Multi4 is the lowest model they offer, isn't it?

OK, so I'm friggin' cheap if that's where your going.....
The website states that the Multi4 is a new design. It replaces the old 4S Gold which is no longer available. They claim it has four times the processing power of the old design, but it must be that the intelligence upgrade will only qualify it as "semi-intelligent".

Do the Cellpro intelligent chargers have a specific mode for HV cells or are they relying on the overvoltage adjustment that most brands feature to achieve 4.27V?

Quoting Harvey: "Our design engineer is currently working on firmware updates for our chargers to support the newer high voltage packs." Does this imply that all Cellpro chargers will require new firmware? If so, will the upgrades include an overvoltage adjustment beyond 4.27v?

The bottom line is that clarification needs to be made on the Revolectrix website.