Recommend me a battery charger

[e8946]

Don't skimp on a charger, i did a couple of times and they both ended up ruining batteries.

I got myself a SkyRC charger and it's lasted me for around 5 years now and has been brilliant.

I remember the first charger i bought it would over heat and the LCD screen would turn red.

Seems this one that was recommended has been discontinued. Is there a good/other SkyRC model I should be looking at?

https://www.skyrc.com/Q200_Charger

 

[Senton_Prime]

There is a bada$$ one in the classifieds for $65!!

Seems this one that was recommended has been discontinued. Is there a good/other SkyRC model I should be looking at?

https://www.skyrc.com/Q200_Charger

 

[KnowAir]

It's awesome, quit BS.. way better than a Hota or idst.. imo anyway!! I will never buy another one!!

I just wanted to give an update on my S2100 charger, after less than 4 months use, one of the channels has quit working. I plugged in a 6s 5200 to bring down to storage charge and pop goes the weasel.. channel 2 has gone Bye-bye.

 

[Sheed85]

Had my Gens iMars duo for about 3 months now, and been great for me.

 

[KnowAir]

Had my Gens iMars duo for about 3 months now, and been great for me.

Good to hear. My Hota chargers have been good to me. I just get irritated about the Spektrum because of the prices they charge, TRX too. All are subject to failures I suppose. The S2100 still has one working channel, I will continue to use it. My brother gifted it to me so, even though it's definitely under warranty, I don't want to ask him to get involved.

 

[ImolaRed]

Oh boy, there is a lot to read here and trying to make sense of it all.

This will be my first RC car in 20 years.........one for me and one for my 10 yr old son. I'll have a Kraton 6S and he will have a Granite 3S.

Any recommendations for a charger that will work well with both of these? Is it better to get two separate chargers or get a charger with dual charging? Any advice or suggestions is GREATLY appreciated.

 

[KevinC]

I just purchased a Spektrum S2200. So far so good. 200 watts per channel.

 

[KnowAir]

I just purchased a Spektrum S2200. So far so good. 200 watts per channel.

The S2200 works well enough. I'm not a fan of the touch wheel, or having to select storage charge when I just finished storage charging a pack.channel #2 took a dump on my S2200 after 4 months.. I think there's better options for the money. Such as Gens IMARS, Hota, ISDT, SkyRC..
Edit.. my bad I have an S2100, not S2200. Different? Power output, not sure about the rest.
Oh, I looked it up (S2200) definitely different. Touch wheel is gone, which is good. Maybe it's better than my experience with the S2100 has been. Still a pricey way to 2x200 watts though..✌

 

[ImolaRed]

I'm thinking of doing the Hota D6 Pro.

 

[ImolaRed]

That's what I ended up doing, got the Hota and some balance boards for the 6s and 3s batteries. Now to figure out how to work it when it gets here!

 

[KevinC]

My Prodigy 625 pro which I love, was defective out of the box and I’ve decided to return it (ebay return) but I still have two of them.
I was going to keep it and run it on DC because the DC input worked whereas the AC input didn’t…..but decided against it.

The Spektrum S2200 was a good solution for me as I need close to 200 watts for some of my lipos……plus, it showed up in one day from Zone Hobbies here in Canada.

Here’s my charging station in my garage.

 

[Jon NC RC]

My Prodigy 625 pro which I love, was defective out of the box and I’ve decided to return it (ebay return) but I still have two of them.
I was going to keep it and run it on DC because the DC input worked whereas the AC input didn’t…..but decided against it.

The Spektrum S2200 was a good solution for me as I need close to 200 watts for some of my lipos……plus, it showed up in one day from Zone Hobbies here in Canada.

Here’s my charging station in my garage.

View attachment 323096

Well....hopefully that will keep you in batteries quick enough....

BTW...... how do the cats like them ?

 

[KevinC]

Feline approval!

The three chargers now allow me to take out two 8S rigs and two 6S rigs in one session. ……or six 6S rigs……but that’s a long day of bashing. I do have a venom quad charger but it’s limited to 100 watts per channel and I recently converted all my 8th scale rigs to one 6S lipo Instead of two 3S lipos…..so the venom quad now has moved down the bench mini-me style.

Most of my lipos require at least 150 watts to charge in a reasonable amount of time at 1C. The LIHV 6800mah 6S need around 190 watts to charge proper style.

Folks new to the hobby (as we all were once) don’t realize the wattage requirements of chargers. I’ll say it here now……get a charger that will provide 200 watts per channel and all your needs will be fulfilled.

 

[jkflow]

Have 2x Hota and love them, several here on the forum had issues with the scroll wheel on the Pro version.

 

[Jon NC RC]

Feline approval!

The three chargers now allow me to take out two 8S rigs and two 6S rigs in one session. ……or six 6S rigs……but that’s a long day of bashing. I do have a venom quad charger but it’s limited to 100 watts per channel and I recently converted all my 8th scale rigs to one 6S lipo Instead of two 3S lipos…..so the venom quad now has moved down the bench mini-me style.

Most of my lipos require at least 150 watts to charge in a reasonable amount of time at 1C. The LIHV 6800mah 6S need around 190 watts to charge proper style.

Folks new to the hobby (as we all were once) don’t realize the wattage requirements of chargers. I’ll say it here now……get a charger that will provide 200 watts per channel and all your needs will be fulfilled.

Good advice…..

 

[KevinC]

The S2200 works well enough. I'm not a fan of the touch wheel, or having to select storage charge when I just finished storage charging a pack.channel #2 took a dump on my S2200 after 4 months.. I think there's better options for the money. Such as Gens IMARS, Hota, ISDT, SkyRC..
Edit.. my bad I have an S2100, not S2200. Different? Power output, not sure about the rest.
Oh, I looked it up (S2200) definitely different. Touch wheel is gone, which is good. Maybe it's better than my experience with the S2100 has been. Still a pricey way to 2x200 watts though..✌

The Gens imars D300 was a charger that was on my list and in most cases would suffice all charging needs for most users. It provides 150 watts per channel. I’ve heard great things about the Hota chargers too but my LHS doesn’t carry it and I didn’t want to wait.

When you start getting into large mah 6S lipos though, the Imars D300 won’t reach 1C charge rates…..example:
6800 mah lihv lipo.
6.8x 4.35x 6=178 watts to charge at 1C.

this is why you need 200 watts per channel if you are hard core like me and others here.

Another fact that gets overlooked by users is balance charge current. Joshua Bardwell (who I hold in high regard) explains it plainly in this video below. The prodigy 625 which is a great charger, has a low balance charge current output compared to the Spektrum S2200 I just bought. (400mah vs. 1500mah)

 

[KnowAir]

My Prodigy 625 pro which I love, was defective out of the box and I’ve decided to return it (ebay return) but I still have two of them.
I was going to keep it and run it on DC because the DC input worked whereas the AC input didn’t…..but decided against it.

The Spektrum S2200 was a good solution for me as I need close to 200 watts for some of my lipos……plus, it showed up in one day from Zone Hobbies here in Canada.

Here’s my charging station in my garage.

View attachment 323096

Yeah, I know we can find examples of bad experiences with brand A, B and so on if we dig for it. I didn't mean to diss the Spektrum chargers, my brother has 2, S2100's that are working fine, one is the same age as mine, the other is probably 2 years old.. plug and play with smart batteries is their claim to fame. Funny, even though I have 2 Spektrum 4s smart batteries, they won't "plug and play" anymore cuz I hacked the IC5 connectors off and installed XT90's. I'm all XT90 equipped, from 2s through 8s, it's a beautiful thing having the same connectors on everything!

Have 2x Hota and love them, several here on the forum had issues with the scroll wheel on the Pro version.

Yep, have heard about the scroll wheel problems too. The Hota S6 has it, not a fan, all else is awesome so far though.

The Gens imars D300 was a charger that was on my list and in most cases would suffice all charging needs for most users. It provides 150 watts per channel. I’ve heard great things about the Hota chargers too but my LHS doesn’t carry it and I didn’t want to wait.

When you start getting into large mah 6S lipos though, the Imars D300 won’t reach 1C charge rates…..example:
6800 mah lihv lipo.
6.8x 4.35x 6=178 watts to charge at 1C.

this is why you need 200 watts per channel if you are hard core like me and others here.

Another fact that gets overlooked by users is balance charge current. Joshua Bardwell (who I hold in high regard) explains it plainly in this video below. The prodigy 625 which is a great charger, has a low balance charge current output compared to the Spektrum S2200 I just bought. (400mah vs. 1500mah)

IDK if 200 watts is really needed by anyone..handy? For sure, not needed though IMO. So what, it takes an hour and twenty minutes from 150w instead of an hour@200w to charge a pack? No big deal for me.. I know a fresh charged battery is ideal but, even if the pack has been sitting charged for several hours, are we really gonna notice a difference? I'm doubtful. I haven't..
I enjoy Josh's videos too, easy to understand, he's a great resource to the rc community for sure. Wow, the Prodigy only outputs 400mah in balance mode? That totally blows! So much for having 200watts per channel. LOL That's sippy straw city!! At that point, I would rather have 100watts per channel with a 1.5a balance circuit anyday. Which is likely uncommon in such a low powered charger but damn, 400mah? That's like watching sand in an hour glass

 

[Ribbit74]

The ovonic x1 is still listed at $92.
https://a.co/d/bOb5PSG

Don't know what the actual "regular price" is, but @ $92 it's a pretty good charger for the money and should take care of all your needs now and with future growth in the hobby (if that's the direction you go).

The X1 seems like a nice full featured charger, but I returned mine. The main issue was that it always defaulted to the maximum current rate which would have destroyed my smaller packs (and my house), so you have to remember to lower the current to 1C every time you charge. Also the UI was clunky. This all may be fixed in the newer firmware update which is available, however the firmware update link is only available on Ovonic’s facebook page (you have to scroll scroll scroll to find an old posting) and it links to a Google Drive file. And then Google warns the file is infected with a virus and won’t allow the download.

So yeah…. That level of manufacturer support doesn’t bode well so I sent the charger back. My Ovonic batteries themselves are good. I ended up with a Spektrum S2100 dual charger which was more expensive and a bit overkill for my needs, but it’s compatible with all my batteries.

 

[Hector_Fisher]

The X1 seems like a nice full featured charger, but I returned mine. The main issue was that it always defaulted to the maximum current rate which would have destroyed my smaller packs (and my house), so you have to remember to lower the current to 1C every time you charge. Also the UI was clunky. This all may be fixed in the newer firmware update which is available, however the firmware update link is only available on Ovonic’s facebook page (you have to scroll scroll scroll to find an old posting) and it links to a Google Drive file. And then Google warns the file is infected with a virus and won’t allow the download.

So yeah…. That level of manufacturer support doesn’t bode well so I sent the charger back. My Ovonic batteries themselves are good. I ended up with a Spektrum S2100 dual charger which was more expensive and a bit overkill for my needs, but it’s compatible with all my batteries.

Sucks that you had issues with it. I haven't had too many issues with mine. I might have got one with the newer firmware because mine defaults to the same charging amperage you last used. I have a lot of 4000mah batteries, so that works out pretty well, don't need to change setting hardly ever. My only real complaint is that the IR it reports while charging seems to wildly differ from cell to cell. Once you reach full charge the IR tends to look a little more normal, maybe still slightly off. But that's not a deal breaker for me. The UI is pretty similar to my Hota D6+, so i don't mind it. Honestly, I just wish my Hota still had both channels working and I didn't have to buy the X1. But here we are.

I guess i should just be happy I was in the financial position to be able to get another charger when the hota lost a channel. It's not fun spending extra money these days.

 

[Wojoman]

Been loving my Imars D300! If I start getting some 6s rigs I may pickup another charger with 200w+ channel ability… but for now, Imars is great for my 2,3,4s packs!

Edit 1: I guess another option is to get a good powersupply and run the chargers off it vs AC

Edit 2: Y’all got me researching now… SyncCharging on the D300!