LiPo Chargers

Here are the 2 LiPo chargers I use, both have similar functions but the Thunder AC6 is nicer.
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Thunder AC6 - $54.95



http://www.xheli.com/thac6bachwac.html



IMax B5 - $39.99



http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=5549&Product_Name=IMAX_B5_Balance_Charger_1-5_Cells






At this time both are out of stock but HobbyCity has some other chargers that are almost the same thing for about the same price.

I'll probably upgrade to a better charger one day but for now I just use two regular Esky balance chargers and have another on order that I should receive this week. I know they are slow but I can charge three batts at one time, and for less than 30 bucks that's pretty hard to beat. Also if one dies on me I'll still have the others. :

Donnie D

Do a search on ebay for mystery chargers, they are imaxB6 clones and imo are better, I've got two and they have never let me down.
I've had a lot of "proper" B6 chargers returned at work and they have been faulty in more ways than one )c:

I've opened the mystery chargers up and they have a B6 ID mark on the circuit board so go figure (c:

half the price of a B6 too.

G

Wish x-hellie would restock need a new charger would like ac/dc it is nice the vesitility :tomatoes:

XHELI has the thurnder chargers on the way - be here in APRIL - ANDY stated that on a reply when someone ask him = VIC

lowbudget wrote:

XHELI has the thurnder chargers on the way - be here in APRIL - ANDY stated that on a reply when someone ask him

I have to agree ... the typical Chinese restocking usually happens around March-April. xheli.com is starting to re-stock certain items. Look for more b the end of April.

Nice LIPO chargers. My low ends haven't broke yet to justify buing a nice one yet.

-Happy Flying !!!

hi,
is it worth buying an expensive charger? how much faster do they charge? i am thinking of getting about 3 or 4 more lipos (till now i only have one). and for the charger/balancer: is it better to get 3 or 4 standard esky ones or one good one? ....

So far for me, I have 3 of the Esky lipo chargers. Two of them came with helis that I bought and I purchaced the other from Deal Extreme for about 8 bucks. They are slow, but I can charge 3 batts at a time. So far that has been ok for me because I only have 2 cell batts for my HBFP and 3 cell batts for my Belt CP to charge. But I will be ordering a Thunder charger shortly because I'll need to charge a 5 or 6 cell batt for my ES600 when it's ready.

Donnie D

lar5web wrote:

hi,
is it worth buying an expensive charger? how much faster do they charge? i am thinking of getting about 3 or 4 more lipos (till now i only have one). and for the charger/balancer: is it better to get 3 or 4 standard esky ones or one good one? ....

With small batteries stock chargers work ok, but a nice charger can charge batteries sometimes 3 times as fast as those little stock chargers. I say go for a nice charger now because you'll need one sooner or later but you'll also be able to monitor your batteries more accurately so you can take good care of them to get the most life out of them possible.

when its just a matter of charging time, then of course having 3 or more esky chargers, is the as well in my opinion the better solution. but whats about the lifetime of the LiPos? and to check their capacity/quality!? i mean, crashing because of a faulty lipo... if you can prevent this, its maybe not the baddest idea , getting a better charger.

well, what it is, is if you over discharge your LiPo's you can ruin them (I ruined a $100 5S1P lipo by over discharging it ONCE) with a nice charger, you can check to see what the voltage of each cell is in the battery while you're charging. This is good so when you stop flying, by seeing how much voltage is left in the battery, you can figure out what is a good average flight time without having to worry about damaging the batteries.

Also sometimes you can have 1 cell die in a bettery, which will keep the heli from flying, but without a good charger you'd never be able to tell if the battery was bad or not.

Lipos usually last a long time, unless you over discharge them.

But as far as charge times. I'm 90% sure I could charge 3 800mAh lipos with 1 good charger before 3 cheap esky chargers could charge 3 800mAh lipos.

Alot of this has to do with my belief that the 2 most important investments you can make in this hobby are a nice Comp Transmitter and a nice Charger

i have a TURNIGY 420 it is a charger / balance - does not have the storage mode - shows the percent in each cell - it can charge two 7.4 batteries at one time - it is setup that way - shows all four cells - bought it at hobbycity - got a AC6 on order = VIC

Ok then. Before getting a better radio, lets start with LiPos and a better charger.

For the beginning I thought to get 2 of those for my belt cp:
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=6518&Product_Name=ZIPPY_Flightmax_2200mAh_3S1P_15C#

but what balancer/charger to take? Would be nice to charge 2 at a time.

http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_listCategoriesAndProducts.asp?catname=Battery+Chargers&idCategory=216&ParentCat=85

any tips? Till 80$ should be ok.

the batteries you were looking at are out of stock. But between shipping and wait times, you'd be better off buying a charger and battery from xheli, and if your order is over $100 you can get free shipping by entering in the free shipping code ( )

11.1v 1800mAh $25 - http://www.xheli.com/18h-ee0082.html

AC6 battery charger $55 - http://www.xheli.com/thac6bachwac.html

i guess, free shipping is only for inside the US.
i wanted to give hobbycity a try, to see how long it takes to greece, and if their is any probs with the custom. i would like to place the order on coming tuesday, when eastern have finished over here.
anyway... its so bad... having now a long weekend (free from thursday till monday) and only one esky LiPo 1800 with original "turbo" charger. :)

back to the subject:
so if this one is out then maybe:
Rhino 2150mAh 3S1P 20C Lipoly Pack > 22$
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=7363&Product_Name=Rhino_2150mAh_3S1P_20C_Lipoly_Pack

as charger i thought 'GT A-6 Charger/balancer/discharger' > 70$ :
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=6590
or
'MAX E6 Digital Lipo Charger' > 50$:
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=6789
im thinking to buy this one, and invest the remaining 20 $ into a lipo.

Hi,
For belt cp I bought battery 2650mah: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.18109
and you can buy a charger: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12618
The prices includes shipping costs. The battery is just a little more heavier thank stock 1800mah batt and it fits tightly to the battery tray. And it balances heli perfectly. I really recommend this battery. And my friend uses that mystery charger and it works fine for him.
P.S. Hobbycity and Dealextreme are in Hong Kong so shipping times will almost be the same

Hi there Nuttcaze,

I've been watching your videos on Youtube, and I have to say their great as there's a lot of advice, especially for beginners. About a year ago, my I bought an Esky Honey Bee FP, but I havn't flown very often as in every attempt I crash it. Recently, however, the weather was good, so I thought I should fly it. I connected the balancer charger to the socket and then Li-Po battery. As far as I remember, I left it for at least three to four hours. When I connected the battery to the the helicopter, the Honey Bee wouldn't fly. When I tried recharging it, both the red and green light flashed at the same time - "battery goes wrong". Can this problem be fixed, or do you I have to buy a different battery or battery balancer?

Thanks,

Damjan

DamjanV wrote:

Hi there Nuttcaze,

I've been watching your videos on Youtube, and I have to say their great as there's a lot of advice, especially for beginners. About a year ago, my I bought an Esky Honey Bee FP, but I havn't flown very often as in every attempt I crash it. Recently, however, the weather was good, so I thought I should fly it. I connected the balancer charger to the socket and then Li-Po battery. As far as I remember, I left it for at least three to four hours. When I connected the battery to the the helicopter, the Honey Bee wouldn't fly. When I tried recharging it, both the red and green light flashed at the same time - "battery goes wrong". Can this problem be fixed, or do you I have to buy a different battery or battery balancer?

Thanks,

Damjan

Charging leads may be loose. Try to open battery and check all wires. The same thing happened to me and the wires were unsoldered

Hi P3tras,

Thanks for the advice. I opened the battery, and the wires were all soldered in - everything looked intact.

DamjanV wrote:

Hi P3tras,

Thanks for the advice. I opened the battery, and the wires were all soldered in - everything looked intact.

Test voltage of the battery If it is lover than 7v battery can be bad

I checked the voltage and it was 5/6 V. Does this mean that the battery is dead, and if so, shall I buy a new one?

If it is 5v charger still should charge it

7.4 lipo should not be left on a charger over 2 hours - never open / disasemble a lipo - i do not know the minum volts for a 2 cell lipo - i ran a 7.4 volt battery down where the the heli started to come down at full throttle - just put it on the charger - volts were 7.1 = = VIC

I had a heli here that wouldn't lift more than about 1' off the ground. Everything seemed ok. Battery was charged. Heli setup and trim was spot on. Only thing I had left to check/change was the motor so I ordered a new motor from XHELI. That was the day the Thunder AC6 charger came back in stock so I ordered that to. When it arrived I put a battery on it to try it out. Charger worked ok just seemed to say it was done a bit fast. Was a little suspicious about batt being charged or not. Threw it into heli to check it and nearly put the heli into the ceiling. WOW what a huge differance the charger made to my battery. So now I have a spare motor and properly charged batteries. Volt check on battery always showed it to be ok so I never suspected it was the problem. The stock ESKY charger now sits on a shelf where it will stay.

that is one great charger - i always set mine to balance charge - i have a turnigy 420 charger - they will charge 2 (7.4) batterys at once - use them to get the batterys close to full then put them on my AC6 to finish them = VIC

I have 2 esky chargers and they work fine for me