Looking at a new charger

[Damion10]

Ive been around the RC world for a while now ( T-MAXX, redcat crawler etc ) and thus far I've only been using NiMH batteries and my trusty old Duratrax 110 charger.

Ive since acquired an Axial SCX10 and fell down the scaler rabbit hole, this truck however is running on 2s LiPO power. Being my first Lipo pack im wanting to A) take as good care of the battery as I can and B) not burn my house down in the process of doing so.

I know a lot of what you see / read about Lipo fires is generally user error / carelessness ( I also vape and have seen the videos of batteries exploding in pockets etc ) but id rather have good kit for charging.

I got my rig used and the previous owner included a small no frills charger for the Lipo. While yes it does charge it, id like a bit. more control and the ability to discharge for periods of time that im not using the truck.

Im looking at the HiTec RDX1 Pro, it seems to have nice features, has a discharge mode and a bunch of safety functions built in, I also like the forward facing display. It will be used for 1) SCX10 Lipo 2) NiMh packs 3) Charging the RX pack in the tmaxx.

I think without breaking the bank or going too cheap this seems like a great charger, Thoughts?

Im not hard core into RC's but don't want to spend more than I have to.
Thanks

 

[milesFJ]

I have the hitec x2 black and it is very nice, the bluetooth makes it easy to control with my phone. i also like the spektrum s2100 if you use the spektrum smart batteries. I use both and both are very easy to use

 

[Panther6834]

I also have a Hitec XS X2 Black Edition, although it's now my "backup"charger. My primary charger is an iCharger 406 Duo. This is NOT to say the Hitec isn't good, or isn't up to the task...it's great, and very capable. It's just that the iCharger is better.

However, if you think about going the iCharger route, just know, in advance, that it requires an external power supply. The Hitec has an internal power supply...although, it can use an external power supply, doubling it's battery charging power output ability.

~ More peace, love, laughter & kindness would make the world a MUCH better place [emoji1690]

 

[JacktheRipper]

Hitec, great chargers cannot go wrong. For a few bucks more, take a look at this model:
X2 AC Plus Black Edition Charger / Discharger Power Supply



pep


Blue tooth as mentioned, USB port for laptop, graphs the charge rate, temps,, AC & DC power (car bat) inputs

 

[SteveReject]

I'm very happy with my Hitec RDX1 charger.

Simple to use, a great screen to see a lot of useful info, and does everything I want and more. I think the only down side for some people is that is only charges one battery at a time but for me that is not a problem at all.

Didn't break the bank either. I got lucky and found a new one on eBay for about $54 shipped.

 

[Damion10]

The X2 is almost $70 more than the RDX Pro, the joys of living north of the border. Even still the RDX is about at the top of what I want to spend on a charger.

But I am open to other options, I don’t need dual charging but a screen and a deans connection without a bunch of adaptors would be nice

 

[bbrigg]

The individual connector leads are widely available on Amazon, eBay, Aliexpress etc.

One safety tip, make sure you ALWAYS balance charge. This ensures that each cell only gets charged to the correct voltage. Normal, non balance can allow individual cells to be overcharged if other cells have a problem. This can cause swelling and, ultimately, combustion in some cases.

Another thing that I do is only charge at the 1C rate or less. That means that I limit the charge current to the pack output. A 5000mah pack converts to 5 amp hours so I set the charger limit to 5 amps of charging current. A 3300mah pack gets set to a max of 3.3A etc. Many packs can handle higher charge rates but the slower you charge, the longer the life of the pack (in charge cycles, not duration per charge).

Lipos degrade a little each time you use and charge them. The slower you discharge and charge the less they degrade. Another thing that degrades Lipos is storing them for long periods at full charge. Make sure your charger can discharge to a storage voltage, around 3.9v per cell, so that the batteries you don't use can be discharged a bit to minimize degradation.

For more information see the links below.

https://www.tested.com/tech/502351-rc-battery-guide-basics-lithium-polymer-batteries/

http://learningrc.com/lipo-battery/

~more facts, logic and personal responsibility would make the world a far better place than all the leftist ideas ever dreamt of.

 

[Damion10]

Good tips and will keep those in mind. I did plan to always balance charge though.

I stumbled across the hitec RDX1 mini charger. This one looks very promising

 

[JatoTheRipper]

Good tips and will keep those in mind. I did plan to always balance charge though.

I stumbled across the hitec RDX1 mini charger. This one looks very promising

I urge you to spend $40 more or so and get the Hitec or Venom dual port charger. You get so much more charger for just a little more money. It makes life so much easier.

 

[Damion10]

I ended up pulling the trigger on the Hitec RDX1 Pro. It should be all the charger I need with the features I’m looking for. The mini had a few things I didn’t like.

Thanks for all who responded

 

[JacktheRipper]

I urge you to spend $40 more or so and get the Hitec or Venom dual port charger. You get so much more charger for just a little more money. It makes life so much easier.

Good advice, charging 2 batteries @ once is well worth that one feature, alone.

 

[AK KRAWLER]

I am using an old Onyx 235, which is working, but I would love something that is a little more user friendly, can charge multiple packs and is in the $150 or less price point.

Hitec

Venom

Oh and it looks like I can get the Hitec for $101 with a coupon at Tower, not a bad deal (so I think)

 

[amanc96]

I'm running the iSDT D2 Smart AC Lithium Battery Charger. I've been using it for the last year and a half or so. Pretty easy to use. Plug in your battery, select your batter type, and what charge rate you want to use. Down side is, you'll need to either run xt60 connectors on your batter, or have an adapter. I was thinking about picking up another run since I fly quad copters and usually have a bunch of batteries to charge but I was thinking about going with Ultra Power UP6+ Dual 600W 16A AC/DC Charger since it can do motor and servo testing(not sure if I'd ever use it).

 

[Damion10]

So in getting this new charger ( ordered today should be in either end of this week or early next) I plug in the mains leads and the balance plug. I understand that much. What is the difference with a normal charge and a balance charge? Wouldn’t it just balance anyway or is the balance plug just so the charger can monitor the battery?

My current cheapie lipo charger only uses the balance plug to charge with.

Sorry for the somewhat dumb questions I’m just trying to understand this lipo stuff as best I can

 

[JacktheRipper]

I'm running the iSDT D2 Smart AC Lithium Battery Charger. I've been using it for the last year and a half or so. Pretty easy to use. Plug in your battery, select your batter type, and what charge rate you want to use. Down side is, you'll need to either run xt60 connectors on your batter, or have an adapter. I was thinking about picking up another run since I fly quad copters and usually have a bunch of batteries to charge but I was thinking about going with Ultra Power UP6+ Dual 600W 16A AC/DC Charger since it can do motor and servo testing(not sure if I'd ever use it).

The Hitec chargers in the box come with gender changers for ALL battery plug types

 

[JatoTheRipper]

So in getting this new charger ( ordered today should be in either end of this week or early next) I plug in the mains leads and the balance plug. I understand that much. What is the difference with a normal charge and a balance charge? Wouldn’t it just balance anyway or is the balance plug just so the charger can monitor the battery?

My current cheapie lipo charger only uses the balance plug to charge with.

Sorry for the somewhat dumb questions I’m just trying to understand this lipo stuff as best I can

Balance charge does exactly what the name suggests. It balances the battery during charging. This ensure the cells are charged equally. At the end of a balance charge, the batteries should be "balanced" meaning equal voltages in all cells. This is the safest way to charge. It is also best for your batteries and will ensure the longest, possible lifetime of the battery.

Charging from the balance port does not balance the battery.