Anyone had a B6 lipo charger blow up ?

Hey guys,
Anyone had a one of the cheap B6 type lipo chargers blow up ?
Mine is the 'mystery' brand version of the B6 and went up in smoke tonight in my workshop.
I left it to charge my lipo packs as I've done a dozen times before and returned to a strong smell of burnt components as I walked in the door.
At first I thought one of the lipos had gone up (although only charging at .25C) but I quickly found it was the charger.



A small IC seems the worst damaged and it looks like it's probably taken a few of the surrounding small surface mount components with it.
I guess there's no chance of salvaging it even if I knew what the replacement IC was.

I'd only used it a dozen or so times, so I guess you could consider this post a rather negative review of their quality!

that problem seems to come from around the boost converter that increase voltahe close to the coil and larger diodes..

What kind of 12v power supply do you have?

Doc

Thanks for the info Doc, it's interesting to know which part let go. Is this a common problem ?

I was using a modified ATX computer power supply.
This was the first time I used this particular one but the previous one I was using never gave me any problems.

Was this the Top Racing B6? I just saw that on eBay today for $45 including shipping, and I was intrigued. However, I wonder about the reliability of these chargers and the need for a better warranty.

Today, I saw a 6s charger for $46, and that really caught my eye since the shipping time is 2-3 days from their store in Arizona. For this model, the warranty is 90 days, which is better than the 7 days I've seen for many places. However, from the failure issues I have read about, I wonder if I should just get a 5s GT Power V5 for $56 instead since it comes with a full 1 year warranty.

Read comment on hobbycity about this product! I thik i remember having seen poor rate from few customers because their unit also blown!

Doc

yoyoman mine was the 'mystery' brand, but identical to the topracing one. They sell alot of lipos and I'd say they've just had a batch made with their logo on the face plate.

I was thinking of replacing it with this one from hobbycity
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=7523
It's a bit over twice the price delivered but it's 150w vs 50w so should charge alot quicker.
Quality wise it's probably the same though, I noticed one guy reported the same problem I had after 15 charges so I guess it doesnt have beefier internals...
The vast majority of people seem to rate them highly, so it's just a question if I take another gamble :?

Well, my "X" Multi-Function Li-Ion/Polymer Balance Charger (https://fusion-pack.com/productdetail.aspx?id=207&cat=88) arrived today. I figure it's a B6 knock off; heck the thin paper manual even has B6 printed in there. I hope this doesn't turn out to be one of those "you get what you pay for" deals. It was only $47, has a 3 month warranty with free shipping back to them, and 2 day shipping from Arizona to California. That beats $20 shipping from HK with only a 7 day replacement period.

I am surprised at how small it is. It's right around the same length as my ATX power supply I'm about to convert. Seeing how small it is, I might actually have to break down and buy a portable power supply now.

While I'm working on the power supply conversion, I might use my SLA batteries to try charging up the laptop li-on batteries I have. Oh, the fun is just beginning ... 72 cells to play with