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cheapest 12s1p setup?
- Thread starter Haste
- Start date
Start reading reviews on hobby king.
The cheapest is often coincidentally the shittiest and less reliable. Find the charger that is the balance of super high quality and affordable, otherwise you will likely be replacing said 'cheapest charger' in short time.
I have seen reports of imax b6 and various turnigy/hobbyking brand chargers fail prematurely on this forum ( turnigy / hobbyking are just relabeled versions of various no-name Chinese stuff )
The cheapest is often coincidentally the shittiest and less reliable. Find the charger that is the balance of super high quality and affordable, otherwise you will likely be replacing said 'cheapest charger' in short time.
I have seen reports of imax b6 and various turnigy/hobbyking brand chargers fail prematurely on this forum ( turnigy / hobbyking are just relabeled versions of various no-name Chinese stuff )
dogman dan
1 PW
Cheapest setup may be some crappy old lead battery and a junky old sla charger you have laying around. Or maybe a thrift store 12v power block. Then a B6 or similar very cheap charger. Either of those power supplies may be so lame that they won't even power the b6 at full power. I've had to set the amps to 2 amps or less with the 2 buck power supplies.
But it can eventually get you charged. Getting below 150 is going to be a bit difficult without some kind of dumpster diving for the power supply. But you can get the lipo and a 50 watt charger pretty cheap. Bump to $200 and then you can get a meanwell power supply clone, or some other ebay power supply.
I'm very happy with my 150w turnigy chargers. They were fairly cheap, but again, likely going over even $200 for that and a power supply like a meanwell + 2 bricks of lipo. But worth it.
The very cheapest may be bulk charging, depending on what you need to buy to go with the meanwell.
The turnigy charger I liked is out of stock, but this is in stock. It would at least have some watts later when you can afford a better power supply. But you can run it at 1-2 amps on something lame for a while. http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__12104__HobbyKing_ECO8_150W_7A_8S_Bal_Dis_Cyc_Charger_w_acc_.html
Might look at this place for a charger too. This one is very similar to the turnigy I have and like
http://epbuddy.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=17_9&products_id=29
But it can eventually get you charged. Getting below 150 is going to be a bit difficult without some kind of dumpster diving for the power supply. But you can get the lipo and a 50 watt charger pretty cheap. Bump to $200 and then you can get a meanwell power supply clone, or some other ebay power supply.
I'm very happy with my 150w turnigy chargers. They were fairly cheap, but again, likely going over even $200 for that and a power supply like a meanwell + 2 bricks of lipo. But worth it.
The very cheapest may be bulk charging, depending on what you need to buy to go with the meanwell.
The turnigy charger I liked is out of stock, but this is in stock. It would at least have some watts later when you can afford a better power supply. But you can run it at 1-2 amps on something lame for a while. http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__12104__HobbyKing_ECO8_150W_7A_8S_Bal_Dis_Cyc_Charger_w_acc_.html
Might look at this place for a charger too. This one is very similar to the turnigy I have and like
http://epbuddy.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=17_9&products_id=29
LHelge
10 mW
I have a b6 and 2 x 12s1p using Turnigy 6S 5Ah batteries. One brick is just enough taking me to work and back again which is about 13-14 km using a 9C 2809 and a 27 A controller. Usually i recharge the batteries at work using only half of the capacity. The only problem I noticed is that one of the four battery packs has three cells that drops about 0,15-0,2 V in a couple of charge cycles requiring a balance which takes AGES with the b6 charger. The other three batteries are still perfectly balanced right out of the box after say 30-40 cycles.
Charging each battery separately using the b6 is a P.I.T.A and i will be looking for a better solution pretty soon.
Charging each battery separately using the b6 is a P.I.T.A and i will be looking for a better solution pretty soon.
dogman dan
1 PW
While not cheapest or best, I still like my solution. One meanwell 350 watt power supply, running two 150 watt chargers. It can completely charge and balance a 12s 2p pack in one to two hours, depending on the depth of discharge. Two chargers is not faster, 300w is 300w. But you set it up, start it, and you are done with a 12s setup. If you are balancing, two chargers balancing packs at .2 amps IS faster than one charger balancing twice as many paralelled packs.
when I balance, I have a stubborn pack too. Often I'll charge it, then balance it on a seperate B6 while other packs charge on the double 150w chargers.
None of these cheapo chargers balance fast. I think better chargers can discharge the high cells faster, and therefore balance faster. It might be well worth it to simply replace that pack that won't stay balanced. Save the wonky pack for a emergency spare, or turn it into a 12v pack to run something that needs that voltage.
when I balance, I have a stubborn pack too. Often I'll charge it, then balance it on a seperate B6 while other packs charge on the double 150w chargers.
None of these cheapo chargers balance fast. I think better chargers can discharge the high cells faster, and therefore balance faster. It might be well worth it to simply replace that pack that won't stay balanced. Save the wonky pack for a emergency spare, or turn it into a 12v pack to run something that needs that voltage.
