A Collection of Power Supplies and Charging Solutions

[teslanv]

I thought I would share my attempts at finding the "ideal" charging solution.
If you read through the forum enough, you will quickly learn that there are many options when it comes to charging your batteries.

The first step is to decide on a battery chemistry and format: for me, that started out with recycled laptop 18650 cells, and then quickly changed to Hobbyking 4S Hardcase LiPo packs.
I still use recycled 18650 cells, but only in my kids electric "toys" They have (and I charge & maintain) two stand-up scooters and a Razor MX500 electric dirt bike between the three of them. I don't use recycled 18650 cells in my bikes any more because they generally can't provide more than about 10A of current without stressing the cells. But for the toys, 10A is plenty. Since most of the toys have built-in Battery management systems built into them, I use the small 2A chargers that came with them.

For my HK LiPo 4S Hardcase packs, I use a variety of charging solutions, depending on where I charge, how fast I want to charge and if I need to balance the cells.

Here is my current charging station:

I have a "Kill-A-Watt" Amp/watt-meter that tells me how much "Grid" energy I have used to charge my batteries. It's usually only $0.02 to $0.05 to fill the tank.


The first charger I bought was an iMax B6 charger. Like many "Noobs" I was only concerned with getting something to charge & balance my battery, and the cheaper, the better, right?
Here is the iMax B6:

Most RC Balance chargers do not come with a power supply, so I picked up a 12V, 5A (60W) laptop style power supply to power the iMax B6.
http://www.amazon.com/Intocircuit-Adapter-Charger-Benq-Monitors/dp/B0023Y9EQC
On All my balance charging solutions, I charge my 4S Packs in Parallel with 6X Parallel Taps & 6X Parallel Balance leads. This effectively turns many 5Ah 4S packs onto one really big 30Ah 4S Pack. Charge voltage is a maximum of 16.8V (4.20V per cell) but I usually only charge to 4.15V per cell to keep my batteries happy.
Here is the complete set-up:
View attachment 10
So how to I rate this set-up?
The Good: Inexpensive. Accuracy is OK. Can Balance up to 6S Lithium Cells, as well as most other battery chemistries.
The Bad: SLOW! at the charger's maximum setting of 5A/50W (3A for 4S Packs), it takes almost 9 hours to charge a 30Ah Block of 4S Packs.
Verdict: OK as a starter charging solution. I suspect Many Noobs have gone this route, and it works.

I have the means to charge at work, and I didn't like packing up and hauling my iMax B6 charger with me to work and back, so I bought an even smaller charger. It's an iMax C-403 charger.

The iMax C-403 charger will only charge up to 4S lithium cells, and will only charge LiIon, LiPo and LiFePO4 chemistries. It is also only 3A/40W maximum charge, and with 4S Packs, it really only a 2.5A charger. But it's small and the limited functionality is exactly what I need to charge, when I am not in a hurry. Again, I use 6X Parallel tap & balance leads to charge all my packs at once.

The Good: Inexpensive, Compact, Charges 4S Packs in Parallel just like the B6
The Bad: SLOW. (Takes 12 Hours to fully charge a 30Ah 4S Pack), Can't adjust the High Voltage Cut-off (Charges to 4.20V per cell for LiPo, however by changing the Battery type to LiIon, HVC is at 4.1V/cell) Limited to Lithium Chemistries. No Discharge function. Requires balance leads be connected and ALWAYS balances the cells.
Verdict: OK charger for 1S-4S packs, when you are not in a hurry.

A Modest Upgrade:
I needed more than 50W of charging power, and I needed it in a bad way. But I'm still on a tight budget. The iCharger 106B+ fit the ticket nicely.
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...harger_USA_Warehouse_.html?strSearch=icharger
The Good: Same functionality as the iMax B6 charger, except 5 times as much power!!! And the build quality is superior to the iMax chargers. It will also test for Internal Resistance, cut foam and drive (break in) a brushed motor! Charges at 10A or 250W (For 4S packs, that's 10A or 168W Max, and will charge my 30Ah block in 3 hours.) Seems quite accurate for Voltage and Balancing.
The Bad: Could be faster. Only balances up to 6S LiPo packs.
Verdict: A good basic medium-power balance charger. If you are new to this game and have a little bit of money to spend on your first charger, THIS is the one to get, NOT the iMax B6. This is the charger I use every day.

Next Balance Charger on my Wish List:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__11597__iCharger_3010B_1000W_10s_Balance_Charger.html
Which requires a MUCH larger power supply...


One of my first power supplies for the iMax B6 charger besides the Laptop Style PS was a modified Decktop PC Power Supply. I had an old 250W Ps laying around and cut the ATX plugs off the leads and tied all similar colored wires together. Soldered on a couple 4mm bullet connectors, and I had a decent 12V power supply for my balance charger. But that was just the beginning. I soon discovered icecube57's website o' goodies.
http://lipoconnectionsolutions.com/
I had to have the Modified Dell Power Supply. Icecube's prices are very reasonable, but for the sake of my own education, I went to my local PC recycling store and they had some Dell PowerEdge 2850 power supplies for $15 each. We are talking about 12V and 57A for up to 750 Watts of power. You can learn how to modify them here:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1750411
Again, I can't stress to you enough how cheap icecube sells these for. If the mod looks too challenging for you, just buy one (or more) from him.
If you Isolate the ground on one of these power supplies you can series it to a second and run them at 24V and 57A. Here is my 24V 1500W set-up:

So I now have the ability to supply up to 1500W of power to my chargers.

Dell DA-2 - The 220W compact Power supply. http://www.discountelectronics.com/product?product_id=14702&product_model=17
It seems silly to run a 250W charger on a 750W Power supply, so I started investigating more modest options for power supplies. I quickly found this little gem of a power supply. It is a Dell DA-2 Power supply meant for Dell's "Ultra Small Form Factor" line of desktop PCs. Because the Desktops are quite small, Dell opted to make a brick style power supply, much like a very large laptop power supply. A NORMAL person would plug it into the back of their desktop.
I opted to decapitate the plug-end, tied the three white leads together and three black leads & the blue lead (power-on) together, soldered on 4mm Bullets and now I have a completely silent, rock-solid 12V-18A Power Supply pushing up to 220W of power to my iCharger.


Since I only charge 4S packs, I only require 168W, so this PS is more than enough for my batteries.
Here is my Current charging set-up:

The other really cool thing with the DA-2 Power supplies is that they come DC Ground Isolated, so you can string multiples in series for higher voltages and more total power. Here are two in Series, pumping out 24V and 18A of "the goodness":

And for higher voltages, just add more.

Bulk Charging Solutions without a Balance charger:
For times when you want to fill your batteries fast, and don't care about balancing or high-voltage cut-offs, Mean Well Power supplies are a great option. They are particularly handy when you are on the road and need to do some "guerilla charging" when the opportunity presents itself.
I run a 12S Set-up on my bike and the charge voltage for 12S LiPo is right around 50V. There are many different models and versions of Mean Well Power Supplies. I have a S-240-48 PS as well as a SE-600-48 PS. Both come with an adjustable potentiometer or "pot" to tune the output voltage up or down between 42-56V. I have mine set right at 50.0V which would charge each cell to a theoretical 4.17V per cell, although since it doesn't "balance charge" it is possible to have some cells higher than 4.17V and some cells lower than 4.17V, so it is best to leave a little headroom, and to be sure to keep a close eye the charger and battery and unplug the battery before the charge is complete.

View attachment 1


You will notice that I no longer use the parallel balance leads, since I am no longer charging as a 4S block. Instead I leave my batteries connected in series (12S). The very simple way to do this with HobbyKing LiPo is to connect the negative bullet of one battery into the positive bullet of another. If you "stack" two sequential connections like this, you will have connected three 4S batteries in series for a total of 12S, with a positive and negative bullet free to connect the 50V charger leads. Extreme Caution should be exercised when making these serial connections as you don't want to plug BOTH negative and Positive leads of two batteries to each other. You will end up with "Kentucky Fried Fingers" (KFF) if you do.

The best "on-board" charging solution is looking like a grin "Cycle Satiator", universal charger. http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=60169
360W of programmable power. - This is like a Mean Well on Steroids. The only drawback is the cost, which currently looks to be around $295 USD.

Second best "on-board" charging solution would be one of these babies:
http://www.meanwell.com/search/HLG-320H/HLG-320H-spec.pdf
It's a special Mean Well built for running LED lighting in outdoor environments. It's IP65 rated and has Pots for Voltage and Current, so you can dial it to suit your battery. And it's 320 watts of power for around $120.
http://www.powergatellc.com/mean-well-hlg-320h-power-supply.html

And of course, there are many other options for Power supplies, RC chargers and bulk chargers.

I would love to hear what others are using.

 

[motomech]

Like a number of folks here, after trying a couple pricey chargers, I have ended up with the Thunder 1220.
It's easy to use, sturdy, does 12S and has a cool retro-industrial look.

http://www.hobbypartz.com/75p-1220-charger.html

As you can see, the price is right and for a PS, a single $15 server PS will run it to it's max.(300 Watts).

I didn;t care much for for the balance cables and connectors\paraboard (they are stiff and fussy), so I ocassionaly check my 12S \10 Ah packs with a pair of Battery Medics(the blue ones) and if they ever need balancing in the future 8), I will just use the BM's.

If 300 Watts is enough for you, hard to beat this set-up for the money.

 

[teslanv]

I like that charger. The only issue that I would have with it using (3) 4S Packs to make my 12S battery would be the need to rig up some kind of balance lead adapter to use the pair of 6S ports on the unit. I have a some DB25 connectors that I was going to set up to make the balance tap process way more simple than plugging in every battery into the parallel harness, and it should be feasible to make that set-up work with that charger.
If one had a pair of 6S packs to make up their 12S battery, this charger is perfect and super simple to use!

 

[arkmundi]

........ The best "on-board" charging solution is looking like a grin "Cycle Satiator", universal charger. http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=60169
360W of programmable power. - This is like a Mean Well on Steroids. The only drawback is the cost, which currently looks to be around $295 USD.

Second best "on-board" charging solution would be one of these babies:
http://www.meanwell.com/search/HLG-320H/HLG-320H-spec.pdf
It's a special Mean Well built for running LED lighting in outdoor environments. It's IP65 rated and has Pots for Voltage and Current, so you can dial it to suit your battery. And it's 320 watts of power for around $120.
http://www.powergatellc.com/mean-well-hlg-320h-power-supply.html

And of course, there are many other options for Power supplies, RC chargers and bulk chargers.

I would love to hear what others are using.

Yeegodzillabatman!!! All that huh? You'll scare off my Technocopia class. Though I have three charging solutions, I only use one. I too bought a so called balance charger, the Thunder 1220, but I could never get it to work. Error messages on the screen. I suspect the power supply, but I tried three different such, including a Meanwell 12V, screw set between 10V and 16V. After an inordinate amount of time trying, I simply gave up and it sits on my shelf collecting dust. The other is some Voltsphreaks single cell chargers, which I use if a single cell goes low .... very infrequently & close to never.

My one charger is the Smart Charger (6 A) for 38.4V ( 12 cells ) LiFePO4 Battery Pack fromhttp://www.batteryspace.com

Works flawlessly and consistently and quickly. My typical ~6ah ride on a 36V A123 26650 pack takes about 40 minutes to recharge. Get home, plug the charger in, forget it overnight, get up in the morning and whalla, ready to go again!

 

[teslanv]

I keep waffling on whether or not to get a BMS for my batteries. - Adding one would greatly simplify my charging needs. - Then all I would need is a Mean Well of the appropriate voltage.
However I like the scalability of my 4S pack arrangement. I usually run them 3 in series for 12S, but when I want to experiment with higher voltages, I can add more in series quite easily, and still charge them all in 4S Parallel.

I would certainly not recommend my type of set-up for someone who just wants a simple plug and play battery system.

 

[IdleMind]

teslanv This thread is timely for me since I am just starting down the road you have traveled. I have just started building ebikes this summer and have had to learn about brushless motors and controllers so I started with the easiest to understand charging system.

First I got an Acucell-6 and used an old PC power supply with a paraboard I can charge my 6 hardcase batteries at 3 amps (0.5 amps each) so it takes a long time, but I know they are balanced. Then I got a meanwell 350 watt so I can bulk charge if I arrange the batteries in 12s 2p but I don't trust it to keep them balanced. Here's my set-up.

Thanks for the tip about setting the charger for LiIo, I had been charging to 4.18v where the charger cut off, but I prefer to stop at 4.1v. Next year I want to extend my range by adding 6 more of these hardcase batteries to my pack and will be getting either a Thunder or something like the i-charger you have. I will follow this thread for more ideas.

 

[Wheels_78]

If you're into big batts and fast charging it's hard to beat the powerlab 8's I've got two of those I run off server power supplies in series. They're great for shear power and fast balancing (1344watts and they can push up to 3 or 4 amps to a low cell while the bulk charge is going on as opposed to most other chargers that just load the high cells... Takes FOREVER on big packs, it can be hours). I can charge my 17ah 7s blocks at amost 3C... But mostly I don't go anywhere near that. They are bulky to pack around and the power supplies are loud.

My ichargers see a lot more use (206b and a 208b) both running off of ebay 400w 24v supplies most of the time. The 206 is especially nice because it doesn't have a balance board attachment flopping around, there are slots on the sides.

I've gotten to the point where I own batteries specific chosen just to run battery chargers! Lol. If you've got a small pack to charge somewhere not handy it's great to have a 12v a123 pack around to run the charger long enough to make one charge and then you can refill it back at the bench.

 

[Matt Gruber]

And for the record, what was the problem? (how fast did they go out of balance? and at what point did you say, this is a problem?(looking for voltage variation that bothered you)
if i understand you correctly, your cells are so crappy that balancing at home didn't fix the imbalance, so you had to balance at work too?

 

[motomech]

I balance charged for a couple of years, but once I replaced all my Zippy with Turnigy and started using more batt. capacity than needed, it's become a thing of the past. By not dis-charging below 3.80V, the cells never stay by more that several .001", which I have learned not to worry about.
Not having to use paraboards or splice together a bunch of balance wires is really a blessing.
I do ck the cells every 3 or 4 rides

 

[arkmundi]

I balance charged for a couple of years, but once I replaced all my Zippy with Turnigy and started using more batt. capacity than needed, it's become a thing of the past. By not dis-charging below 3.80V, the cells never stay by more that several .001", which I have learned not to worry about.

Yes, I believe that's the essential knowledge. Its first: 1> buy decent cells by calling up the datasheet on the cells and doing a hard comparison, 2> from the datasheet, knowing the operational characteristics of the cell you're using including the discharge curve - there's a downturn in voltage at low capacity, 3> staying in a safe voltage range with respect to capacity (typically SOC>15%), 4> having a Watt's Up, Cycle Analyst or similar while riding and periodically checking on voltage (as an indicator of low capacity).

Nonetheless, I still periodically monitor the individual cells themselves for confidence they're all within a reasonable range of each other - balanced.

 

[Wheels_78]

To each their own I suppose... I like my spliced balance taps just fine. It's a one time job if you think ahead a little and you've got a harness that will serve as long as your bike does.

I Never use more than about 2/3 of my pack on the bike and I don't peak the cells... I admit, they've stayed balanced pretty much perfectly so far. Having said that, when I start pushing power back into those packs (in my condo) I know there's no high cell, I'm not just pretty sure, and that's how I want it.

 

[cal3thousand]

Interesting that we started out the same way. My RC first charger was an IMAX B6 as well. Same findings as you.

Then, I went onto bulk chargers from BMSbattery with occasional balances. I currently have 2 at 50V and 2 at 100V and have not had one fail on me yet, but I also don't travel with them (knock on wood)

Then, I purchased an iCharger 4010 Duo for RC charging. It's a BEAST and likely more than I need, but it has really cool features and gives me some future-proof-ness with it's versatility. I use it for putting packs into storage, balancing, cycling new packs, and checking cell IRs.

I have also been investigating the use of Meanwells and bought a CLG series a couple months ago. Unfortunately, I bought the IP67 version and cannot change the voltage. It's stuck at 48V, which is nice for a 80-85% 'road' charger, but I will look into getting a higher power HLG series with the adjustable voltage so I can get 50V for my 12S/18S/24S setups (I use 6S2P sections that I can always hookup as 12S1P and parallel upwards). I'm trying to sell it (it's modified and cable sheated up nicely) on this board so I can buy an HLG instead.

I am also on the beta program to test the Cycle Satiator. After using it for the last few weeks, I really feel it could replace most, if not all, of my chargers. Having a firmware upgradeable charger changes the game completely. It's a bit expensive at $300 (retail), but honestly, I would trade all 4 of my (BMSbattery) bulk chargers for another Cycle Satiator.

One thing that I learned recently (from mrbill) is that you can wire an auxiliary tap onto your + and - FET traces and plug your charger into that. That way, your charge will route through your shunt and readable as regen on your Cycle Analyst. I was previously using an Standalone CA shunt for monitoring charge on a display, but that requires you to reprogram your CA to the different shunt resistance each time your switch between charging and discharging. This way, you get the monitoring on your CA, but only have to plug your charger into your controller.

 

[Ohbse]

When I first got into this I did a lot of reading. I too run bricks of 4s hardcase turnigy lipo, but in a 20s/10ah configuration. I ended up skipping a lot of the smaller stuff and went straight to a Powerlab 8 and have found it for the most part to be excellent. What I really hate is having to reconfigure my pack from serial to parallel on a daily basis - that gets REALLY old and always have the opportunity for a tired brain to make a mistake and blow up some connectors.

What I ended up with is Adaptto mini-e with the charging coil and have progressed through several different power supply options. This means I never need to touch my pack wiring at all, balancing/monitoring etc is all taken care of by the controller/BMS combo and I can set desired charge voltage with a few key presses. The best part is this setup is *fast*. As you can utilise any input voltage up to your total pack voltage you can feed in 50v+ at up to 70a rating on the larger of the two available charging coils. 52v x 70amps = 3,640 watts

I have experimented with a few setups, but ended up running a pair of server power supplies in series for 24v, 42amps for an easy 1kw. I have two sets of PSU's at both ends of my daily commute and have mounted the charging coil onboard. In total I need to connect one XT90 to the power supply and a single bullet to the charging coil and then walk away. This is charging my lipo at ~1.4c which doesn't stress it much.

Just recently I have updated to two Lineage Power CP1800AC52 PSU's that I bought for $24 USD each. On 240v input they are rated at 1800w and can range from 44-58v.

They will require a tail to be added for the AC input as well as DC output. I'm planning on using one of the chunky server sourced power leads I have lying about and some 10 gauge silicone wire for the DC.

Physically these things are very sturdy and very densely populated. They are rated for harsh environments, vibration/high temperatures and full load. MTBF in these conditions is still ~10 years. Physical dimensions are 350mm x 102mm x 41mm. There are a number of models available, including ones with even higher ratings in the same form factor. There are some other models of front end rectifier that have CC/CV functionality, so you can precisely set charge voltage and use them as a direct, high quality bulk charger.

 

[Hillhater]

....I have updated to two Lineage Power CP1800AC52 PSU's that I bought for $24 USD each

Ohh nice , useful power supply.
did you source those locally, or luck into a USA Ebay sale ?

 

[amberwolf]

I will have to post pics later, once I get htem and get back to wifi, but I have several chemistries and packs, and a few ways of charging each of htem.


My main pack is an EIG NMC 20Ah pack, 14s 1p, 58.1V fully charged. No BMS, bulk charged.

I have a (Kingpower? Kingpan?) bulk charger of 4A peak setup for that pack. It actually only charges around 2A or so, for almost all of the charge time, partly due to my typically low depth of discharge (short work commute). IIRC the only problem with it was the main toroid on hte output stage came off the board, and was easy to resolder and fix, but I wouldn't recommend these chargers as on-bike because you'd probably have to pot it to prevent that sort of thing permanently, and I don't know how well it would work at high power levels after that, cuz it does get hot even fan cooled.

I have a smaller 3A similar charger (HiPower?) that only peaks current every few seconds, and lowers current quite a lot for most of it's charge time, so it takes a LOT longer to charge the same amount than it should for being only "1A" less than the KP charger, adjusted to the same final voltage. I don't remember any problems with it directly, but had a power cord with it that dind't make a good connection and arced, sometimes causing it to not work or to stop working during charge. Replacing the standard IEC AC cord to the wall fixed that with no further issues.

The charger presently used for this is actually from a Cellman A123 pack bought used from an ES member. I think it's called Modary, and is rated for 5A peak current but I haven't ever seen even 4A out of it. It doesn't greatly decrease charging times over the KP charger because of the shallow DoD, but after long trips where I use a lot more power, it definitely makes a difference. It is still adjusted to 58.4V, as it came to me, which is a little higher than normal for hte EIG pack but is not very much over. It makes the cells 4.17V instead of 4.15V, at end of charge. It is adjustable but I haven't done it yet. The only problem I have had with it was because Tiny (I think) knocked my riding pants over the charger after it had shutdown, and it hten overheated and blew the thermal fuse inside the transformer tape, because "shutdown" doesn't mean "off" and it still stays quite warm from it's standby power usage. Easy fix of bypassing the fuse (till I get another one someday).


I also use 4 EIG NMC cells as a lighting (and laptop) pack, in 4s 1p for 16.4V (4.1V/cell) fully charged. Even on my short work commute I usually use several Ah out of it's 20Ah, cuz my car headlight eats current at that voltage (but at least I can see pretty well with it, despite other car lights in my face from opposing traffic).

I use a Turnigy Accucel6, used from BikeFanatic, for charging that one, on LiIo mode at 5A level. The DC input jack for the 12V wall brick broke off, and I wired the brick straight in, only problem so far with it, though the fan is dying now. I have a second identical unit that had already had 1/2 of the LCD fail while BF was still using it, which is probably why BF stopped using either of them and sent them to me. Not sure what that says about reliability of the units, so not sure if I'd recommend them or not. They DO work with that charger logging program via USB, (forgot the name, sorry), so you can log the data from testing packs with them.



My secondary pack is an RC LiPo from Turnigy and Zippy 5Ah packs, some "new" and some repaired, as 14s 2p, for 10Ah. No BMS, just occasional monitoring/testing via balance leads. I also charge this to 58.1V normally, becuase I typically paralled it with the EIG pack for extra range and performance (less sag during acceleration). Charging is done in parallel, too, so the same chargers are used the same way.



Then there is the Cellman A123 pack which is 16s 1p for 20Ah at 58.4V fully charged. This uses that Modiary charger exclusively so far, since that's what came with it. It has a BMS, though I haven't ever opened the pack up to check it out.



A much larger charging solution, which is NOT portable :lol: that I am working on getting setup now (has just been tested on the NMC/RC packs at 16-17A ok), is a Sorenson DCS-55-55 Laboratory Power Supply in series with an Icecube57-modded Dell(?) 12V 50A+ server supply, to get me the necessary voltage boost over the Sorenson's max 55V (56V really) needed to charge my present 58.xV packs, and the 66.4V total I'll need to use a 16s versoin of the NMC/RC setup later, for a little more Wh in the same boxes (ammocans have enough extra space for that size).

I can easily get more than 3KW charging power (50A+) with this setup, in theory, though I would need more than single-phase 220VAC to run the Sorenson from to do that--it'll still easily do 1.5KW charging (25A+), at least, as it is.

The Dell server PSU is pretty small and light, but very very loud with the fast-flow fan on it's end. I can probably mod that to run slower and quieter when it's not actually hot, but no need right now. So far no issues with it, except that it does't actually start up at the full voltage until you put a load on it, so in order to setup a charging voltage I either need to calculate what to set the Sorenson to, and hope it all totals correctly, or I have to connect a lightbulb or something as load on the Dell and then measure the total series voltage output of the system, as I adjsut the Sorenson.

The Sorenson has had no issues at all, so far, and it came to me used from a local friend, who got it used from a business that used it for years constantly running before that.

I'd just set it up at the voltage and current I need and leave it, but I also use it for testing just about everything that needs DC power, from LED lighting to other batteries, cells, etc., to various electronics that don't have their wallwarts with them when I get them.


I also have a Venom RC charger from SoSauty, but the reason he gave it to me was cuz it's wallbrick PSU had died and he figured I could fix that...and I guess taht's actually a common issue with them. Of course, you can use any 12V source for it, so it's not that big a deal. the other problme I have had since I started using it was buttons breaking off (actual switches inside the unit), so i run it without hte cover and press them with a pencil or pen or whatever's handy. It does work, and it also works iwth that logging software on the PC, via USB. it's a clone of some other unit (BC168? I can't remmeber now) so other than it's color and name it's a widely-used type out in the RC world, apparently.



I don't presently use them but I also have some very-well-used NiMH packs and the HiPower chargers that came with them, which I did have to fix, IIRC, but I don't remember what was wrong. Probably the details are in posts in the DayGlo Avenger and/or CrazyBike2 threads from 3+ years ago.

I used to have a Vpower/CammyCC LiFePO4 pack made of cylindrical cells, but it seems to have gone missing after the fire, when the sheds were broken into waiting on the house to be rebuilt, along with it's BMS (and presumably it's charger, but I don't think those were together so I might still have the charger). I had to repair both of them more than once, so I don't recommend them. I think all hte details of it are in the repair thread for it.



Presently, I'd have to say that the "best" charging units I have are the Sorenson and Dell PSU in series, given their sturdiness and power capabilities...but they are also not exactly plug-and-play.

The RC chargers I have are nice because they *are* PnP, though not nearly as "reliable" or high-power, and they are programmable as well, and I think they can remember various configurations for you to select from for different packs, though I don't use them that way.



Once I can, I will post pics and model number details for the above, where I still have them.

 

[Ohbse]

....I have updated to two Lineage Power CP1800AC52 PSU's that I bought for $24 USD each

Ohh nice , useful power supply.
did you source those locally, or luck into a USA Ebay sale ?

Ebay Brand new, but missing their plastic facias. Shipping them to NZ cost me double their purchase price, but still cheap.

One thing to note with the Powerlab8 is that it's limited to 40a charge rate. If you're paralleling a big bunch of 4s packs this effectively limits your charge wattage to 650watt, substantially less than its rated output which is at 8s. after you've had 1.5kw+ 650 watt *sucks*

 

[Ohbse]

Guys - for those in the UK (and maybe elsewhere) HERE is a source for 2x brand new 2KW units very similar (but more powerful) than the ones that I bought. Not quite as cheap at ~$60USD, but still very affordable for a top notch PSU.

 

[Hillhater]

I have several charging systems, the usual various HK RC chargers, Dell 50A PSU's, Meanwell clones (variable voltage), etc etc
but no point in repeating what most know already.
However, my main charger currently is probably unique to a few... A KP Multi Charger unit i scooped from Ebay for $10 BNIB !

I detailed my exploits in another thread , so i wont repeat all here, other than to say its basicly a 4 channel unit, with each channel internally adjustable from about 14v to 30+ volts and 10 amps. All channels are fully isolated , and fused, and indiviually terminated to a multi pin socket,..so i can configure anything from 14 volts to 120 volts at 10 amps max. Or even parallel up channels to charge at higher current.
Its mains supply, 100% reliable, quiet, cool, (twin fans ) and obviously fully auto CC/CV lipo profile with shut off
Really, all its lacking is built in volt & amp displays , ..but a Wattmeter takes care of that. !
I really should not say its lacking anything...for $10 !
https://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=55934

 

[teslanv]

Hillhater,
THAT looks awesome. And for $10. Seen any more on ebay lately?

 

[Hillhater]

. Seen any more on ebay lately?

I wish !! 8)
Apparently they were supplied with some Elec scooters, but i dont know which ones.

 

[Wheels_78]

....I have updated to two Lineage Power CP1800AC52 PSU's that I bought for $24 USD each

Ohh nice , useful power supply.
did you source those locally, or luck into a USA Ebay sale ?

Ebay Brand new, but missing their plastic facias. Shipping them to NZ cost me double their purchase price, but still cheap.

One thing to note with the Powerlab8 is that it's limited to 40a charge rate. If you're paralleling a big bunch of 4s packs this effectively limits your charge wattage to 650watt, substantially less than its rated output which is at 8s. after you've had 1.5kw+ 650 watt *sucks*

By the time I was investing the time to parallel harness that many batts, I'd do series/parallel and take full advantage of the charger... You hit the problem again @ anything>4s though and that's what pisses me off as someone who owns two of the damned things. They should be internally isolated so that two of them can be put in series as a 16s charger or 3 as a 24s etc.

They made such a big fuss over how they can be linked as "master/slave" units, and what does it amount to? Nothing.
WOW! so you mean I can turn that 8s charger on by using the controls on this identical 8s charger!?!?! Mind blowing!!!!

They'd be the cats ass, and worth every penny, if you could balance charge high cell counts without breaking the pack down... But, you can't.

 

[Paladin]

Started using this a couple months ago, works ok. Gives high cell voltage reading on balance charge sometimes.
EV-Peak Q6320AC 320w/80w x4.
Can charge and balance NiMH, NiCd, LiPo, LiFe, Lilon and Pb(lead).
It can be used as a power supply 3-24v.
You can get similar x4 chargers without PS for under $100.
Here is my electric spaghetti.

edit-
After using this charger for about 6 months, I have come to the conclusion that it is JUNK. Charges fine half the time, overvolts the cells and sets off alarms the other half.
My B6AC+ SKYcharger never does this weird random-ness.

 

[Ohbse]

By the time I was investing the time to parallel harness that many batts, I'd do series/parallel and take full advantage of the charger... You hit the problem again @ anything>4s though and that's what pisses me off as someone who owns two of the damned things. They should be internally isolated so that two of them can be put in series as a 16s charger or 3 as a 24s etc.

They made such a big fuss over how they can be linked as "master/slave" units, and what does it amount to? Nothing.
WOW! so you mean I can turn that 8s charger on by using the controls on this identical 8s charger!?!?! Mind blowing!!!!

They'd be the cats ass, and worth every penny, if you could balance charge high cell counts without breaking the pack down... But, you can't.

I hear you - however with my 20s pack i'm left in the awkward scenario of having a 4s block left over if I charged 2x 8s. Yeah it might be faster, but only if I get there as it finishes the first 16s to reconfigure for the last 4s. At least with 4s in parallel it's set and forget. All that to say, Adaptto onboard charging is the best.

 

[Wheels_78]

By the time I was investing the time to parallel harness that many batts, I'd do series/parallel and take full advantage of the charger... You hit the problem again @ anything>4s though and that's what pisses me off as someone who owns two of the damned things. They should be internally isolated so that two of them can be put in series as a 16s charger or 3 as a 24s etc.

They made such a big fuss over how they can be linked as "master/slave" units, and what does it amount to? Nothing.
WOW! so you mean I can turn that 8s charger on by using the controls on this identical 8s charger!?!?! Mind blowing!!!!

They'd be the cats ass, and worth every penny, if you could balance charge high cell counts without breaking the pack down... But, you can't.

I hear you - however with my 20s pack i'm left in the awkward scenario of having a 4s block left over if I charged 2x 8s. Yeah it might be faster, but only if I get there as it finishes the first 16s to reconfigure for the last 4s. At least with 4s in parallel it's set and forget. All that to say, Adaptto onboard charging is the best.

Yep, got me there... Hadn't thought of odd #'s of packs.

I considered on board when making decisions about my bike but I'm in a condo and with no power @ my parking stall it would actually be more hassle bringing the bike inside to charge it than pulling out the packs and taking them upstairs. I'm using 6 7s packs so, taped together in blocks of 3 they're not a lot of trouble to move around. 8-10-12 packs or more would be a different story though.

 

[spinningmagnets]

After a short while, I fried the tiny power supply that was the first that I bought to use with a 6S RC charger. Here is what I replaced it with, and it is the smallest and cheapest I would recommend to anyone. $40 25A Power-Supply. It has a metal case and is fan-cooled. It takes 120 VAC/240 VAC, 50 hz / 60 hz, and converts it to 14V DC @ 25A

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=9205