Balance charging under $200

[MorbidlyObeseKoala]

I have some Lipo and some Lion in my collection. Are there options on a reasonable balance charger that will do multiple chemistries and multiple cell counts under $200? I currently have a painfully slow charger that will do up to 6s but I really do not like leaving multiple Lipos at full charge overnight or a long period of time while I wait on the rest of the cells to catch up.

Seems like ICGOGO has one for $289 (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/10...o.store_pc_groupList.8148356.7.448530d4FhH6s8) that a certain youtube channel slapped a vinyl sticker on and is adding another $100 or $150 to. But that is a bulk option

And there are some on Amazon or HobbyKing for $100 https://www.amazon.com/ISDT-Touchs...=toys-and-games&sr=1-23&ts_id=2234135011&th=1 but those require a separate power supply.

I know there are people using server power supplies with a fair amount of added circuitry added to mimic a charger but I don't think I am ready to invite risk into building the charger itself. Just looking for an adjustable balance option with fewer steps.

Also have a spouse who will eventually have a strong opinion about the basement filling up with so many voltage specific equipment lol

 

[calab]

iCharger
https://www.buddyrc.com/collections/icharger

Price range varies but take a look.

People are using server psu's to power their rc chargers. 12v 60a is the most common and can be put in series for 24v 60a, 36v 60a and 48v 60a. There is not much to convert them, isolate the gnd and do the noise hack. They are not used to charge anything, they are used to power the rc chargers that require dc voltage.
Find the info on ES or https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/index.php?s=7137f71d1008cfd4a5dc3b18335e99c3&

I havent read of anyone using a computer power supply for charging, you need specific features like constant current and constant voltage and strictly power supplies dont do it. So please do not do it, just buy a charger.

Some may call the Meanwell that are used to charge batteries a psu, RSP, HRP and some of the l.e.d. models are commonly used for bulk charging, but those have cc and cv. Other models of MW's can be paralleled for higher amps, its a special feature and your paying for it.

 

[dominik h]

Isdt Q8 very small for 20A . I have two in my mobile charging case with integrated 6S60Ah battery.

Hota D6 cheap and good

Or a used Junsi 4010Duo or the smaller versions

 

[jimmyhackers]

i too can recomend isdt chargers.

you will need a seperate supply, but they are 100% worth it. old pc power supply will be fine/cheap if you have one or ebay it.

they do 300w 600w and think 800w versions.

although ive noted with my 600w one it will only do upto 300w with a 12v supply. that is still a 6s lipo at 10a charge rate.

again... isdts are great.

they do everything and more. you can set max charge voltages to the 0.00v. they have a battery resistance tester function.
ive seen them do data graphs if you plug them into a pc.....but i havnt tried this yet.

all in all a real good bit of kit.

also.....bonus....sortof....you can run them off of a dc battery....like most rc balance chargers tbh. so you can power off your car or off a battery wherever you like.

 

[scianiac]

I have an ISDT and toolkitRC M8 and both have served me well, the ISDTs are just about the perfect balance of features, reliability and accuracy. The toolkit does have more features but is better if you calibrate it and some of said features can backfire if you start hooking it up in weird ways.

As for a power supply I have numerous server PSUs for these things and generally they all just require a single resistor soldered across two pins (which you can often just lookup online which two) and that's it. I even have 5 server PSUs stacked on top of each other to make a monster 60V 3.75kw PSU (don't do this unless you know what you are doing and even then it's probably a bad idea). Another cheap option I've use a lot is old laptop PSUs, these are often higher voltage (but often in the range of hobby chargers) and have decent power output. Also you can pickup an Xbox 360 power brick on ebay for like nothing and those are 12V decent output, nice and self contained, again just requires shorting two wires to turn them on. All of these options are cheap or free.