Multi Function Battery Charger

[kristophz]

Hi all

 

I'm in the market for a multi function battery balancing charger/discharger and wondered what people recommended?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Kris

[DerDer]

Sky RC Q200. So you can charge or discharge four lipos at once. Also has the benefit of lighting up like the death star control room. 

[EDcase]

While that is a good charger, I think it may be a bit extreme.

 

Anything SkyRC would be good like this one (LiPo only)

Personally I like my SkyRC B6AC which does LiPo, NiMh and more (Must be a genuine one)

 

Have a read through this thread.

 

Don't buy anything for less than £10

 

Edited March 17, 2021 by EDcase

[kristophz]

@DerDer, thanks for the suggestion however that looks a little overkill and quite pricey for my liking. Looks great though!

 

@EDcase, I was actually looking at the SkyRC iMAX B6AC V2 on their website and quite liked the look of it. Where would you recommend I go to purchase a genuine one as I have read there are a lot of nasty copies floating around...

Edited March 17, 2021 by kristophz

[Speedbird_666]

48 minutes ago, DerDer said:

Sky RC Q200. So you can charge or discharge four lipos at once. Also has the benefit of lighting up like the death star control room. 

Nice charger, but a bit overkill.

 

A SkyRC S65 would be a safe bet (there's no nasty clones of them) for £32 https://www.hobbyrc.co.uk/skyrc-s65-65w-6a-ac-balance-charger

 

Or for an extra £11, you can charge two batteries simultaneously https://www.hobbyrc.co.uk/skyrc-t100-100w-ac-dual-charger

 

Do NOT buy anything with an Airsoft manufacturer's name printed on them (looking at you Nuprol). They take old charger design chargers, stick their logo on, and charge you more money for them.

 

And get one with at least a basic screen so you can do stuff like check cell voltages and internal resistance.

 

 

 

[kristophz]

@Speedbird_666 the SkyRC T100 100W AC Dual Battery Charger looks to be a nice charger and at a decent price as well, I think I may have found my choice! Thank you

[DerDer]

Would second the recommendation of avoiding  airsoft rebrands. You can usually get very decent charger from RC car or Heli suppliers. Lastly make sure to check if the charger includes the needed leads or if you have to purchase separately. Can be unpleasant to get your shiny new charger and have no means to connect your lipos to it. 

[EDcase]

The UK plug is out of stock but if you're happy to change the plug then you can get this one

[Speedbird_666]

1 minute ago, DerDer said:

Would second the recommendation of avoiding  airsoft rebrands. You can usually get very decent charger from RC car or Heli suppliers. Lastly make sure to check if the charger includes the needed leads or if you have to purchase separately. Can be unpleasant to get your shiny new charger and have no means to connect your lipos to it. 

 

That's a good point, but not many chargers come with leads anymore. As the RC world is largely XT60, the chargers are just built with integrated XT60 connectors.

 

@kristophz, you might need something like this (if running Deans connectors) or this (mini Tamiya).

 

If you run mini tamiya on your batteries, airsoft uses reversed polarity, so you need to switch the pins over. You can use the inside of a Biro to unpin the connector (charger side only! don't do it to the battery)

 

 

4 minutes ago, EDcase said:

The UK plug is out of stock but if you're happy to change the plug then you can get this one

 

My last global warehouse order from Hobbyking took 8 weeks to arrive. I'd urge caution buying from abroad at the moment. The UK warehouse is fine though.

 

[kristophz]

@EDcase thank you for the link!

 

@Speedbird_666 if I were to get the SkyRC T100 100W AC Dual Battery Charger what leads would you recommend I buy alongside it?

[EDcase]

1 minute ago, Speedbird_666 said:

My last global warehouse order from Hobbyking took 8 weeks to arrive. I'd urge caution buying from abroad at the moment. The UK warehouse is fine though.

Yes that is a problem now

[Speedbird_666]

1 minute ago, kristophz said:

@EDcase thank you for the link!

 

@Speedbird_666 if I were to get the SkyRC T100 100W AC Dual Battery Charger what leads would you recommend I buy alongside it?

 

I linked a couple on eBay in my previous post. It depends if your batteries/guns have mini-Tamiya, or Deans connectors.

 

 

[kristophz]

@Speedbird_666 so you did, thank you! I've gone ahead and ordered the SkyRC T100 along with the 2 items you've suggested from eBay! Thank you for your help, that also goes to everyone else in this thread...thank you for your suggestions!!

[Speedbird_666]

6 minutes ago, kristophz said:

@Speedbird_666 so you did, thank you! I've gone ahead and ordered the SkyRC T100 along with the 2 items you've suggested from eBay! Thank you for your help, that also goes to everyone else in this thread...thank you for your suggestions!!

 

If you get stuck, or need any pointers, feel free to ask on here and we'll point you in the right direction.

[kristophz]

@Speedbird_666 fantastic! Thank you, still quite the noob when it comes knowing the ins and outs of Airsoft batteries and chargers as you've probably guessed 🤣

[kristophz]

Hi all, so my SkyRC T100 has been delivered and wondered if anyone could advise what amperage I should be using for the following batteries:

 

11.1v 1450mAh (Fitted in imitation PEQ-15 )

11.1v 1100mAh 20C (Fitted in imitation PEQ-15)

11.1v 1300mAh 15C

 

Thanks in advance, is there an idiots guide to battery charging someone can point me to please?

[Speedbird_666]

9 hours ago, kristophz said:

11.1v 1450mAh (Fitted in imitation PEQ-15 )

11.1v 1100mAh 20C (Fitted in imitation PEQ-15)

11.1v 1300mAh 15C

 

Charging currents for your LiPos:

 

1.4 amps

1.1 amps

1.3 amps

 

This will mean they are charged at or very close to 1C,  which is what you want. Charging over 1C of the battery's capacity will reduce it's lifespan and damage the cells. Go mad with the Amps while charging, and you potentially have a fire to deal with.

 

The 'C' Rating in the number of Amps, compared to capacity, that a battery can safely deliver in operation.

 

So for example, a 1000mAh (1000mAh = 1 Amp) Lipo, rated at 20C, can deliver up to 20 Amps of current constantly.

 

So your 1300mAh LiPo at 15c is good for 19.5A (1.3 x 15) constantly while in use. Your 1100mAh at 20 is good for 22A (1.1 x 15) constantly while in use.

 

Many LiPos will give two 'C' numbers, for example 20-40C. The lower number indicates the constant power that can be delivered without harming that battery, the higher number representing the short-duration (~10 seconds) maximum Burst power that the LiPo can safely deliver without significantly degrading the lifespan of the LiPo.

 

All LiPos degrade with use over the years, you are looking at 200-300 charges before replacement is needed. They start to degrade from first use onwards.

 

So to get the best life out of your batteries:

• Never charge at more than 1C of the battery's capacity.
• When you get home from playing, always 'Storage Charge' your LiPos. There will be a setting on your charger that will makes sure that the cells on you LiPos are either charged or discharged to around 3.85V. Use the same Amp setting as charging the LiPo. If you have a full battery (4.2V per cell) that you haven't used and you don't storage charge, you might find that it will either degrade quicker (i.e. lose capacity), or eventually 'puff', where the gases created within the LiPo cause it to expand like a balloon.

 

• Never let the LiPos over-discharge (below 3.5v per cell), that'll kill them fairly quickly and can also cause puffing as above. Change smaller batteries (below 1500mAh) at least once during a game day, maybe twice if you are heavy on the trigger.
• Beyond storage charging, make sure you LiPos are stored in a cool place. Heat can kill them too (again, puffing). Some people use an ammo can from a surplus shop with the seal removed, which is OK-ish for smaller batteries. If you can, store well away from your living space (a shed or garage for example).

Hope the above helps.

 

Here's a handy video - RC based but identical theory:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 20, 2021 by Speedbird_666

[EDcase]

Good summing up and useful video Speedbird

 

I always charge at less than 1C since I'm not in a hurry the day before a game.

As mentioned in the video, charging at 1C is usually the maximum rate you can charge a battery but it will be kinder to it if you charge a bit lower.

[Speedbird_666]

21 minutes ago, EDcase said:

As mentioned in the video, charging at 1C is usually the maximum rate you can charge a battery but it will be kinder to it if you charge a bit lower.

 

Yep, you're right. But I've have always charged at 1C with no ill effects for the last 15 or so years that I've doing RC and Airsoft. I have edited to post slightly though.

 

Edited March 20, 2021 by Speedbird_666

[kristophz]

Sorry for the late reply, @Speedbird_666 thank you for all the information above! It's really appreciated!

[kristophz]

Hi all, hopefully the last query on this post...

 

I bought myself an XT60 to mini Tamiya adapter seen in the first image attached, however when I went to connect either of the batteries shown I got a "Reverse Polarity" error and then realised that the live and negative wires didn't not match the configuration of the battery connector wires.

 

I bought the adapter cable from eBay, is this right? Are there different types of XT60 to Mini Tamiya cables out there?

 

On the batters the live (red) wire leads to the circle male part of the connector and the negative (black) wire leads to the square male part of the adapter, this is the other way round on the XT60-Mini Tamiya cable.

[concretesnail]

Airsoft standards are reversed to rc standards so it not uncommon to find adaptors sold favour the rc standard.

The quickest and easiest fix is to pop the pins out of the tamiya connector and swap them over to match your battery.

Having said that I'd also recommend swapping the tamiya connector out completely for either a deans or xt type connector, both are much better connectors.

[Speedbird_666]

Further up this very thread I posted a video on how to swap the pins on a mini tamiya using a biro. I also covered the reverse-polarity issue with Airsoft connectors.

 

On 17/03/2021 at 12:56, Speedbird_666 said:

If you run mini tamiya on your batteries, airsoft uses reversed polarity, so you need to switch the pins over. You can use the inside of a Biro to unpin the connector (charger side only! don't do it to the battery)

 

 

 

 

[kristophz]

55 minutes ago, Speedbird_666 said:

Further up this very thread I posted a video on how to swap the pins on a mini tamiya using a biro. I also covered the reverse-polarity issue with Airsoft connectors.

 

 

 

Apologies, I totally missed that part of the post! I'd never have thought of using a biro to remove the metal connector from the plastic jacket...fantastic! Thank you

 

I was totally focusing on the part about what settings to use for charging the batteries due to knowing how dangerous they can be if things go wrong.

 

@Speedbird_666 and @concretesnail thank you for your suggestions!

[kristophz]

Hi all, does anyone rate these batteries or have a recommendation for a reputable brand?

 

https://www.patrolbase.co.uk/vp-racing-11-1v-1300-25c-lipo-crange-stock-battery

 

I'm looking for something that would fit nicely in the standard G&G crane stock, the battery above looks perfect due to it's length.