Just got my IRIS+ today. Ordered a few extra batteries. Was thinking of picking up an additional charger, possibly one with a few more features. What would people suggest?? No need for multi battery charging, but I see some have a discharge and storage charge feature, those two would be a must as I'm sure I won't be flying from December until April.
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What did you decide on? I'm looking for something faster than the stock charger, and preferably able to charge more than 1 at a time.
On the back of the battery I received with my IRIS+ it says to not charge at a greater rate than 5C. That means you can charge the batteries at 25A... 10 minute charge (unless I am misunderstanding something)
Matt
Why would you want to fast charge your battery is beyond me, it weakens the cells and it shortens the life of the battery, I have been in RC for over 15 years and one thing I learned the hard way is slow charge your batteries to keep them in top shape and never let the battery go below 10.7 volts during flight. I use a E flite CELECTRA multi chemistry battery charger and never charge faster than 1.5 amps it takes a while but I have had batteries last for over two years also. I also put a storage charge on them when they are going to sit for a while because of weather. Guess it is all dependent on how much money you have to throw away.
If this is true I would like to know because I do not want to shorten the life span of my LiPo's but nothing I have read indicates that charging them at the rate indicated on the battery by the manufacturer as an acceptable rate is harmful for them. I know until recently the battery technology would not allow charge rates of 5C (it was only 1C for the longest time) are you thinking about charging batteries at a rate higher than what is specified by the manufacturer? in that case I agree with you.
Fast charging causes excessive heat which in turn causes the breakdown of the chemicals in the battery and it is that excessive heat that shortens the life of the battery. When I charge my battery at 1.5 amp my battery temp never gets any higher than 65 degrees and the cells are in perfect balance where as when I fast charge my battery temp can exceed 120 degrees and the cell balance is always out on one cell. You can believe what you want but I have been doing this for years and have batteries that are two years old that are still in top shape. I would say that if you are in that big of a hurry to fly then buy more batteries instead of abusing the one's you already have. I own four batteries for my Iris+ and at $35.00 on Amazon it is just to cheap of a price to destroy my batteries that I already own.
Why do you think that a manufacture tells you it is ok to fast charge? Because they know it will shorten the life and in turn you will need to replace faster thus in turn making more sales for them, sure it is unlikely that it will cause anything like a lipo fire but it will shorten your battery life and making you replace your battery faster after all they are in the business to make money by selling more product!
I wouldn't rule out a multi battery charger. if you charge at a rate of more than 1 amp per 1000 MaH, you will significantly reduce the life of your batteries. If you charge the 3DR 5100 batteries @ 5 amps, it will take a little more than an hour. If you get 15 minutes of flight time from a battery, then you will need 4 batteries for an hour of flight time. And then it will take 4 hours to recharge all 4. That means you need to baby sit the charger for 4 hours!!
A multi charger will keep you in freshly charged batteries all day and will only require an hour to baby sit the charging process at home.
Food for thought! Just my 2 pennies.
http://www.hobbypartz.com/75p-t6-multi-charger.html
This charger is out of stock. :( Do you possibly have another recommendation? I'm pulling my hair out waiting on the stocl IRIS+ charger. I would really like to charge more than 1 battery at a time!
I just got this charger myself: http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__49420__X100_AC_DC_100W_Touch...
This has a very nice display and will work on battery power as well.
Very easy to operate and gets the job done.
That's a nice looking charger! Can it output above 50W on AC power, or do you need to go to the external DC power for the higher charging rates?
Yes, just got done charging the 3DR 3S 5100 battery at 8 amps in just over 20 Minutes. That's 96 watts on AC power.
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