Charger Opinions

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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    • Wow that's awesome. Out of curiosity what charge times were you getting on the stock charger?? I was trying to charge today for the first time and after and hour and a half I had to pull the plug and head to work. Seems really long, don't know if the stock charger I got is bad or the battery.

    • With my original charger from 3DR the SkyRC 4e it takes about 2:40 to charge the IRIS+ battery.

      That's one of the reasons I was looking for another charger besides being able to charge remotely since most jobs take more than 10 Minutes of flight time to complete.

      Also to plan two hours in advance of when you think you might want to fly is just not in my nature.

       

    • WOW, that's horrible. I guess I need to do all my charging tonight for tomorrow. The X100 looks really good and simple to use which is what I also need. I've been trying to figure out all the math with the battery, so charging at 8 amps is fine and won't be an issue?

    • Need to keep track of the 1C 2C options here.  The original IRIS battery is a 3500 battery so 1C = 3.5 Amps and 2C = 7 Amps,

      The IRIS+ battery is 5100 so 1C = 5.1 Amps and 2C = 10.2 Amps.

      There are a number of articles about how fast to charge a battery.

       

    • Thanks, yeah I've been doing a lot of reading on batteries today. But that is the best explanation. So technically the IRIS+ battery could be charged at 10.2 Amps. Needless to say I have an X100 on order, and it max setting I would be abel to get out of it anyway would be 8 amps.

      I'm a bit surprised 3DR went with such a low powered charger. I mean the x100 is only $50 I would think they could source a charger with a similar power.

    • It's all about cost and convenience.  It's a great starter charger that will not get you into trouble.  With the original IRIS battery it would take just under 2 hours to charge and now with the new battery they may need to re-think that.

      I think new and less expensive chargers have just started to hit the market and I know I have been looking for a while now before settling on the X100.

      So far the wait has not disappointed.

      iMax is also the brand that 3DR has used. B3

      Also go to the iMax website and get the manual.  The one that comes with it is so small you will need a magnifying class to read it.

      http://www.imaxrc.com/X100.html

       

    • Sweet.  I wish I had known about this option a month ago.  While I'm happy with my solution, yours is a bit cleaner and would have easily met my needs, and had been cheaper too (as I don't yet need to be charging in the field).

  • We use several Turnigy Accucel-6 50W and they're very worthwhile.

  • I bought a Turnigy 8150. It will require a DC Power Supply as well, but it'll go up to 150W, which as you get larger batteries, will allow you to charge more rapidly. https://www.hobbyking.com/.../__7523__Turnigy_Accucel_8... For a power supply, there are folks out there who will inexpensively modify PC-type server power supplies for a good price. I found a good on on the RCGroups site. I bought this one, and have been very happy. Considering the weight, since this price includes shipping, I consider it a very good deal. http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2272508

    John

  • I have a Hyperion 720i.

    https://sites.google.com/site/tjinguytech/my-projects/HP47A for a cheap DIY 12v supply.  I bought 2 from ebay for 20 bucks one is in use, the other is waiting around.

    Convert HP server power supply for RC use - TJinTech
    Home of TJinGuy's heli info
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