Cool High power charger on the cheap.

[Dr. Gonzo]

I have been back into the hobby about 2 years. Flying 3s packs of 450mah, 1300mah and 2200 mostly. I have just been using a little Imax B6AC. Just a 50w, 5a charger. I fly at home so it really is not a big deal. Charge and fly, repeat.
I decided I should upgrade my charger with my recent acquisition of some larger planes. My budget has been pretty thin lately, plus it is in my nature to find the best bang for the buck. So I went and built my own 24v power supply. I used two DPS-600b power supplies. $32 and a couple packs of motor bullets, I am into A 47 AMP 1100 watt power supply for under $40! This would be almost the same as the Solidhobby supplies. I must say, for the nice features and power cord they supply the SOLID HOBBY supplies are top notch and cannot be beat if you are not the DIY type. With the work that goes into these the price they ask is VERY resonable. I enjoy these kind of projects. So for me it was worth the hassle. In the end it turned out good and works well.

 

[Dr. Gonzo]

So the hunt begins for the charger. I scoured ebay for weeks and various forums both heli and airplane. All the "good"(iCharger and Revolectrix) chargers that show up just are not a good enough deal to justify not buying new. I would have had a good deal on a powerlab had the poster responded sooner. So I stumble across what I consider the best deal in charging at the moment. The Hyperion EOS 0730i. 30 amps and 550 watts plus PC connectivity! Not the coolest or most powerful, but a big step up for me. The best part was I got it from a large local heli vendor (Experience RC) $99 and free shipping to boot! How can you beat that? It is also available on EBAY and other retail websites. Just don't spread the word too far. I may have to add a second. That would be more power than the 720i duo for less money. :bouncy:

 

[Dr. Gonzo]

So for $140 a little ingenuity and way to much time spent on the crazy interwebz (researching) I have a decent power charging station with a great power supply. I tend to really over analize everything I buy. It is just part of the fun for me. I don't think this can be beat. Plus I can charge 6 450 packs in parallel in about 20 min! If you can find a better value anywhere I would be surprised. I hope this helps someone in a similar situation get powered up on the cheap with few compromises. I may add bluetooth to this bad boy as well. Just because it would be fun.

 

[SnowDog]

that is a very nice setup there Dr. Gonzo! You should be proud of yourself for putting that together with the budget you listed...nicely done, neat and clean...I like it!

I'm not a do-it-yourselfer, so I bought a power supply from SolidHobby.com and I found a used iCharger 306b on this forum for a GREAT price, and I'm very happy with my setup as well.

Gotta love parallel charging!!! I can do three 6S5000's at 30amps (10amps each/2C) on mine and that is awesome (at least compared to what I used to have )

 

[Dr. Gonzo]

Thanks dog! Big step up for sure. Tbe 306b is a nice unit. I almost went that route myself. In the end I went budget, at least for now. I am super happy with this setup. It was a fun project. The thing that swayed me was computer connectivity and being able to connect 2 units together. So 1100 duo charger for $198 is a smokin deal I figure. So you can upgrade again as needed. So anyone looking to upgrade on the cheap, this is it to the best of my knowledge