Discussion My Favorite Charger. Pros & Cons

[Murocflyer]

Hard to believe there is not a thread on this yet. I need some help and I was hoping to get some solid info from my friends here on 3DRC.

I'm looking to upgrade my charger. I have two Cellpro multi 4S chargers that I love, but would like a more versatile charger. I need to charge 1 cell LiPos up to a 4s LiPo. I also need to charge mutiple batteries at the same time -that is the LimFac of my Cellpro.

Can you guys share your charger experiences and let us know what you use and why?

Thanks,

Frank

 

[Ohio AV8TOR]

I recite fly went all in this year with a Cellpro PowerLab 8 (PL8) and absolutely love it. I charge to 6S 3300's and has no problem charging 4 of them under 15 minutes. I have also had a iCharger 306b which is also a pretty capable charger with just 10 amps less power but one area where the PowerLabs really shine is in balancing power. They simply lead the field here. No slow waiting period at the end with the balancing power. If you are not doing parallel charging now get into it as its a huge time saver. You can save some coin and go with the smaller PL6 which is everything the PL8 is but slightly less power. What I mean there is balancing power and power supply requirements as both have 40 A outputs.

 

[wedoitall]

i have the PL6 and its awesome. The price at first kinda had me on the ropes on make'n a decision, but im glad i made the RIGHT decision. Im sure others are good chargers but from my research im not sure that any other charger can beat the PowerLabs. Well...... anything that's reasonable $$$$$.

 

[Feral]

You cannot go past the powerlab's pl6 or pl8 both are awsome

 

[Murocflyer]

That's the exact feedback I have been getting. Everyone I talk to says get the PL6 or the PL8 if you want the top of the line. I do not think there has ever been a consensus in the history of RC, but there has been now. Looks like this is an easy decision.

Thanks again,

Frank

 

[joshgluck]

That's the exact feedback I have been getting. Everyone I talk to says get the PL6 or the PL8 if you want the top of the line. I do not think there has ever been a consensus in the history of RC, but there has been now. Looks like this is an easy decision.

Thanks again,

Frank

Anyone field charging on a pl8 from a battery? I'd like to charge my 6s 3300, 4400 and 5500 packs at the field. What's a good setup? I was thinking about getting a 1000w inverter to connect a dell server ps to power the pl8 like I do at home but run it off the truck at the field w the engine running. Thoughts? I'd like to run 40 amps for parallel but would settle for 20

 

[Feral]

Yeah man I run 2 deep cycles for field charging and a 1200w Efuel power supply @24v when there's mains power

 

[Ohio AV8TOR]

Anyone field charging on a pl8 from a battery? I'd like to charge my 6s 3300, 4400 and 5500 packs at the field. What's a good setup? I was thinking about getting a 1000w inverter to connect a dell server ps to power the pl8 like I do at home but run it off the truck at the field w the engine running. Thoughts? I'd like to run 40 amps for parallel but would settle for 20

I have not done that yet because our field has power but if you are not aware of this you might find this cool as I did but with the PowerLab chargers you and set limits on your DC power input and battery inputs independently. What that does is not allow you to draw more than you could/should from each. With the computer software they actually list many different batteries to just pick from/

 

[SnowDog]

I've been using an iCharger 306B for the last year and I'm extremely happy with it. I don't know of anyone having any issues with these chargers and the prices are very reasonable. Anyone else with an iCharger that wants to chime in here?

 

[Ohio AV8TOR]

I've been using an iCharger 306B for the last year and I'm extremely happy with it. I don't know of anyone having any issues with these chargers and the prices are very reasonable. Anyone else with an iCharger that wants to chime in here?

I charged two years with my 306B and only issues was I could never get the 3rd party graphing to work and a little slow on large capacity packs finishing up the balancing. Yes it's a good deal for the price (never let me down charge wise)...............but................. and there is always a but, it's not a PowerLab. Just as 3DHS and Extreme Flight top the heap many are still happy with a Brand X planes.