proper lipo charger

[bangyourdead]

Guys m i have managed to buy a couple of lipo batts. just need to sort a charger for them , i ahve been looking around but there is loads out there and as im new to the lipo thing not sure whats best . any help would be grately appreciated

[magic_golem]

Re: proper lipo charger

something that is capable of balance charging is a good start.
i use an imax b6, which is a very cheap copy of a bantam charger, its pretty good for the price, but not the most accurate charger when it comes to ballancing, i dont mind it too much though - but it is known for not being a great ballancer.

[jagillham]

Re: proper lipo charger

For airsoft use, the iBax B6 is hard to beat really. Apparently is not the best balancer out there, but good enough for when we need!

Got mine for about £40, including the AC power adaptor from ebay

[magic_golem]

Re: proper lipo charger

ah AH! i got mine for £20 :p

[jagillham]

Re: proper lipo charger

Mine was new lol

[Fizzy]

Re: proper lipo charger

Add to the mix the Turnigy Accucel-6 and any of the i-Peak range from YES seem decent enough (available from RC shops)

[bangyourdead]

Re: proper lipo charger

Right complete blonde question but what is balancing, my old batt chargers i just used to wait till batts are hot then i knew they where chargered. i know stupid , bjt got told that by a guy when i first started softing and sort of stuck. not a technical type, i just go with the flow. can anyone pm the charger i would need . i seen the batts have small connectors and an even smaller pone. notsure till they arrive though

[magic_golem]

Re: proper lipo charger

well lipos are quite different from 'typical' battery types, do some google and youll find an explanation of balancing general battery info etc.

[Fizzy]

Re: proper lipo charger

Every lipo is made up of 3.7v cells. The normal lipos airsofters tend to use are 7.4v (2S/2 cell) or 11.1v (3S/ 3 cell). Without going in to too much detail, the way lipos work is that you shouldn't run a cell below 3v. If it gets to 2.8v it's as good as dead. So, with that in mind, if you had a 2S lipo that had say 3.7v in 1 cell and 3.1v in another, the battery would still work, but over a skirmish you'd screw the 3.1v cell and your battery would have had it. So what balancing does is basically evens out the voltage in each cell so when it's used your less likely to kill an individual cell. 2 things to note though
1) It's still possibly to drain 1 cell more than the other, so it's always a good idea to invest in a voltage checker. These plug in to the balance tap on the battery to display each cells voltage and the overall battery voltage. They're only about a fiver and worth it
2) When charging lipos they will charge to about 4.2v per cell. Don't worry, that's normal

[magic_golem]

Re: proper lipo charger

ill just add that if a cell does get taken below 2.8 you can still revive and use it but it would be better to replace it.

[Fizzy]

Re: proper lipo charger

Well, from what I've read it can be a bit hit and miss reviving them, so yeah, probably better to replace it. That's why a voltage checker and/or low voltage alarm is worth the investment

[magic_golem]

Re: proper lipo charger

aye they are handy, ive been using mine for a while now but i think im just gonna cut parts out of all my guns and fit one in each so that i just plug in instead of faffing about trying to shove it in a tight space, and do a capacitor mod while im at it too

[cornishpotshot]

Re: proper lipo charger

I got a turnigy compact charger c3 (apparently from the box) for about £15 off a shop that sells components - charger seems good, does balancing ect, and charges my 11.1 in a couple of hours.