LiPo's I need HELP.

[BrianG]

Originally Posted by TimXLB

Hi everybody:

I'm looking at chargers.... and need some advice.
so far I've thought about the Orion Advantage Charger, and I looked at the Ice and the CheckPoint charger (like the Ice but with more options).
I'm kinda lost when it comes to LiPo chargers. I was hoping that Competition Electronics would have their update out for the GFX (I have two). it sounded like it was what I wanted.
any thoughts would be great!!!!!!!!!

Thanks

Tim

When looking for a charger, you have to know what is important to you. These are some of the questions you might want to ask yourself:

- How many cells do I want to be able to charge?
- How much current do I want to charge at?
- What is an acceptable power limit? Even though some chargers have a high cell capability and high current, they usually can't do both at the same time due to this power limit.
- What kind of power supply will I need? High capacity chargers can pull a lot of current at 12v, and a power suply that can do this can be a little pricey.
- Do I want an adjustable CC/CV threshold (for A123's)?
- What kind of data do I want visible on the screen? Is it important to me to have a screenful of information?
- Do I want to be able to update it via computer in the future?
- What is the max price I am willing to spend?
- Does it use the typical CC/CV charge profile? Some use a different "pulse" method which doesn't work with many (if not all) balancers.

I'm sure there are more, but you get the idea.

Do your self a favor and think of possible future uses. If you get a max 4s charger because it is cheaper now, you will end up having to buy another one later if you decide to go to 6s+.