4 port battery charger recommendations?

[GlueTapeNFly]

Hi, I am looking into getting a 4 port charger so I don't have to wait so long to charge all my batteries. So far I have narrowed it down to two, the Dynamite Prophet Sport Quad 4 X 50W AC/DC Charger (DYNC2040) and the Hitec X4 AC+ 4 Channel AC/DC Charger (HRC44167) The things that I want the charger to have is to be able to plug into the house outlet without a power supply box, be at least 50 watts per channel, have a metal body, be under $220.00, be able to charge 1–6S LiPo/LiFe, 1–15C NiMH and 2–24V Pb batteries, have a built in battery balancer, and most importantly be a 4 port charger. If you have any recommendations for a charger or chargers that meet the requirements listed above I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[bstanley72]

What cell count/capacity batteries are you going to be charging? If you're going to get into larger models that use 6s batteries you may find those chargers to be under powered.

 

[razor02097]

Agreed with the above... it will really depend on how large your batteries are. You probably don't want to run that charger at it's capacity all the time. Plus if you ever get a 4S battery larger than 4000mAh or a 6S larger than 2300mAh you will find that charger quite underpowered. Your list severely limits your choices. Especially requiring a 4 port charger with a built in 110v power supply. The biggest problem is you will be hard pressed to find a charger with more than 50W per channel if you are stuck on the built in AC power supply.

Hitec has a couple chargers that fit the bill. One is the Hitec X4 4-port-plus that is pretty much the same as the one you linked to for about the same price too. There is also the Hitec X4 Eighty is a 4 port charger with 80W per channel, it ticks every box but the built in wall power supply and is $130 which would leave a lot of money for a decent power supply.

 

[GlueTapeNFly]

What power supply would you recommend for the Hitec X4 Eighty? Also I mostly charge 2200 and 3200 mAH 3s' but I will probably be getting into higher capacity batteries as well as 4s and maybe 6s lipos in the future. The charger I am using currently is the Hitec X1 MF 80-Watt, Multi-Function, AC/DC Charger.

 

[razor02097]

Power supplies are everywhere. You can get a nice desk unit like this...

http://www.amazon.com/Pyramid-PSV30...r=8-5&keywords=12V+20A+power+supply+-computer

It supplies 20A which is plenty to run that charger. In fact the X4 eighty comes with the banana plugs to make it plug and play. When you want it mobile just grab the crocodile clips that came with your charger and you can use the charger from your car battery.


There are also a few instructables out there that convert a computer power supply. You could try that if you have one laying around and you're on a budget.

 

[PHugger]

Graupner makes some very nice chargers.
I have a 2 channel that does 60w/channel on AC and 120w/channel on DC.
It's a POLARON AC/DC 240W Charger 3.0 TFT LCD -
http://www.openhobby.com/front/prod...de=001000000000000866&code=011000000000&sort=
It's perfect for my needs, but expensive.

They also make a 4 channel model (80w/channel) - not sure of all of the features, but it's $149 without a DC power supply (which they also sell).
http://www.openhobby.com/front/prod...de=001000000000000713&code=011000000000&sort=

These are pretty high end chargers and may be more than you want to invest in.



Best regards,
PCH