Many people are considering buying RC battery charger after they get into electric flight or any electric powered RC vehicle. RC battery charger is one of the single most important items you need to purchase just as the battery charger to cell phone which ensures your phone actually works. (Read RC Battery Comparisons and Characteristics)
But what is the most important function of a RC model battery charger? How much does it cost and how to choose the suitable one? Here we will list some important factors which you need to consider about.
1. Understand Your Needs and Evaluate Features
The first step is to understand what features are available. The functions are based on your anticipated use. If you are willing to spend a little more, what would it be nice to have? So you can get start by compare the features with prices.
2. How it is powered
This is a very important thing you need to consider when purchasing a radio control battery charger. After researching a few chargers, you may find out that some battery chargers can only support 110V AC or 12V DC power. Both of them are not good enough. If you have bought this type of battery charger, then a power supply or a 12v battery need to be purchased. So it is suggest getting an AC/DC powered battery charger.
3. Support multi battery types and come with balancing function
Nowadays, LiPo battery and various forms of lithium chemistry are popular used in the market. Thanks to the development of new technology, there are so many brand chargers are available which support all the rechargeable battery types (NiCad, NIMH, PB, and of course lithium). Thus, one charger will support all your charging needs. However, some RC model chargers haven’t built-in balancing module,
and you need to get extra balancer. This is a nightmare for your long term enjoyment of hobby. So a multifunction lithium battery charging comes with balancing support is very important.
4. Discharger function
If you have browsed our RC battery chargers category, you will find that most of our items have both charger and discharger functions. Why do you need a discharger for RC model? Draining your NiCad battery packs is an important step in preserving the life of the battery, since NiCad’s suffer from what’s known as the memory effect. Discharge them, and put them on an equalizer. That will equalize all the cells and provide best performance. It is also easy to see if there are any dead cells.
5. Cell counts
This one is likewise simple. RC battery charger includes both the max and the min cell count it will support, as the tiny 1s packs are becoming more and more popular. Cell count is pretty easy to figure out, and most brand ones support at least 6S LiPo cell counts and up to 15 or more NiCad, NIMH celled packs.
On a side note, another factor you need to take into account is multi-port charger. They are becoming more and more popular in the market. Especially the 2-port chargers as well as 4-port chargers.
Some advanced features of a RC battery charger include: intelligent balance charging, internal resistance measurements, PC interface data logging, and built-in cooling fan, etc.
iMAX QUATTRO B6 – 11-18V DC power, 200 Watts (4x50W), supports up to 15 NiCd/NiMH cells, 6 LiPo/LiIon/LiFe cells or 10 Lead-Acid cells, about £90.20 pounds.
Quattro B6AC – 100-120V (380-330W) or 220-240V (380-330W), 200 Watts (4x50W), supports up to 6 Li-ion/polymer cells, 15 NiCd/NiMH cells, about £150.00 pounds, making it the most powerful charger.
iMAX B6 Lipro – 11-18 Volts DC power, charger power up to 50W, discharger power up to 5W, supports up to 6 Li-ion/Fe/Polymer cells, 15 NiCd/NiMH cells, about £22.50 pounds.
iMAX B6 Ultimate – 11.0-18.0 Volts DC power, charger power up to 200W, discharger power up to 25W, supports up to 6 Li-ion/Fe/Polymer cells, 18 NiCd/NiMH cells, about £52.00 pounds.
The RC battery balance charger sale on mBuyNow.com comes with 1 year limited warranty. You can pick out the right one base on your needs.