Traxxas dual pack charging adapter

[pavmentsurfer]

Did anyone else notice a dual pack charger adapter in battery pics gallery. I wonder what the story is on that. If its parallel or series and if its a universal part or if it will only work with traxxas packs. Its a great idea, especially for traxxas when so many of their vehicles run on 2 packs.

part #9217 Dual charging board for 2S lipos. If its universal I'm buying 2 of them for my Ichargers. No point in having a para board with 6 inputs when I only ever use 2 of them.

[4ce]

Have these been made available yet? I've done a little searching but I'm unable to find a place where they're being sold.

[mike-susieq1]

well if the balace plugs are the same as traxxas has on their lipos then it would work no problem i'm pretty sure. chargers have different balance ports and most are JST XH4/3.

[BL-Bob]

To fit there new 6 amp 2s/3s 80watt charger. I think it would be a parallel adapter.

[BEN_]

By looking at the photo It looks to be a series adapter.

I see a five pin balancing plug that would be used for attaching the adapter to the charger.

[BL-Bob]

It doesn't matter anyways the charger is so weak it won't speed anything up unless your driving a MERV.

A series unit would also need a jumper for for charging one pack at a time.

3s chargers are cheaper than 6s chargers which way do you think Traxxas went for the new guys?

Lets look at some numbers....

Series- 80watt/25volts=3.2amp charge rate = .64c charge rate on (2)5000mah cells WOW! not.

Parallel- 80watts/12volts=6.666amps again only .64c rate of charge for (2)3s 5000mah packs or (1)3s 10000mah pack.

but it's only a 6amp capable or 72 watts so 6.666amps^ are even over estimated.

Oh and it says 2s/3s right on the charger. Why wouldn't they claim it was 6s capable if it was?

Ben I bet Traxxas will sell you any adapter you want and that balance board is for 2s only.

[BEN_]

This charger?

[BL-Bob]

Yeah that 80 watt charger Ben. I do stand corrected Ben_ it doesn't say it on the charger.

It does however say it on the overview page "Optimized for traxxas lipo (2s/3s) & traxxas nimh battery packs" I guess it is if you don't mind waiting three hours charging 6s 5000's but it does say 6s on your chart.^ (Super big table proving me wrong Errr.)

Traxxas don't sell 6s packs so that could be another reason it states it that way.

[mike-susieq1]

there offing a 2s charge board to charge 2 2s lipos and 2 3s lipos for a total of 4s and 6s up to the charger capacity. its rated for 6s. they only sell 2s-3s is correct but with those adapters you can charge 2 batteries at once. i might be getting this charger as i would be using it for my merv and then for my erbe later on. i dont mind waiting for the charger to take its time with it only being 6amps. people are always in a rush now with everything just about, its time to slow down a little and enjoy life not let it pass you by and if your goign so fast you might mess something up or better yet miss something while running in life walk. i like the traxxas charger and the biggest reason i would see buying it would be the warranty and replacement exhange price it offers.

[EmaxxChris]

I have the EZ peak plus charger, I don't know what's fast or not, but it does my 8.4 NiMH 3000mAh Traxxas batteries in 45minutes at 3.0Amps. I'm going lipo's for my EMBE and my son's Grave Digger in the spring, if it doesn't cut it, I'll get a different charger system then. For what I'm doing now, it's fine. 6yo gets cold standing around now! Probably won't be that way in the spring! I will get this adapter by then as well. Chris

[pavmentsurfer]

I think traxxas knows your not going to try and charge 2x 6S packs with this new charger. Geez... if you compare what the new traxxas charger costs along with its specs against most other similarly priced units its a really good deal. And the dual charging board is a great idea for anyone with smaller packs. Consider what percentage of traxxas sales are mini's... how many mini's do you see with a series adapter? MOST of them. So for all those guys traxxas is offering a dual charging system for like $100 after buying the adapters... thats a nice deal.

[mike-susieq1]

thats what i was thinking still making up my mind on getting their charger, i like the dual charging feature just will have to buy that adapter later on though but atleast you know they sell them.

[homdaddy]

im new to the lipo and was thinking of this charger.but i dont understand all.
how long would it take to charge a 2s 5000 and 2 2s 5000 i need a charger for
my motorhome and dont want to here the generator run for ever

[ajcar]

ebay 78 bucks, plus 10 for ship

[Maxx Attax]

i'm eyeballing this charger on ebay. they need to make the dual pack adapter available.

[Toyboarder]

How does the picture denote they may be charged in series? Can Lipos even be charged in series, I thought it was only parallel?

If it could be in series that would be cool... 80w / (9.6v x 2) (approx voltage toward end of cycle for 7.4v 2s to calc max 'amps' for charge) = 4.16 amp max charge. So 5000mah / 4.1amps x .06 (to convert to minutes) = 73 min. But again, I'm pretty sure it can only be done in parallel, which means 10,000mah / 6amps x .06 = 1hr 40min. Not phenomenal, but I don't know of any AC/DC chargers for the price that this can be had for that will do this, well ones that have actual support phone #'s and reliable warranties.

[ksb51rl]

By looking at the photo It looks to be a series adapter.

I see a five pin balancing plug that would be used for attaching the adapter to the charger.

How does the picture denote they may be charged in series? Can Lipos even be charged in series, I thought it was only parallel?

If it could be in series that would be cool... 80w / (9.6v x 2) (approx voltage toward end of cycle for 7.4v 2s to calc max 'amps' for charge) = 4.16 amp max charge. So 5000mah / 4.1amps x .06 (to convert to minutes) = 73 min. But again, I'm pretty sure it can only be done in parallel, which means 10,000mah / 6amps x .06 = 1hr 40min. Not phenomenal, but I don't know of any AC/DC chargers for the price that this can be had for that will do this, well ones that have actual support phone #'s and reliable warranties.

I'm not sure where you are getting the 9.6V from. LiPos charge to a maximum of about 4.2 volts per cell. BL-Bob's charge rate figures are substantially correct.
I believe Ben was correct about the adapter. Two 2S packs in series (to equal 4S) would require five balance slots, which the adapter seems to have. If it were a parallel adapter, only 3 pins/slots would be necessary. However, the graphic provided isn't exactly definitive.

[Toyboarder]

I'm not sure where you are gelling the 9.6V from. LiPos charge to a maximum of about 4.2 volts per cell.
I believe Ben was correct. Two 2S packs in series (to equal 4S) would require five balance slots, which the adapter seems to have. If it were a parallel adapter, only 3 pins/slots would be necessary. However, the graphic provided isn't exactly definitive.

Oh sorry I didn't explain myself. That's like....when the batteries actually charging, the output voltage of the charger isn't '7.4', the output voltage gets up to actually about what...20% higher? Especially in the later portion of the charge. Thus reducing the amount of amps available once you math it through the available wattage front onboard AC power supply. It may not be as bad with Lipo, but it's really bad with nimh. My charger gets up to about 10.5-10.8v toward the end trying to fill my 8.4v NIMH making what should be a 1 hour charge stretch out to 1.5 (thanks in large part to my craptastic chargers 40w cap). I watch my temps and check volts of battery afterwards with a multimeter, all is well, that's just how it is I guess.

On a related not, I just ordered an EZ Peak 6 amp for my travel charger for this very reason. At 80w, there is no WAY i'll hit a wattage cap, even with 3s. Looked at the $130 options (Passport, Hyperion, etc) but honestly why pay more for those when I'll be getting a DC/PSU setup for home. Also, one of those options doesn't even have actual support, which is asinine. I also got one of those new Ecopower 5000mah 2s from A Main, guess I'll be doing some videos/reviews on all that in the p2de forum when it gets here

[ksb51rl]

Okay I think we are on the same page now. You are right - the charge rate for a 2x 3S pack will probably start around 3.6 amps and then drop to about 3.2 amps at the
maximim voltage. Two 2S packs in series will start around 5.4 amps and drop to about 4.8 amps at the maximum voltage.

[genXrated]

I just ordered this charger today and can't wait to try it out. $79.99 and free shipping off fleaBay. I wanted a dual 2s connector, but no stock anywhere yet. For now I will charge 1 battery with this and the other with my charger that will be designated as my travel/secondary charger (unless it goes on fleaBay instead ). Hope it does as well as I think it will.