Whats the fastest charger for my traxxas 11.1v 3s 5000mah 20c lipo batteries?

[chapinb]

Series is a better way of charging - each cell is being monitored. If you have a low powered charger (say 4s/5amp) you will both balance faster and can charge twice as fast with series. BUT

And this is a big BUT

Connect a series plug wrong and you get smoke and a damaged lipo. Connect a parallel plug wrong, you only get a fried balance lead. Parallel is much easier (and safer) to set up.

Get a 20+ amp charger, so you dont need to worry about series charging. Then dont do it till you have a better understanding of how lipos charge.

[Freeagnt54]

http://www.hobbydream.com/gt-power-c...er_p13450.html

This is what I use, it's incredibly simple and easy to use.

Just plug in your batteries balance taps and then plug the other end into the charger. I don't think you could mess it up if you tried.

You can buy an old xbox 360 power supply and use it after a quick easy mod. Most are rated for about 200w and can be had for about $15


Edit: and to who ever was wondering how you figure out amps and watts

Volts x Amps =watts

Watts/volts = amps

[candy76man]

The packs discharge at up to 200amps... how can it be bad to fill them at 10amps?

Just a quick counter point because I fall into the camp that higher charge and discharge rates shorten the life of the cells.....do you think a lipo that is being discharged at 200 amps will last through as many charge/discharge cycles as the same pack being discharged at 100 amps all the time?

I don't, and I've seen first hand evidence of it on identical packs....I had three 2200 3s packs, I used two in my heli which pulled a lot of amps, pretty much maxed out those cells... the third I used in my tx. Long story short, the two I used in my heli puffed long ago and would no longer stay closely balanced, the one I had (and still have in a different tx) in the transmitter is still flat and tight as the day I bought it and is always balanced perfectly. AT this point the charge/ discharge cycles on the tx pack have surpassed the two I used in the heli. The difference is the discharge rate is far lower on the tx pack than it was for the short life of the heli packs.

I stick to 1c charge rates or less if I'm in no hurry....I will go to a 2c charge rate if I need the pack/s charged right away but I do that knowing it's not helping the pack any.

[Maskle]

I like how everyone has their strengths and weaknesses.

Pavmentsurfer is the electrical dude.

[traxxasandme]

Once again thanks to everyone for the help and sorry if I annoyed anyone with all of my questions but online and on other fourms its just like this one its a matter of opinion and it depends on the person as of wich kind of charging is better.

[BrianG]

I fall into the "series-charge" camp as well, and for the same reasons BL-Bob has already stated. From an electrical standpoint, it just makes more sense. And connecting them wrong? Well, I guess it's a possibility if the user doesn't know what they are doing, and if that's the case, they shouldn't be messing with this type of equipment in the first place. Sorry, but that's just my opinion.

And I also am in the camp that says higher charge and/or discharge rates shortens cell life. Again, electrically speaking, it just makes sense.

And I do have an electronics background, so I know how all this stuff works in theory and in practice.

[87 GN]

^there is your electrical.. smart guy...Hey Brian.......
I'm not a (smart guy) I should series but I need to read up more..

[pavmentsurfer]

I can't imagine that a battery thats being discharged at 100-150 amps in the vehicle could possible be harmed by being charged at 10. Thats 1/15 of its discharge capacity... I can see why you might not want to charge at 5C but 2C... 10 amps... no way thats hurting anything. Discharging the pack on a charger/discharger isnt something I even think about. I never discharge at more than 1C...

Im running my SPC lipos in my boat as well as my trucks... and the boat is drawing HUGE amps anyway. I fully believe that if you had all the time in the world to charge lipos REALLY slow it would be "better" for the packs. But in terms of hurting their expected 300 cycle life span Tom has assured me I'm not hurting anything. Im at (just a guess) around 60-75 cycles on my 5400's right now and theres no signs of anything negative. Im hoping by the end of the summer ill have these 4 packs up to 150-200 cycles... then ill know for sure how they are lasting.

[traxxasandme]

Idk why they cant charge at the same amps as they discharge because if its able to push out those kinds of amps I would think they could take in the same