Originally Posted by rotagen

Well looking at the chasis and layout it looks exactly like the thunder 4-port charger which I completely wasted my money on. These button "pads" are very trouble-prone. Mine lasted about 6 weeks, of course past the return period on the vendor, and thunder did NOTHING to help me. Hitec is of course a better name but I would strictly advice against purchasing this charger.

I wonder if that's the difference in quality of components spec'd by the retailer? FWIW, I've had one of the original (non AC) Hitec chargers since they came out and it's been flawless. I was able to stack it with a couple of Tower coupons and the cost was only ~ $20 more than the others and came with the Hitec warranty.

Azarr

Originally Posted by rotagen

These button "pads" are very trouble-prone.

Huh? Are you saying that membrane keypads are trouble prone?

What programmable charger doesn't use them?

I own/owned a Triton2, a couple AccuCycle Elites, a couple Hyperion EOS, and Hitec X2 and X4 chargers and they all have membrane keypads. Both Hyperions died, but not of keypad issues. I retired the Triton when I bought my first balancing charger, but it still worked perfectly after several years of daily use. I'm still using the AccuCycle Elites almost daily for NiMH and 1C LiPo packs and they're both more than 7 years old.

And I bought my Hitec X4 when they were still almost impossible to get because they were so new (2+ years ago?) and I've been using the heck out of it ever since, but it still works like new. The X2 is only 10 months old but I've seen no evidence whatsoever that it won't continue to work perfectly too.

Is that what you mean by "trouble prone"?

Pete

Note: I just dug out my old Triton2 and had a look at it to refresh my memory and it doesn't have any membrane keys on it. That means it and my old AstroFlight 109 are the only chargers I've ever owned which didn't.

rePete

To those who have used this charger.

Does the charger generate much heat when charging 4 Lipo's at 5 amps each ??

Hello. For father's day I got a Hitec X4 AC multi-charger; The batteries I am using on my Dynam T-28 are BlueLipo 3S 2650 mAh 20C.

In my current charger TritonEQ I can set the mAH to the exact 2650. This charger just give me option to select either 2.6 A or 2.7 A. Is it safe to use 2.7 A to charge these batteries or to I need to use 2.6A?

Thanks in advance for your help,

CrazyBear

Originally Posted by crazybear

In my current charger TritonEQ I can set the mAH to the exact 2650. This charger just give me option to select either 2.6 A or 2.7 A. Is it safe to use 2.7 A to charge these batteries or to I need to use 2.6A?

2.6A would be 0.981C and 2.7A would be 1.019C (charge rates for a 2650 mAh pack). That's a difference of only 0.038C (+/- 1.9% from 1C) and a difference like that is insignificant in every sense of the word.

In other words, there will be no consequences for charging at 2.7A but if you want to err on the side of caution you can charge at 2.6A and I'll bet you can't quantify the difference in charge time.

Pete

I just got a Thunder T6 Charger from Hobby Partz. It looks like the same charger with a different name. I have to buy a few new balance boards to fit my lipos. Hopefully they work and adapt to the charger.

Chris

Originally Posted by ChrisFlysRC

I just got a Thunder T6 Charger from Hobby Partz. It looks like the same charger with a different name. I have to buy a few new balance boards to fit my lipos. Hopefully they work and adapt to the charger.

Chris

These are available under many many different names, but they are not all manufactured by the same company. I would be really interested to see someone start a post photos of the inside of your charger thread for comparisons.

Besides what comes in the box, what additional adapters would I need to charge2S lipo batteries that have a JST connector? I am new to this, be kind. Thx

It depends upon the balance connector on the battery. The X4+ comes with three types of balance boards which handle 1-6s packs: TP/FP, HP/PQ, and XH. The only ones I know are Turnigy, Parkzone and Eflite us the XH type balance lead, and my Hyperions use the HP/PQ type. You select the appropriate balance board and plug that into the corresponding port on the side of the charger.

I've had my X4+ charger for over 6mo now so have a few thoughts, for what they're worth. I've been using it to charge 1s 120 to 250mAh cells individually and in parallel, 3S 800mAh, 3S1300mAh, 3S2200mAh LiPo packs, NiMH and NiCd Rx and Tx packs, and tried a few odds and sods such as a Pb field battery.

Likes:
4 charger outputs
balance & storage charging w energy in reading
discharging and cycling w energy out reading
can run from AC or a good 12 external battery or dc source
it checks the battery cells against what you've selected as a safety
time, energy, temperature cutoff options
smart charging

Dislikes:
the fan cycles a lot when charging or discharging - small fan, a fair bit of noise. Not great to read by (annoying)
AC plug sparks a lot when plugging in, probably the caps in the switching power supply but I find it annoying
charge ports are on 2 sides, not one (sometimes annoying)
balance leads supplied and available at LHO are too short - awkward to get battery inside a Liposack
menu systems - seems like 4 individual chargers in one package with no exchange between them - ie have to program (user programs) each individually
I don't like banana plugs on the battery main connnectors - lots of adaptors available but I've made the mistake of plugging the battery into the adapter before plugging the adapter into the charger, with the resulting big spark...

Not a bad charger. I use it in the field and at home. The fan noise, cycling on and off is annoying to me but I live with it. It has caught/saved me when I mixed up the balance leads when setting up 2 packs. I wish the menu system was a bit better, but for the price I'm ok. I haven't tried programming my favourite types into the units yet and probably should as I swap around a lot. 50W per output is fine to "slow" charge the 3S2200's. I don't like fast charging anyway except at the field and then no more than 1.5C.

I've had no problems with buttons, electronics, operation, magic smoke or anything else.

Cheers!

Christopher

I have owned this charger for about three months. It just received it back from repair as Port 1 continued to disple" Beak Down" no matter what type of battery pack or charge leads I used. Repair and return took less than two weeks. I have had this thing in my handes less than a week since repair and now Port 3 display is totally blank and port 2 is beginning to display "Break Down" shortly after beginning a charge cycle. Once again, different batteries and leads have been used to verify it's a charger issue. Completely dissappointed with the product thus far and now I get to return it for repair at my own expense. I will have a $300+ charger by the time I return it again for the second time at my own expense. A bit frustrated with HiTec products at this point.......................... Any recommendations on for a 4 port charger under $200 price break that will accomodate all the battery tyoes and still permit a minimum charge rate of 5C for my LiPo's?

I just bought one of these, and so far I like it. The only thing I can't figure out is why it shows it charging at 2.2A max, when I have it programmed to charge at 6A. I run it on 120v household current, could that be why? If anyone knows why, I would appreciate the help. I would like to be able to charge a 6s 2650 a little faster than an hour.....

Originally Posted by quadracer

I just bought one of these, and so far I like it. The only thing I can't figure out is why it shows it charging at 2.2A max, when I have it programmed to charge at 6A. I run it on 120v household current, could that be why? If anyone knows why, I would appreciate the help. I would like to be able to charge a 6s 2650 a little faster than an hour.....

The charger is limited to 50 watts of output power or 6 amps, which ever coems first. You are hitting the 50 watt limit. 2.2 amps is the max charge rate on a 6S battery.

22.2V x 6 amps = 133.20 watts required.

50 watts / 22.2V = 2.253 amps.

That makes perfect sense. Thanks!

I just got mine X4 and I'm trying to charge new NiCd at 0.1 but calculations say I need 588 minutes for this 700mah pack. The 4X keeps timing out at 120 minutes. Manual says you can adjust the time but doesn't tell you how. "Additionally the user can set the maximum amount of charging time." (page 5). Then on page 10 the flow chart shows "Safety Timer Setting" that can be turned on/off and set the time - but I've never seen that screen when going through the setup options. Any suggestions?? Thanks in advance.