Hobby chargers- what plug do they use for their inputs?

[GarageBoy]

I was wondering if there was a standard plug that they use as the power inputs
Thanks!

 

[45/70]

If you mean to power the charger itself, usually they just have aligator clps to attach them to a 12V automotive battery. This works well for R/C as your car is usually pretty handy and available.

Dave

 

[pae77]

One of the reasons I selected an Accucell 6 as my choice for a hobby charger (aside from the reasonable price) was that unlike some of the other hobby chargers, it does have a standard type DC power input jack. It's the exact same jack that the Maha C9000 has, whatever that size is. So with that jack, my old IBM 16 V, 4.5 Amp, laptop power supply plugs right into the Accucell without any modification, which is very convenient for my non RC use.

Edit: In the interests of completeness, I should mention that the Accucell 6 charger also comes with an input cable that plugs into that input jack that has alligator clips on the other end. I suppose that is designed to be used to connect the charger to a car battery or various other types of power sources.

On the output end, it takes banana plugs and it comes with a cable that has banana plugs on one end and alligator clips on the other end with an XT60 connector in the middle of the cable to allow for attaching other cables/connectors to the banana plug half of the cable or to allow one to connect the positive and negative clips to a battery as well as the banana plugs to the charger before connecting them together with the XT60 connector. This makes it easy to avoid any inadvertent shorts.

 

[HKJ]

4 mm banana plugs, all my power supplies, meters etc. also uses this.
If I need an alligator clip I can always attach one to the banana plug.

 

[Patriot]

The nice thing about hobby chargers is quickly changeable/adaptable plug harnesses. Virtually any connector that you can imagine can be acquired or be made to fit into a 4mm banana plug. The most versatile for me has been alligator clips in conjunction with small neodymium magnets. For li-po cells I use the charging adapter boards of course with cell balancing.

 

[kramer5150]

One of the reasons I selected an Accucell 6 as my choice for a hobby charger (aside from the reasonable price) was that unlike some of the other hobby chargers, it does have a standard type DC power input jack. It's the exact same jack that the Maha C9000 has, whatever that size is. So with that jack, my old IBM 16 V, 4.5 Amp, laptop power supply plugs right into the Accucell without any modification, which is very convenient for my non RC use.

I use the same IBM power supply for a Mystery hobby charger (which uses the same internal PCBA as the Accucell).

 

[45/70]

GarageBoy, after rereading your post, I see now you were inquiring about how the power cable goes into the hobby charger. My mistake.

On my cheapo Dynam Supermate DC6, the alligator clip cable was hardwired into the PCB. The output cables plug in via 4mm banana plugs. Also there were included a bunch of cables with 5.5x2.1mm power plugs (from xheli.com, ), so you can adapt to a variety of charging situations. I have since removed the alligator clips from the "power in" cable, and installed a like 5.5x2.1mm power plug so that I can just plug it into a 12v, 5A "brick" PS. This way I have various available options, with the included cables, for both input and output.

Dave

 

[VegasF6]

iCharger takes 5.5 x 2.1 mm (size M) and bananna plugs.

 

[GarageBoy]

Thanks, I guess I'll get the charger first

 

[45/70]

iCharger takes 5.5 x 2.1 mm (size M) and bananna plugs.

Ah, you reminded me, Vegas. The power plugs on the Dynam are also "size M", on the set of output (now input, as well) cables.

I corrected my previous post.

Dave

 

[Justin Case]

iCharger takes 5.5 x 2.1 mm (size M) and bananna plugs.

Which iCharger?

My iCharger 208B has a hardwired cable that terminates in 4mm banana plugs for the power in connection. This makes it convenient to plug into my bench power supply to run the charger. The power out port uses two female 4mm banana sockets for the + and - connections. My 208B doesn't have a 5.5x2.1mm jack for power in or power out.

 

[Justin Case]

Thanks, I guess I'll get the charger first

If you plan to use a laptop brick to power the charger, make sure that the charger and brick are compatible. For example, a buddy of mine has a GT Power A6-10. Nice product, but the input power spec is 10V-18V. Unfortunately, many laptop bricks deliver more like 20V. It was a minor hassle to find a brick with the appropriate specs. I don't know if these input power specs are hard limits, but I wouldn't want to be the guinea pig to find out.

My iCharger 208B can take 4.5V to 32V for power in. But the input voltage has to be >18V if you need the 350W max spec for power out. Fortunately, it's probably unlikely that you'd need to deliver 350W of charging power to some pack. But maybe you are one of those folks.

Also, when you calculate how much power your power supply needs to deliver, don't forget that the charger is not 100% efficient. For example, if you are balance charging 8S IMR26500 at a 1C rate, then the charger has to deliver a max of 8*2.3A*4.2V = 77W. If the charger is 85% efficient, then your laptop power supply has to be able to deliver at least 91W (I'd probably err on the high side and go with at least 100W).

Also, if you plan to parallel charge a large number Li-ions, then your charger may need a fairly high max output current spec. For example, suppose you now want to charge 8P IMR26500 at 1C. That means an output charge current of 8*2.3A = 18A. My buddy's GT Power A6-10 tops out at 10A, meaning that he can charge 8P IMR26500 only at about 0.54C max.

 

[VegasF6]

Which iCharger?

My iCharger 208B has a hardwired cable that terminates in 4mm banana plugs for the power in connection. This makes it convenient to plug into my bench power supply to run the charger. The power out port uses two female 4mm banana sockets for the + and - connections. My 208B doesn't have a 5.5x2.1mm jack for power in or power out.

106B+
Hardwired 4mm bananna plugs on input, and the before mentioned size M with positive center, 10-18V. I usually just power it with a Panasonic tough book adaptor, 16V 2.5A output, but if I was doing a heavy charge would hook it to the lab power supply.

 

[VidPro]

For example, a buddy of mine has a GT Power A6-10. Nice product, but the input power spec is 10V-18V. Unfortunately, many laptop bricks deliver more like 20V. .

had that same problem when i wanted more Juice temporarily for the 250W model, and dragged out the car charger, and it couldnt cope with the input voltage :-( the voltage would have dropped after the load to within spec, but it wasnt waiting till then to know what i was doing to it.
Now that i think about it, mabey putting a lightweight load on would solve that, but i just switched to something else.

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for the small cheap hobby charger i really wish i would have paid the extra $15-20USD for the one with the built in AC. like the thunder AC/DC. it would have been much more convienient.