Recently I bought the Turnigy Reaktor 250W 10A Charger from HobbyKing. I needed a bit more powerful charger than mine old Turnigy Accucell 6 50W charger, that I bought in early 2014. There is already a newer version of the Accucell 6, which has an extra program for charging LiHV batteries. But let’s get back to the Turnigy Reaktor 250W.
First of all the Turnigy Reaktor 250W is almost identical to the Junsi iCharger 106B+. I personally like more the design of the Turnigy Reaktor. The firmware of both chargers is identical too. When powering on, you can see that the firmware is 3.14 106B+. Using the software for the iCharger out of the box for the Turnigy Reaktor 250W is no problem too.
Details:
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Input voltage: 10 – 18V DC
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Charge current: 0.05 – 10A
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Discharge current: 0.05 – 7A
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Max charge: 250W
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Max discharge: 20W
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Weight: 360g
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Size: 140 x 80 x 30mm
Exactly as the Turnigy Accucell 6, it can charge all common RC batteries: LiPo, Li-ion, LiFe, Ni-Cd, NiMH and Lead Acid(Pb). Of course its capable of balance charging up to 6S LiPo battery. Because it’s a 250W charger, you can charge your 6S batteries with a current of 10A. Sadly you can’t charge LiHV batteries out of the box to 4.35V but could program it to charge these to 4.3V.
The Turnigy Reaktor don’t taper the current, like my old Accucell 6, until the voltage of the individual cells reach the predetermined voltage and so speeds up the charging process.
You can use the standard storage function, so your batteries stay healthy over time. A very good feature is the ability to measure the internal resistance (IR) of the battery. It’s a good way to measure how your battery performs and what is its true C-rate.
What else is included in the package: you get two alligator clips, a standard XT60 charge lead, a T-connector, a JST / Futaba charge lead and a user manual in English. The JST / Futaba lead is helpful for charging Transmitter LiPo batteries.
You will need a power supply if you still don’t have one. I personally use an old 16V laptop power supply with DC tip connector. You can also power it through the banana connectors. I don’t like that these are not isolated and can cause a short while powering with a DC tip connector. To prevent this, I put heat shrink on them.
As the charger is a clone of the iCharger 106B+, you can connect it to your computer with a Micro-USB cable. Download the latest CP210x USB to UART driver, install it and when the Reaktor 250W is connected you should see it in the Device Manager. Using the LogView Studio you can then monitor the charging process or export the data.
Not sure if the hardware is capable of charging LiPo batteries up to 4.35V, but in case it’s possible, it would be great if Junsi releases new firmware for their iCharger 106B+. Then we can flash it on the Turnigy Reaktor 250W and charge LiHV batteries. Overall it’s a great charger for its price.
Update: A clone of the Reaktor 250W is now available – Charsoon Antimatter 250W. The hardware looks just like the Turnigy Reaktor, only the labels/stickers are different.
What size DC tip connector is neccessary? 5,5 mm outer diameter, 2,5 mm inner diameter?
Hey Thomas, the DC tip connector is 5.5mm.
What is a good power supply for this charger for around ~$20?
Hey Connor, what are the LiPo batteries you are going to charge? As mentioned in the article, I use an old 16V power supply for a notebook. Sergey
3s batteries ranging between 1300mah and 2200mah. Basically I want a power supply that will utilize most or all of the chargers capable 250W without breaking the bank. There is a lot of math I don’t understand when figuring out which power supply would work best. I’ve also read a lot about the danger of using a power supply that isn’t strong enough.
If you are going to charge 1300mAh to 5000mAh LiPos on 1C rate, you will be perfectly fine with a standard laptop charger. Here is the math: 1W =1V x 1A. My power supply is 16V and 4.5A, so it has a power of 72W. Let’s say you want to charge your 2200mAh at 2C (4400mA): you need 12.6 x 4.4A = 55.44W. I do not recommend charging batteries on more than 2C. So if you are not going to charge some 16.000mAh 4S, you don’t need a 250W power supply. Hope this helps you a bit. If you still cant find the right one, let me know, I will try to help. Cheers, Sergey
I’m mainly still confused by the “C” variable. 1C, 2C, etc.
I’d prefer to get something plug and play and not have to deal with soldering or anything like that. Is this adequate? http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__20971__HobbyKing_105W_15V_7A_Switching_DC_Power_Supply.html
Would it safely power the Turnigy 250w 10a charger spotlighted in this post? Would it be severely underpowered? I can deal with slow charging (can always upgrade the power supply later) I just want to make sure the charger isn’t going to try to pull more power from the supply than it can and overload it.
For now let’s assume I will only be charging 1300mah 3s 45c-90c batteries, one at a time.
This one will be perfectly fine for your LiPos. About the “C”-rating: it means the same thing for charging/discharging. You charge the 1300mAh at 1C with 1300mA, 2C with 2600mA and so on. Same for discharge: 45C x 1300mA (1.3A) = 58.5A. Hope it is more clear now 🙂
hi Connor.
i’m using this PS, was $25/shipped. it’s working great.
search ebay for HP DPS-600PB B DL380 G4 Proliant Server Power Supply 575W 321632-001 ESP135
Do you know if there is some way to charge LIHV, changing FW or doing something else to this charger?
Hey Erick, the charger uses the Junsi firmware, but they haven’t updated it yet to charge LiHV batteries. You can charge LiHV with the current firmware but only to 4.3V by selecting one of the other Lithium modes, but cant remember right now. Should check again at the evening after work. Cheers, Erick
Let’s hope they get the firmware soon because I don’t want to have to buy a new chargerjust to do HV packs!
Or you can be “risky” and mis-calibrate your charger off by +.05v to get the extra volt needed. NOT that I am recommending you take the risk to do that 😉
I noticed in some photos online that this charger has a “motor drv” mode or function. Have you played around with that feature? Im looking for a device to tune my 130 type motors for Tamiya m4wd.
Thanks!
Hello Van, no I haven’t tried this feature. This is what I have found about this feature: “Foam-cut Drive: In this mode,the charge acts as a convenient power supply for a hot wire foam cutter.” Cheers, Sergey
I use the Motor Drv (Motor Drive) feature to make the charger work like a power supply of any voltage I want. I’m currently using it to charge my FPV LCD display with 12V output.
Thank you Philipp for your feedback about this feature! Best,
Sergey