Joshua - I just started using ISDT and I'm sold. Thanks for covering it and explaining a thing or two about chargers that I didn't know. Yes, I always learn something!
I love my Q6 Plus. So much, I ended up getting 3 of them and I just charge them up individually. No more parallel charging. Just pop 'em in and go. I'll add a few more to m collection. I put a couple in my pack for friends to use as well when we're out in the field. I have a modded laptop charger that I use for them at home, no issues. You can even find rebranded laptop chargers (new) for like ten bucks or so (talk about recycling New Old Stock!?). I love the ISDT chargers.
I was thinking of getting the T8 for my home charger so I started researching every battery charger under $100 bucks I could find to see if there was anything better. What I ended up purchasing was the Revolectrix GT 500 ($80 from the Revo USA site) and I love it. It does 500W 20A up to 8S,internal discharge up to 8A or regenerative discharge up to 20A. Sure the T8 is more powerful but 500W is enough for my mini quad lipos. It has a jog wheel and the amount of settings you can play with is crazy! It's also firmware up-gradable with just a regular usb mini cable. After updating the FW it added even more settings. One of my favorites is parallel mode. You just input the mah of one battery times how many you are charging. I had been using cheaper chargers and never realized how much better a higher quality charger could be.
Bought a Q6 to charge LiHv tiny whoop batteries when they 1st came out, which was last Dec or so if I recall. At the the time there were some growing pains reported on RCG, but mine has been flawless. At least a thousand cycles on it (it does keep track but I don't pay attention) and it's still terrific. I had 2 brand new 4 buttons (Thunder AC680) and they've been almost totally forgotten. (still good chargers, but the Q6 just works so nice). I routinely charge 6 Graphene 4S1300 and have never needed more even for my Big 6S8000 airplane packs. 300w is enough, but you'll want a 24v supply to get it without hitting the current limit. I built my Q6 into a case with a 24v 280w SMPS and it's a good combo. The Q6 doesn't get by well charging from a car battery, it runs afoul of the low voltage shutdown. I built a 6S10p 18650 pack from surplus cells to use for field power, and it's a great combo. Thanks for another great review.
I have been using a Thunder AC6 charger for some time now and have wanted to upgrade to a better one. The IChargers look great with some great features, but I have not wanted to spend that amount of money on a single charger. These seem to be a great balance in price and features and I will be picking one up on your recommendation good Sir. Thank you as always for your help and honest reviews, Please keep up the good work.
I had this charger for about 8 months. It's definitely got some quirks and reliability issues. For example, I've had to manually calibrate the ports. The individual port readings drifted so far that they no longer added up to the main port's reading. This causes the Q6 to throw an error in the middle of charge. The other issue is it would spend too much time trying to hit balanced charge. A firmware update seemed to have helped, but recently it's started to really fail to balance charge port #4 completely. It started off as a 5mV offset from other ports and has grown to almost 50~100mV. The self check fails with error code 407-10. Unfortunately when I contacted ISDT for warranty, they needed me to ship the unit to Shenzhen, China (at my cost). And I'd have to pay shipping for the repaired unit. So to repair a $50 device under warranty, I have to dish out almost $30-40 in shipping. So at the very least, I recommend buying this from a US distributor like getfpv or Aloft. They have potentially very good service. But I didn't get it from these companies so I'm out of luck. But to be honest, given the risk of damaging expensive racing lipos (a decent 1500mAh Lipo is like $30), what's the true cost of a defect? ISDT doesn't compensate you if their defective product damages your batteries.
I have the iSDT Q6 Pro charger, I have used the duel port HiTec for years. I prefer the Q6. I like both chargers. The Q6 is so small and light so I find myself using this charger more. Plus I like the features of the Q6 better and feed back it gives me while charging. The Q6 was like $50 bucks? My HiTec was around $180-$200. I’d recommend the Q6 for sure. I use an old computer power supply to power the Q6, usually charge around 3 amps off the laptop power supply. But being mobile I charge off my Truck at 5.2 Amps. Don’t charge 5 Amps off your cigarette lighter power supply, you have to run designated wires from the battery through the firewall of your vehicle because the cigarette lighter power supply will melt in time charging at 5 amps.
Own an Icharger 406 and a Q6. The Icharger really is the best charger ever. Combined 75 amps of raw power but the price point is insane. The Q6 is a great fieldcharger. I power it up with a 6S 12000 mah lipo and it keeps me going on a day of flying. For discharge or storage it is a pain in the ass. Discharge max is 0.4 amp so it is taking for ever if it does not overheat before that. So ideal field charger. That T8 looks like an awesome value for money home charger.
Hi Joshua I always watch your videos with a big smile on my face. About this chargers: the only con i find is, you always need an external powersource for these. I mean you can't plug it in the wall.
I use an 150W iSDT SC-608 with a cheap 24V power supply and it has been a fantastic first charger. I have a 12V lead in the back of the truck for field charging. I use it as a checker too.
Hi, I purchased an ISDT Q6 Pro charger. When i charge lets say 2200mah 3s battery from storage voltage. It only charge battery 1200mah and 4.2v each cell. If i charge same battery on IMAX B6 from storage voltage it fully charge to its capacity of 2200mah and 4.2v each cell.
Joshua, I got the ISDT FD-100 discharger about a month ago and really love it. Not sure it you have got hold of it but if you do, please investigate the feature where the Q6 can be connected to the FD-100 to change its settings. At least ISDT's minimalistic documentation hints to such a possibility.
Does the FD-100 have something that looks like a headphone jack? If so, try connecting that with the "headphone jack" (obviously not a headphone jack but it uses the same connector) of the Q6 using a standard audio cable. (I only have the Q6+, so I'm kinda speculating here ;D)
My ISDT Q6 plus lasted about 20 charges before deciding to just take forever to do the final balance. This has occurred with multiple charging boards and harnesses, when it occurs I do the charge on my 4 year old icharger 208B and its done within a minute. I specifically bought the Q6 plus for the high balance current numbers, in reality it doesnt seem to matter that much. I have done side by side charging tests between the Q6 plus and icharger 208B (4 identical 1300mah 4s in parallel on each charger charging at 14amps). When the Q6 plus was doing the correct final balance, it might end up taking about 2-3 minutes less. I really want to like the ISDT line but will be replacing the Q6 plus on my bench with an icharger 306B and will use the Q6 plus for fast field charging. When you compare the new T8 charger with the icharger 306B its less, has the same 1000W charge capability but has no real discharge capability(The 306b does 80W). You can add the 80W ISDT Smart Discharger for $40 but now your about the same price. Also, while the ISDT GUI certainly looks nicer, I see no real advantage over the old 4 button interface. Takes me just as long either way.
I bought the small SC-608 recently as a companion to my awesome Q6 Plus I've been using for a while. I didn't realize it didn't have the Cell Voltage selection in the Storage function as it does in the Q6 and other ISDT chargers. Sometimes I don't always want to store a lipo at 3.80v either which the Q6 allows for. Still, they are great chargers all around in price, features, performance and portability. I really want to pick up a D2 if I see a good price on one.
The Q6 looks good for anything you would want to do with quads. I could see that the Q8 may need a connector upgrade for doing high end RC (like 700+ size helis or big planes - I use an iCharger and a 1000+ W power supply for my 700 size heli). The 60A max rating for the XT60 connector (for both input and output) could be a limitation in high end applications (This is why we use EC5's for 400+ size heli's instead of XT60's - big low kv motors, lots of torque, lots of current).
I see it as a plus. If power supply and charger are two things you save money when one of them breaks. And as a power supply you can just use an old laptop or PC PSU.
Mr. Tux Its just me personally, I remember buying my first charger, at home I was going to charge for first time.... and could not cause I had charger without power supply, it pissed me off. Also its not usually mentioned so begginer have no idea... I have couple really old 4 button chargers with inetrnal supply and they still work after 4 yeras :) I also have one of this chargers from video, they are great but I still wish for internal power supply for easy use. BTW they sell the power supply brick separately on their site...
Considering i paid $229 for my 4 way prophet!! I was astounded by the price of these products....time to buy a travel charger...thanks as always Josh!!!
Hey Josh great content! Noobie question for ya. What type of a charging cable/block do you get for these chargers? Is there a difference in them, and any reasonably priced ones you'd recommend? Thanks for all the great info!
Hi, could you tell me please why my T8 doesn't discharge at more than 0,9A no matter what discharge current I set? I have it powered by a 30A 12v surveillance power suply set at 13v (so it won't drop under 12v under load). Does it need more than 13v? How come that two 3S 2200 LiPo packs in paralel can't be dicharged at more than 0,9A?
@@JoshuaBardwell Thank you! I thought I'm doing something wrong. I see now that although rated 0,1-5A discharge, also 20w so at 2 x 3S 2200mA in paralel is 22v x 1A= 22w so ther's the 0.9A limit.
I wish they made a dual charging version though. I've got the SkyRC D100 and that's really nice to be able to charge two different types of batteries at once
Joshua, I have watched many of your videos on chargers... lots of good information. What I would like to ask is that you make a video on ACCURACY of chargers... I have two, an Imax B6 (Original) and a HTRC T240...they both work but when using a Voltmeter (I also have 2 and they are accurate) the readings on the chargers are never the same as shown on the Multimeters. Thanks.
Isn't that the difference between active balancing and passive balancing? Meaning active balancing pulls the overage from one of the higher cells and tries to put it in the lower cells, whereas passive balancing just tries to burn off thru resistors the overage on any higher cells. At least that was my understanding
I have questions and would like to learn about inputs to these DC chargers. Now I know you say you can charge this many batteries that this mini amps takes this long but what about the inputs? Like a server wreck input or a CB radio DC supply or the race day quad power supplies how does that affect how batteries get charged?
Your videos are great. I have an JLB RC car where i will be mainly charging 3s stock batteries and maybe 4s. I do have two questions: 1. How can you get a this T6 charger to be plugged in the wall as AC power source? 2. Can the ISDT parallel board charge 3s batteries or is it only for 6s ? (I've seen your review on that).
1. You need a DC power supply (www.fpvknowitall.com/fpv-shopping-list-charging/#power-supplies) or you need to look at something like the ISDT D2 which has a built in power supply. 2. Generally a parallel board can charge 2s through 6S but check the specs on each one. The ISDT boards have a single balance plug for all batteries which might be what is confusing you. It's a custom design that takes all sizes.
Joshua Bardwell Great, thanks for the link in question 1. I think i may get that AC adapter that has XT60 connecting end to go in the Charger. Yes about question two, it did have me a little puzzled with the ISDT parallel board. So just to clarify, the ISDT board port can parallel balance charge from 1s Up To 6s and Not just 6s?
I really like my isdt q6 but after 6 months I get an "Abnormal battery connection" alarm and it wont charge anything now. I'm really hesitant to try another one and can't really recommend one now. :(
Travis Miller i have the exact problem. How to fix this? I watched Livyu video about this my paraller charge board does not have LED. Still couldn’t find a solution. @joshua do you have any idea?
Getting me one o dem fancy pants chargers you eccomend Mr Bardwell:) I must also tell you that your video on the Commanders was top notch. I am returning mine. As someone who has been spoiled by the 55 degree field of view you get on transformers I really didn’t like the 32 FOV and I couldn’t get the IPD where it felt any where near normal. Your observations were spot on. If I do go for goggles it will props have to be HD3’s
Joshua Bardwell thanks for responding sir:) 24 degrees!!?? Sweet baby Jesus that’s less than half of what I get through the Transformer and I don’t really have any break up or multi pathing issues so at would be a downgrade IMO not the upgrade I am looking for. What was the biggest FOV goggles FatShark has made? Would that be the HD2’s that they don’t make any more? Appreciate the help.
Question about parallel charging, I bought your JB edition charging board, if I plug in 4 x 1300 mAh batteries, On my charger I change amp to 5.2, but there's also mAh battery size I have to input on my charger, do I leave that at 1300 mAh, or do I set it to 5200 mAh when have 4 1300 batteries connected Thanks in advance, love watching your channel JB always good information
The mAh doesn't have anything to do with charge program except maybe to show % finished. How exactly it works depends on your charger. But you would set it to 5200 mAh (the sum of the individual capacities) if you wanted to be accurate.
Do you ever have a problem with the wheel scrolling when you're trying to use it as a selector. I kind of wish there was one separate button for a selector.
Joshua Bardwell, I need to learn something. I built about a 300.00 race drone, everything lights up, I've followed the directions a 100x, wondering if you could help me out?
I don't have cleanflite, or betaflight yet, I live pretty far out in the country, so I'm going to town to download those programs first. I'll get back with you soon, I'm looking forward to talking with you, Thanks a lot. Jim
Brutal... You gotta try to find somebody you can hook up with who can help you out. Even if it means you drive for a couple hours, meet up, spend the day... maybe even spend the weekend. At the end of it all you will be 100% sorted and ready to go. There are nice and helpful people in every major area who are eager to help beginners get into the hobby. Look and see if there is a FPV racing club or MultiGP chapter anywhere near you.
Brutal no doubt. my PC is old, I have been flying around 15 + years, but quit for six years, and holycrap things changed a lot. I'll take that advice if I don't lose my hair first. the video I watched never hooked to a PC. I'm wondering if if I hook the receiver to the other uart port it might possibly work? shouldn't hurt to try Huh?
Joshua Bardwell, one more question please. Everything seems to be working properly except the motors won't spin, in your opinion do you think it's probably in programming? I went by UAVFUTURES video, build for 200.00(i spent 300.upgrading) I appreciate any help.
If a person has an ISDT Q6 charger, and an ISDT Safe Parallel Charging board, how does one send the output from the ISDT Q6 charger output (MALE XT60), into the INPUT of the ISDT Safe Parallel Charging board 'input' (MALE XT60) ? Neither the ISDT Q6, or the ISDT Safe Parallel Charging devices seem to come with cables to bridge between them, and on the sites i've looked at, nobody seems to sell a FEMALE to FEMALE XT60 charging 'bridge cable' set to go between the Q6 outputs and the Safe Parallel Charging device... what am i not understanding??
I love my Q6, been using it for parallel charging and it gets the job done. I really want the T8. ProgressiveRC has all the lastest chargers and a lot of options. They make great custom charge cases for the ISDT chargers too.
Are these chargers just for flight batteries or will they work well with rc car and truck batteries with high mah like 7000 and 8000 3s and 4s? Thanks.
What power supply is good match for the t8? Something that won’t restrict it. Don’t mention the laptop power supply or the ISDT brick.. I am aware of them for 1-3S... I am looking to charge my 5000mah 5S lipos @ 2C.
5000 mAh = 5 Ah. 2C charge rate = 10 amps. 5S max voltage is 21 volts. 21 volts * 10 amps = 210 watts. You need a power supply that can provide 210 watts, plus efficiency losses. 250 watts would be more than enough. The T8 can achieve about 250 watts max on 12v supply, so a 12v PSU would be fine.
I have seen your battery charger fundamental video but it does not cover exjectly what you are using in this video. Can you please make a video for XT60 to DC soldering. I can't find any good video for this part in youtube.
I have looked at it but I disagree that it's a solid contender. For the same price as a Q6 Plus, the interface is suuuuuuper clunky and annoying. And it has less features. The one thing the B6 Nano has going for it is that it has bluetooth connection to a smartphone app, and if you prefer to go that way, then maybe it is best. But otherwise, I would take a Q6 Plus all day every day. If the B6 Nano was like... $35 or $40 then it would be more compelling. For $60 no way.
I have the Q6 and noticed weirdness when charging 1S lipos for my whoops: the voltage that is read by the charger over its output leads is high. A 4.2V 1S reads as 4.9V. This is only when the charger is on that main screen (in standby mode, before charging is started or after it is completed). When it is actually charging the voltage reading is correct. I'm curious why this is. I haven't tried 2S or larger batteries yet because frankly I don't have the XT60 leads made yet. :) . FWIW the firmware on the Q6 is 2.1.0.30
When current is flowing there will be a small amount of voltage loss in the lines, so it's normal to have the voltage at the battery be a little lower than the voltage at the charger during a charge cycle. But that's the opposite of what you're describing.
I brought this up at the NewBeeDrone group on FB actually (I got the charger from them) and am more interested in knowing if this is "normal" behavior. It's not a show-stopper by any means because the voltage reading is as expected while charging -- i.e. the primary function of the device lol. Here's the pic from the FB group showing a single 1S in a parallel board reading 4.9V (that parallel board is the only thing I have w/ an XT60 connector currently, no pun intended) scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/22780355_10210937060799326_5480163330233704812_n.jpg?oh=22252349e7c997b1d2ca3a316482cd7c&oe=5AAF4647
I honestly don't know anything about the Venom. But it's only 80 watts or 7 amps * 2, which is far, far less capacity than the T8. The t8 will do 500 watts on 4S. However, the T8 would require you to use a parallel charge board to charge more than one battery, which many people don't like. In that case, maybe a multi-channel charger like the Venom would be better.
whats the specs on the laptop charger your using that you rigged up into that xt60 connector? I was wondering what kind of clever cheap ideas there were.
There is also a T6 and T6 Lite on iSDT site. Banggood also has a Q6 Lite (200W 8A instead of 300W 14A) and in the description of that it mentions a Q6 Pro (Same as the Plus but with BattGO technology built in.)
Hi Josh (and people)!!! Totally newbee here and I bought a ISDT q6 nano. Do you think it goes fine using a laptop charger (19v-3.42A) as power supply? I guess yes but it wont stand any parallel, am I right? Thanks for the recomms!!!
This is old but im hoping you respond. Could i use 2 Q6 in parallel on the same 24 volt power supply, assuming it has the watts to do it? Or a car battery out in the field? I dont see any problems from an electrical point of view, but from a burning my house down point of view id prefer to check with an expert. Or guru ...
Joshua Bardwell Thanks JB. I'm seeing on my Q6 Plus. I was not sure if it was normal and just poor tolerance hence asking. Looks like I'm going to have to get on to banggood for a replacement. I ordered a Lite and they sent me a Plus in a Lite box. Was initially pleased I got a free upgrade but now I'm thinking they just posted me faulty junk that was swapped over in the stock room perhaps.
I know this has nothing to do with this vid but are you going to be reviewing the true D module for attitude v4s at any point would be nice to see your review before I commit to the upgrade 👍🏼
I recently purchased (4) 6s 1100 mah 100c Thunder Power batteries from GetFPV. From my first charge on these new batteries ( not parallel) I have not been able to get them to “full charge”. 2 out of the 6 cells just were not getting to 4.2. This is happening to all 4 batteries. GetFPV is telling me it may be an issue with the charger? Have you had any issues like this with the istd q6 + when charging 6s lipo batteries?
It's normal to see the cells not quite make it to the programmed voltage. The reason is that the charger has to decide when to finish the charge cycle or it would just go on forever. Look up "Xeno's Paradox". If you legit want to hit 4.20 volts, set the charger to 4.21 or 4.22.
Joshua Bardwell Awesome! Thank you for such a quick response. So I can rule out the charger is bad or doesn’t have enough power to charge (4 to 6) 6s batteries at the same time?
So josh your telling me i need to buy a lipo to run my lipo charger or i can take some other wire i have no clue what it does and splice a connector to it to run the charger off whatever that thing was plugging into. You guys are driving me crazy for newbie trying to get into this Hobby you guys explain things like we already all know. Can I plug it into my wall? So far i spent hundreds of dollars and useless things because I can't get a straight answer out of anybody who actually knows.
www.fpvknowitall.com/fpv-shopping-list-charging/#chargers You need a power supply to power the charger. You can also buy the charger without a power supply in case you want to use it in the field off a LiPo or off your car battery or something like that.
@@JoshuaBardwell i just bought isdt with the ac adapter that can disconnect. Found it on another one of you videos. Sorry for the frustration. Im trying here. Got about 50 different orders coming...seriously. a couple hundred of that might be misspent. Why doesnt stuff come with cords. Got this 1s charger from moblia coning but i think i need a ac aparter with the lipo style output to run it.
Can you charge a lipo battery with a small tamiya connection with the charger by using the lipo's balance port only? Or will you have to convert the small tamiya to deans and use the adapter?
I'm seriously considering their 1000W model as a mobile alternative to my Powerlab 8. 12S 5000 helicopters (2x 6S in series for flight, in parallel for charging) is what I'll be using it for primarily. I think I'm over my FPV phase. I like the prices, but the thrill just isn't the same.
Happy charging? I love the ISDTs. I've had a couple had issues, e.g. the backlight on the LCD failed, but Hobbyking had the replacement arranged within hours of me submitting warranty claim. Kudos to ISDT and Hobbyking.
I own an ISDT T8 and am wondering if the system listed below is a suitable Power Supply for it. Universal 36V 34A 1200W Regulated Switching Power Supply Transformer 220V AC to DC SMPS, Thanks.
got the Q6 Pro since a few days, and i wished i bought it earlier. I had an ToolkitRC M6 before, but that didnt charge my LIPO good, and was giving error, lcd display going crazy when the device get hot.
This is the one I'm using now. amzn.to/2zk329u The double-ear design is much more secure than the single-ear design I used to use, but getting the mic to sit in the right position on my face was a hassle. I ended up inserting a small piece of Kyosho gel about 3 mm thick in between the head-wire and the mic wire to stiffen it up and make the mic sit in the right location. Once you get it you'll see what I mean.
Will the fast balance on the ISDT chargers work with my existing parallel balance boards? Or will the faster balance (higher balance current) trip the polyfuses on my older parallel boards? ie do you have to use the ISDT1-8S SAFE PARALLEL board?
Fast balance doesn't run at higher current, I don't think. I think it just finishes sooner. Anyway, no, it shouldn't trip the polyfuses. Balancing current on most chargers is around 500 mA or less.
what power supply would you reccomend for the isdt t8? and this video a couple years old is there anything better that has come out since then? thanks=)
I own an isdt charger, it charges at 100mah increments. I don't know if that's common with other chargers. My question is; if I have a 4s 1550mah battery, do I charge it at 1.5A or 1.6A?
Well, at 1.5 amps you'd be slightly less than 1C charge rate, and at 1.6 amps, you'd be slightly more than 1C charge rate. The difference is probably negligible.
Do I need battery balancing on the battery pack or can I join the wires to my own cells that are not in a pack and does it charge LiFePo4?, because it does not say, it only states LiPo or LiFe, bit strange.
Got the ISDT Q6 Lite, since for my needs it was perfect. Unfortunately, after charging all of 5 batteries it fried itself and returns an error that ISDT says requires replacing a bunch of surface mount bits on the board. Definitely going to move away from ISDT.
Hello Joshua, I’m looking at getting the mini charger as my first balance charger and like you I have a old dell laptop power supply. It’s a 19.5v output. Would that work as a power supply for the charger? Can I just replace the plug like you did and you it?
Hello Joshua, I bought this charger but I have a big question, I adapted a xt60 to a pc charger but it only delivers 90w (19.5v 4.62a). So according to my math I can only get 5a while charging a 4s, so I can parallel charge 3 1550mah batteries at 1c . Am I right? Or does this charger pumps those 90w to the 300w that is labeled on the specs sheet?????
Sounds right to me. Watts are watts. You can't pump watts. You can trade amps for volts or volts for amps but watts are constant. If you put 90 watts in you cannot possibly get more than 90 watts out because conservation of energy prohibits it.
My Q6 has a poor scroll wheel that just barely plays nice enough to start a charge. I still recommend the charger but just get one from a retailer that will help you with issues.
I just ordered this charger, I need to get a power supply for it. I was just going to get a laptop charger and put an xt60 connector on the end like you've done. What watt and volt rating should I look for on the laptop charger to get the most out of this charger? Thank you
Joshua the input Voltage for the Q6 or SC620 needs to be higher than 12V for it to reach its 14A and 20A outputs when charging 4S Batteries. Using a 24V power supply overcomes this issue. On 12V you can only charge at approximately 12A on the Q6 and 17A on the SC620 when charging 4S batteries as the output voltage is higher than the input.
Very interesting information and a great review. I will look into these because I'm after a new fild charger. But as for home chargeing i use THUNDER POWER TP820HVC 40A charge , in my opinion the best on the market, but they do have a high price point, but they have come down in price recently.
You forget to mention the non existing support from ISDT. Story behind: the screen of my Q6 got broken after 3-4 days of usage, so i tried to contact ISDT also per Facebook message and also per e-mail, to ask them how to BUY a replacement sceen. I never got any answear from them.. This is not a bad support, this is a non existing support. It's a shame.
I would expect this kind of support to come from the reseller not the manufacturer directly. If you're worried about support, buy from a reputable vendor like GetFPV. They're guaranteed to at least answer your emails. The bottom line seems to be that they don't sell replacement screens, so there probably isn't much to be done.
I could contact the supplier, or start a PayPal case, but that is not what I want. Any company who will produce a good product should have product support, like all the other good companies in this hobby like Armattan, TBS, Immerson, and so one... If you have a problem with your armattan frame or motors you will not contact the reseller, you will contact armattan directly because they build the product so they heve all the know how to the product. The same for TBS, if you have a problem with your crossfire you will contact TBS support, not the resseler. And by the way I hno I am not the only one who would need a replacement part for the Q6 but there is no option tu buy them. Moral of the whole storry: 1, for me the Q6 is not the chatger what I can carry with me in my bag to the field to do some field charging. 2, All the great products have also great suport, that is not the case here.
I’ve been using the Q6 for 6 months and it’s been superb. It can really do the amps it claims. However.. it sucks at discharging, it discharges very slowly and usually after 1 minute it shuts down and says “OMG IM OVERHEATING” and beeps like crazy till you deal with it. Apart from that though, I love it 🙂
Joshua Bardwell fair point 🙂 however, have you seen the ISDT-FD100? It’s interesting and solves this problem. 80 watt discharger with automatic cutoff. And the heatsink/fan it uses looks great m.banggood.com/ISDT-FD-100-80W-6A-Smart-Control-Discharger-for-2S-8S-Lipo-Battery-p-1145999.html
Joshua Bardwell cool, I will be looking out for that review! I hate having to disgracefully discharge my batteries after sessions where I break everything. I hate it even more when my chargers don’t do it properly so having that problem solved would make the process less annoying. I also just had a thought.. you might be able to use a balance board for discharging with that ISDT discharger. I can’t immediately think of a reason why that wouldn’t work. It would be great to be able to stick everything on discharge at once
It's not a feature or design problem, it's physics... All that energy in your batteries have to become heat in the charger (and if you have a parallel board worth of typical flight batteries that's ballpark 40 Wh into that small charger, at 10W that's four hours... )
Is there a way (or existing adapter board) for the T8 that'll combine 2 4s packs and simultaneously do a true balance charge on those two packs as if it were one big pack? (ie: all 8 cells being monitored individually?
@@JoshuaBardwell Humm.. thats easy enough on the xt60 side of things, but there's a extra ground wire on the second 4s balance tap that'll muck up any plans of per cell balance monitoring without some sort of adapter. Seems they could greatly expand the T8's usefulness (for we quad folk) if they added a secondary xt60 plug and a secondary 4s balance port... or made a adapter for proper (safe) dual 4s charging. But then again, just buy two Q6's. j
What say you to their poor QC? Specifically on the Q6+, I know a lot of people have had QC issues, myself included. Hell, mine blew smoke out the back. And their customer support isn't very strong either, so the retailer is responsible for dealing with defective units.
Joshua Bardwell I agree that you should buy from a trusted retailer, but don't you think that the manufacturer should be willing and able to provide service and support to their customers. This was not my experience with isdt when my q6+ died.
Joshua - I just started using ISDT and I'm sold. Thanks for covering it and explaining a thing or two about chargers that I didn't know. Yes, I always learn something!
I love my Q6 Plus. So much, I ended up getting 3 of them and I just charge them up individually. No more parallel charging. Just pop 'em in and go. I'll add a few more to m collection. I put a couple in my pack for friends to use as well when we're out in the field.
I have a modded laptop charger that I use for them at home, no issues. You can even find rebranded laptop chargers (new) for like ten bucks or so (talk about recycling New Old Stock!?).
I love the ISDT chargers.
I was thinking of getting the T8 for my home charger so I started researching every battery charger under $100 bucks I could find to see if there was anything better. What I ended up purchasing was the Revolectrix GT 500 ($80 from the Revo USA site) and I love it. It does 500W 20A up to 8S,internal discharge up to 8A or regenerative discharge up to 20A. Sure the T8 is more powerful but 500W is enough for my mini quad lipos. It has a jog wheel and the amount of settings you can play with is crazy! It's also firmware up-gradable with just a regular usb mini cable. After updating the FW it added even more settings. One of my favorites is parallel mode. You just input the mah of one battery times how many you are charging. I had been using cheaper chargers and never realized how much better a higher quality charger could be.
Very nice video!Thanks for your support to ISDT
Bought a Q6 to charge LiHv tiny whoop batteries when they 1st came out, which was last Dec or so if I recall. At the the time there were some growing pains reported on RCG, but mine has been flawless. At least a thousand cycles on it (it does keep track but I don't pay attention) and it's still terrific. I had 2 brand new 4 buttons (Thunder AC680) and they've been almost totally forgotten. (still good chargers, but the Q6 just works so nice).
I routinely charge 6 Graphene 4S1300 and have never needed more even for my Big 6S8000 airplane packs. 300w is enough, but you'll want a 24v supply to get it without hitting the current limit. I built my Q6 into a case with a 24v 280w SMPS and it's a good combo. The Q6 doesn't get by well charging from a car battery, it runs afoul of the low voltage shutdown. I built a 6S10p 18650 pack from surplus cells to use for field power, and it's a great combo.
Thanks for another great review.
I have been using a Thunder AC6 charger for some time now and have wanted to upgrade to a better one. The IChargers look great with some great features, but I have not wanted to spend that amount of money on a single charger. These seem to be a great balance in price and features and I will be picking one up on your recommendation good Sir. Thank you as always for your help and honest reviews, Please keep up the good work.
I had this charger for about 8 months. It's definitely got some quirks and reliability issues. For example, I've had to manually calibrate the ports. The individual port readings drifted so far that they no longer added up to the main port's reading. This causes the Q6 to throw an error in the middle of charge.
The other issue is it would spend too much time trying to hit balanced charge. A firmware update seemed to have helped, but recently it's started to really fail to balance charge port #4 completely. It started off as a 5mV offset from other ports and has grown to almost 50~100mV. The self check fails with error code 407-10.
Unfortunately when I contacted ISDT for warranty, they needed me to ship the unit to Shenzhen, China (at my cost). And I'd have to pay shipping for the repaired unit. So to repair a $50 device under warranty, I have to dish out almost $30-40 in shipping.
So at the very least, I recommend buying this from a US distributor like getfpv or Aloft. They have potentially very good service. But I didn't get it from these companies so I'm out of luck.
But to be honest, given the risk of damaging expensive racing lipos (a decent 1500mAh Lipo is like $30), what's the true cost of a defect? ISDT doesn't compensate you if their defective product damages your batteries.
John Xia Yeah I want to buy a T8 but I heard to many bad things. I think I’ll stick with the 20amp icharger
Nice THANKS For all your videos on Beta & Cleanflight I am learning something every time I watch .
Thanks Joshua I appreciate your take and presentation. Always so well done.
Thanks for all your uploads Joshua, you are the yoda of the drone world lol, could you do a video on your power supply for the isdt charger??
Here's the parts list: www.fpvknowitall.com/best-12v-power-supply-parts-list
Here's a video showing it off: ruclips.net/video/KujxQLQeabY/видео.html
Thank you !
Get 30/32V power supply. Your chargers will heat up less, last longer and you'll be able to use their full power.
I have the iSDT Q6 Pro charger, I have used the duel port HiTec for years. I prefer the Q6. I like both chargers. The Q6 is so small and light so I find myself using this charger more. Plus I like the features of the Q6 better and feed back it gives me while charging. The Q6 was like $50 bucks? My HiTec was around $180-$200. I’d recommend the Q6 for sure. I use an old computer power supply to power the Q6, usually charge around 3 amps off the laptop power supply. But being mobile I charge off my Truck at 5.2 Amps. Don’t charge 5 Amps off your cigarette lighter power supply, you have to run designated wires from the battery through the firewall of your vehicle because the cigarette lighter power supply will melt in time charging at 5 amps.
The beginning of this video was a roller-coaster ride of battery charger emotions. I loved it.
Own an Icharger 406 and a Q6. The Icharger really is the best charger ever. Combined 75 amps of raw power but the price point is insane. The Q6 is a great fieldcharger. I power it up with a 6S 12000 mah lipo and it keeps me going on a day of flying. For discharge or storage it is a pain in the ass. Discharge max is 0.4 amp so it is taking for ever if it does not overheat before that. So ideal field charger. That T8 looks like an awesome value for money home charger.
Hi Joshua I always watch your videos with a big smile on my face. About this chargers: the only con i find is, you always need an external powersource for these. I mean you can't plug it in the wall.
I use an 150W iSDT SC-608 with a cheap 24V power supply and it has been a fantastic first charger.
I have a 12V lead in the back of the truck for field charging. I use it as a checker too.
Hi,
I purchased an ISDT Q6 Pro charger. When i charge lets say 2200mah 3s battery from storage voltage. It only charge battery 1200mah and 4.2v each cell. If i charge same battery on IMAX B6 from storage voltage it fully charge to its capacity of 2200mah and 4.2v each cell.
I have the T8 and love it. JB its 35A max input current 30A max out
Happy Halloween! I love my ISDT Q6. I have been saving up for a Icharger, but the new isdt is so tempting. Thanks for the video.
Joshua, I got the ISDT FD-100 discharger about a month ago and really love it. Not sure it you have got hold of it but if you do, please investigate the feature where the Q6 can be connected to the FD-100 to change its settings. At least ISDT's minimalistic documentation hints to such a possibility.
Does the FD-100 have something that looks like a headphone jack? If so, try connecting that with the "headphone jack" (obviously not a headphone jack but it uses the same connector) of the Q6 using a standard audio cable. (I only have the Q6+, so I'm kinda speculating here ;D)
Yes, the connector is over the fan outlet. Look here : www.isdt.co/fd-100.html
My ISDT Q6 plus lasted about 20 charges before deciding to just take forever to do the final balance. This has occurred with multiple charging boards and harnesses, when it occurs I do the charge on my 4 year old icharger 208B and its done within a minute.
I specifically bought the Q6 plus for the high balance current numbers, in reality it doesnt seem to matter that much.
I have done side by side charging tests between the Q6 plus and icharger 208B (4 identical 1300mah 4s in parallel on each charger charging at 14amps). When the Q6 plus was doing the correct final balance, it might end up taking about 2-3 minutes less.
I really want to like the ISDT line but will be replacing the Q6 plus on my bench with an icharger 306B and will use the Q6 plus for fast field charging.
When you compare the new T8 charger with the icharger 306B its less, has the same 1000W charge capability but has no real discharge capability(The 306b does 80W). You can add the 80W ISDT Smart Discharger for $40 but now your about the same price.
Also, while the ISDT GUI certainly looks nicer, I see no real advantage over the old 4 button interface. Takes me just as long either way.
I bought the small SC-608 recently as a companion to my awesome Q6 Plus I've been using for a while. I didn't realize it didn't have the Cell Voltage selection in the Storage function as it does in the Q6 and other ISDT chargers. Sometimes I don't always want to store a lipo at 3.80v either which the Q6 allows for. Still, they are great chargers all around in price, features, performance and portability. I really want to pick up a D2 if I see a good price on one.
The Q6 looks good for anything you would want to do with quads.
I could see that the Q8 may need a connector upgrade for doing high end RC (like 700+ size helis or big planes - I use an iCharger and a 1000+ W power supply for my 700 size heli). The 60A max rating for the XT60 connector (for both input and output) could be a limitation in high end applications (This is why we use EC5's for 400+ size heli's instead of XT60's - big low kv motors, lots of torque, lots of current).
The T8 has a 35 amp max input limit so I don't think it can exceed the rating of an XT60.
I got the Q6 with the four port parallel charging board and the isdt PSU. Its pretty nice I can charge 4 packs at once at 1 or 2 C.
Nice chargers but they dont have power supply, which is minus points for ne.. would like to plug them in the wall..
I see it as a plus. If power supply and charger are two things you save money when one of them breaks. And as a power supply you can just use an old laptop or PC PSU.
Mr. Tux Its just me personally, I remember buying my first charger, at home I was going to charge for first time.... and could not cause I had charger without power supply, it pissed me off. Also its not usually mentioned so begginer have no idea... I have couple really old 4 button chargers with inetrnal supply and they still work after 4 yeras :) I also have one of this chargers from video, they are great but I still wish for internal power supply for easy use. BTW they sell the power supply brick separately on their site...
Considering i paid $229 for my 4 way prophet!! I was astounded by the price of these products....time to buy a travel charger...thanks as always Josh!!!
Thanks for pointing out the balance port thing! I have blown up some batteries because of those stupid things on other chargers
I am completely newbie, feel pretty safe about the Q6. Thanks!
Hey Josh great content! Noobie question for ya. What type of a charging cable/block do you get for these chargers? Is there a difference in them, and any reasonably priced ones you'd recommend? Thanks for all the great info!
Hi, could you tell me please why my T8 doesn't discharge at more than 0,9A no matter what discharge current I set? I have it powered by a 30A 12v surveillance power suply set at 13v (so it won't drop under 12v under load). Does it need more than 13v? How come that two 3S 2200 LiPo packs in paralel can't be dicharged at more than 0,9A?
Because it is discharging through a small resistor bank and if it went faster it would burn up.
@@JoshuaBardwell Thank you! I thought I'm doing something wrong. I see now that although rated 0,1-5A discharge, also 20w so at 2 x 3S 2200mA in paralel is 22v x 1A= 22w so ther's the 0.9A limit.
I wish they made a dual charging version though. I've got the SkyRC D100 and that's really nice to be able to charge two different types of batteries at once
+Fincky just buy two!
Check out the ISDT D2
Joshua, I have watched many of your videos on chargers... lots of good information. What I would like to ask is that you make a video on ACCURACY of chargers... I have two, an Imax B6 (Original) and a HTRC T240...they both work but when using a Voltmeter (I also have 2 and they are accurate) the readings on the chargers are never the same as shown on the Multimeters.
Thanks.
I made that video :-)
ruclips.net/video/L5gAohxwOxU/видео.html
Isn't that the difference between active balancing and passive balancing? Meaning active balancing pulls the overage from one of the higher cells and tries to put it in the lower cells, whereas passive balancing just tries to burn off thru resistors the overage on any higher cells. At least that was my understanding
I have questions and would like to learn about inputs to these DC chargers. Now I know you say you can charge this many batteries that this mini amps takes this long but what about the inputs? Like a server wreck input or a CB radio DC supply or the race day quad power supplies how does that affect how batteries get charged?
Your videos are great. I have an JLB RC car where i will be mainly charging 3s stock batteries and maybe 4s. I do have two questions:
1. How can you get a this T6 charger to be plugged in the wall as AC power source?
2. Can the ISDT parallel board charge 3s batteries or is it only for 6s ? (I've seen your review on that).
1. You need a DC power supply (www.fpvknowitall.com/fpv-shopping-list-charging/#power-supplies) or you need to look at something like the ISDT D2 which has a built in power supply.
2. Generally a parallel board can charge 2s through 6S but check the specs on each one. The ISDT boards have a single balance plug for all batteries which might be what is confusing you. It's a custom design that takes all sizes.
Joshua Bardwell Great, thanks for the link in question 1. I think i may get that AC adapter that has XT60 connecting end to go in the Charger.
Yes about question two, it did have me a little puzzled with the ISDT parallel board. So just to clarify, the ISDT board port can parallel balance charge from 1s Up To 6s and Not just 6s?
Hi Joshua, maybe a bit off topic, but can you possibly do a video about pro's and cons of reversed motor direction on a copter ?
I really like my isdt q6 but after 6 months I get an "Abnormal battery connection" alarm and it wont charge anything now. I'm really hesitant to try another one and can't really recommend one now. :(
Travis Miller i have the exact problem. How to fix this? I watched Livyu video about this my paraller charge board does not have LED. Still couldn’t find a solution. @joshua do you have any idea?
Getting me one o dem fancy pants chargers you eccomend Mr Bardwell:) I must also tell you that your video on the Commanders was top notch. I am returning mine. As someone who has been spoiled by the 55 degree field of view you get on transformers I really didn’t like the 32 FOV and I couldn’t get the IPD where it felt any where near normal. Your observations were spot on. If I do go for goggles it will props have to be HD3’s
+PuppetMasterFPV commander FOV is about 24 degrees. Just don't want you being miscalibrated for the rest of your life. IMO 32 degree FOV is flyable.
Joshua Bardwell thanks for responding sir:) 24 degrees!!?? Sweet baby Jesus that’s less than half of what I get through the Transformer and I don’t really have any break up or multi pathing issues so at would be a downgrade IMO not the upgrade I am looking for. What was the biggest FOV goggles FatShark has made? Would that be the HD2’s that they don’t make any more? Appreciate the help.
Question about parallel charging, I bought your JB edition charging board, if I plug in 4 x 1300 mAh batteries,
On my charger I change amp to 5.2, but there's also mAh battery size I have to input on my charger, do I leave that at 1300 mAh, or do I set it to 5200 mAh when have 4 1300 batteries connected
Thanks in advance, love watching your channel JB always good information
The mAh doesn't have anything to do with charge program except maybe to show % finished. How exactly it works depends on your charger. But you would set it to 5200 mAh (the sum of the individual capacities) if you wanted to be accurate.
Awesome thanks for the info and quick reply:)
Hi Joshua is 1.5c ok to charge? 2c i think is a bit dangerous and 1c is a bit to slow.
+renato kola depends on your batteries. For single batteries most will take it. For parallel charging I think it's a bit risky.
Do you ever have a problem with the wheel scrolling when you're trying to use it as a selector. I kind of wish there was one separate button for a selector.
I haven't, but I see how that could happen.
yet another down to earth review!!
Joshua Bardwell, I need to learn something. I built about a 300.00 race drone, everything lights up, I've followed the directions a 100x, wondering if you could help me out?
I probably can help you but I don't understand the problem.
I don't have cleanflite, or betaflight yet, I live pretty far out in the country, so I'm going to town to download those programs first. I'll get back with you soon, I'm looking forward to talking with you, Thanks a lot. Jim
Brutal... You gotta try to find somebody you can hook up with who can help you out. Even if it means you drive for a couple hours, meet up, spend the day... maybe even spend the weekend. At the end of it all you will be 100% sorted and ready to go. There are nice and helpful people in every major area who are eager to help beginners get into the hobby.
Look and see if there is a FPV racing club or MultiGP chapter anywhere near you.
Brutal no doubt. my PC is old, I have been flying around 15 + years, but quit for six years, and holycrap things changed a lot. I'll take that advice if I don't lose my hair first. the video I watched never hooked to a PC. I'm wondering if if I hook the receiver to the other uart port it might possibly work? shouldn't hurt to try Huh?
Joshua Bardwell, one more question please. Everything seems to be working properly except the motors won't spin, in your opinion do you think it's probably in programming? I went by UAVFUTURES video, build for 200.00(i spent 300.upgrading) I appreciate any help.
If a person has an ISDT Q6 charger, and an ISDT Safe Parallel Charging board, how does one send the output from the ISDT Q6 charger output (MALE XT60), into the INPUT of the ISDT Safe Parallel Charging board 'input' (MALE XT60) ?
Neither the ISDT Q6, or the ISDT Safe Parallel Charging devices seem to come with cables to bridge between them, and on the sites i've looked at, nobody seems to sell a FEMALE to FEMALE XT60 charging 'bridge cable' set to go between the Q6 outputs and the Safe Parallel Charging device... what am i not understanding??
I love my Q6, been using it for parallel charging and it gets the job done. I really want the T8. ProgressiveRC has all the lastest chargers and a lot of options. They make great custom charge cases for the ISDT chargers too.
Nice! What kind of power suppy do you use to be able to parallel charge? thanks!
Are these chargers just for flight batteries or will they work well with rc car and truck batteries with high mah like 7000 and 8000 3s and 4s? Thanks.
I love the mic!!!!
What power supply is good match for the t8? Something that won’t restrict it. Don’t mention the laptop power supply or the ISDT brick.. I am aware of them for 1-3S... I am looking to charge my 5000mah 5S lipos @ 2C.
5000 mAh = 5 Ah. 2C charge rate = 10 amps.
5S max voltage is 21 volts.
21 volts * 10 amps = 210 watts.
You need a power supply that can provide 210 watts, plus efficiency losses. 250 watts would be more than enough.
The T8 can achieve about 250 watts max on 12v supply, so a 12v PSU would be fine.
Hi Joshua can you make a vid on who you made the power supply
I have seen your battery charger fundamental video but it does not cover exjectly what you are using in this video. Can you please make a video for XT60 to DC soldering. I can't find any good video for this part in youtube.
Are you going to check out the new SkyRC B6 Nano? It seems to be a solid contender against the Q6 series.
I have looked at it but I disagree that it's a solid contender. For the same price as a Q6 Plus, the interface is suuuuuuper clunky and annoying. And it has less features. The one thing the B6 Nano has going for it is that it has bluetooth connection to a smartphone app, and if you prefer to go that way, then maybe it is best. But otherwise, I would take a Q6 Plus all day every day.
If the B6 Nano was like... $35 or $40 then it would be more compelling. For $60 no way.
I have the Q6 and noticed weirdness when charging 1S lipos for my whoops: the voltage that is read by the charger over its output leads is high. A 4.2V 1S reads as 4.9V. This is only when the charger is on that main screen (in standby mode, before charging is started or after it is completed). When it is actually charging the voltage reading is correct. I'm curious why this is. I haven't tried 2S or larger batteries yet because frankly I don't have the XT60 leads made yet. :) . FWIW the firmware on the Q6 is 2.1.0.30
When current is flowing there will be a small amount of voltage loss in the lines, so it's normal to have the voltage at the battery be a little lower than the voltage at the charger during a charge cycle. But that's the opposite of what you're describing.
I brought this up at the NewBeeDrone group on FB actually (I got the charger from them) and am more interested in knowing if this is "normal" behavior. It's not a show-stopper by any means because the voltage reading is as expected while charging -- i.e. the primary function of the device lol.
Here's the pic from the FB group showing a single 1S in a parallel board reading 4.9V (that parallel board is the only thing I have w/ an XT60 connector currently, no pun intended)
scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/22780355_10210937060799326_5480163330233704812_n.jpg?oh=22252349e7c997b1d2ca3a316482cd7c&oe=5AAF4647
do you reccomend the t8 or the venom pro duo charger? for someone buying their first actually good charger
I honestly don't know anything about the Venom. But it's only 80 watts or 7 amps * 2, which is far, far less capacity than the T8. The t8 will do 500 watts on 4S. However, the T8 would require you to use a parallel charge board to charge more than one battery, which many people don't like. In that case, maybe a multi-channel charger like the Venom would be better.
i wont be having too many batteries, so i guess i wont even use the capacity of the t8. the venom also has a built in power supply
whats the specs on the laptop charger your using that you rigged up into that xt60 connector? I was wondering what kind of clever cheap ideas there were.
+VideoGame Polak it's a random 75 watt 19 volt charger. Can't charge very fast but it gets the job done.
id only ever be charging 1 battery at a time be more than enough for me if I ever rigged something like that up..1-1.5a charge
There is also a T6 and T6 Lite on iSDT site. Banggood also has a Q6 Lite (200W 8A instead of 300W 14A) and in the description of that it mentions a Q6 Pro (Same as the Plus but with BattGO technology built in.)
Hi Josh (and people)!!! Totally newbee here and I bought a ISDT q6 nano. Do you think it goes fine using a laptop charger (19v-3.42A) as power supply? I guess yes but it wont stand any parallel, am I right? Thanks for the recomms!!!
Stay under about 50 watts and you'll be ok.
thank you very much, JB. please stay safe and healthy. God bless.
This is old but im hoping you respond. Could i use 2 Q6 in parallel on the same 24 volt power supply, assuming it has the watts to do it? Or a car battery out in the field?
I dont see any problems from an electrical point of view, but from a burning my house down point of view id prefer to check with an expert. Or guru ...
Yes you can do that.
Is it better to store at 3.9v? I've been told to store at 3.7 or 3.8 so I'm wondering what's the difference?
3.8 volts is the correct storage voltage for lithium polymer cells as far as I know. 3.9 is too high.
Great video like always :)
If I charge 1 cell it is bang on. If I charge 2 or more cells they don't balance. Example 4.15v 4.16v 4.22v on a 3s. Is this faulty? (q6 plus from bg)
That's definitely not how it should be. Are you seeing those voltages on the Q6 or on your cell checker? Maybe your cell checker is mis-calibrated.
Joshua Bardwell Thanks JB. I'm seeing on my Q6 Plus. I was not sure if it was normal and just poor tolerance hence asking. Looks like I'm going to have to get on to banggood for a replacement. I ordered a Lite and they sent me a Plus in a Lite box. Was initially pleased I got a free upgrade but now I'm thinking they just posted me faulty junk that was swapped over in the stock room perhaps.
I know this has nothing to do with this vid but are you going to be reviewing the true D module for attitude v4s at any point would be nice to see your review before I commit to the upgrade 👍🏼
Joshua, I have always JUST balanced charged my lipo's. When and How often can I Fast Charge Lipo's? and Can I Fast charge parallel?
Always balance charge. Every time. Especially if you are parallel charging.
I recently purchased (4) 6s 1100 mah 100c Thunder Power batteries from GetFPV. From my first charge on these new batteries ( not parallel) I have not been able to get them to “full charge”. 2 out of the 6 cells just were not getting to 4.2. This is happening to all 4 batteries. GetFPV is telling me it may be an issue with the charger? Have you had any issues like this with the istd q6 + when charging 6s lipo batteries?
It's normal to see the cells not quite make it to the programmed voltage. The reason is that the charger has to decide when to finish the charge cycle or it would just go on forever. Look up "Xeno's Paradox". If you legit want to hit 4.20 volts, set the charger to 4.21 or 4.22.
Joshua Bardwell Awesome! Thank you for such a quick response.
So I can rule out the charger is bad or doesn’t have enough power to charge (4 to 6) 6s batteries at the same time?
Can i charge and test the resistance of 12v or 24v ups batteries ?
So josh your telling me i need to buy a lipo to run my lipo charger or i can take some other wire i have no clue what it does and splice a connector to it to run the charger off whatever that thing was plugging into. You guys are driving me crazy for newbie trying to get into this Hobby you guys explain things like we already all know. Can I plug it into my wall? So far i spent hundreds of dollars and useless things because I can't get a straight answer out of anybody who actually knows.
www.fpvknowitall.com/fpv-shopping-list-charging/#chargers
You need a power supply to power the charger. You can also buy the charger without a power supply in case you want to use it in the field off a LiPo or off your car battery or something like that.
@@JoshuaBardwell i just bought isdt with the ac adapter that can disconnect. Found it on another one of you videos. Sorry for the frustration. Im trying here. Got about 50 different orders coming...seriously. a couple hundred of that might be misspent. Why doesnt stuff come with cords. Got this 1s charger from moblia coning but i think i need a ac aparter with the lipo style output to run it.
@@JoshuaBardwell thank you btw
Hi 😁 I've got the Isdt t6 today. And I don't have a proper power supply, will you recommend one? Not too expensive
www.fpvknowitall.com/fpv-shopping-list-charging/#power-supplies
I have the isdt q6 and it has been great, I just got the d2 and it was DOA! waiting for the second one to come in.
Hopefully your retailer took care of you.
Sergio @ piroflip took care of it. Just wanted to chime in that there have been a couple of issues with the chargers. Still love the idst stuff.
Joshua, can you parallel storage with a charger? even if its delay more, but to do it only 1 time...
Yes you can do it.
@@JoshuaBardwell Gracias!
Can you charge a lipo battery with a small tamiya connection with the charger by using the lipo's balance port only? Or will you have to convert the small tamiya to deans and use the adapter?
You cannot charge with the balance plug only on these chargers.
I know I am late to the party, but how do you power it with 300 or 1000w? Most laptop chargers are 50-90w.
I'm seriously considering their 1000W model as a mobile alternative to my Powerlab 8. 12S 5000 helicopters (2x 6S in series for flight, in parallel for charging) is what I'll be using it for primarily. I think I'm over my FPV phase. I like the prices, but the thrill just isn't the same.
Happy charging? I love the ISDTs. I've had a couple had issues, e.g. the backlight on the LCD failed, but Hobbyking had the replacement arranged within hours of me submitting warranty claim. Kudos to ISDT and Hobbyking.
I own an ISDT T8 and am wondering if the system listed below is a suitable Power Supply for it.
Universal 36V 34A 1200W Regulated Switching Power Supply Transformer 220V AC to DC SMPS, Thanks.
Yep that would be great.
Hello, i have question. Is that oke if i use balance charge not isdt product. Please give me suggestion thanks
Yes, you can balance charge using any charger.
Thanks my friend.
got the Q6 Pro since a few days, and i wished i bought it earlier. I had an ToolkitRC M6 before, but that didnt charge my LIPO good, and was giving error, lcd display going crazy when the device get hot.
Sorry for the off topic Coment but what ear mic do you use?
This is the one I'm using now.
amzn.to/2zk329u
The double-ear design is much more secure than the single-ear design I used to use, but getting the mic to sit in the right position on my face was a hassle. I ended up inserting a small piece of Kyosho gel about 3 mm thick in between the head-wire and the mic wire to stiffen it up and make the mic sit in the right location. Once you get it you'll see what I mean.
Do you have a guide or suggestion into how to make or what type of ac - dc adapter to purchase for the Q6 Plus?
www.fpvknowitall.com/best-12v-power-supply-parts-list/
I don’t get the current calculation, I am currently charging 2 3000mah batteries, what do I do? How do I calculate it?
3000 mAh * 2 = 6000 mAh. 1C @ 6000 mAh = 6 amps.
Will the fast balance on the ISDT chargers work with my existing parallel balance boards? Or will the faster balance (higher balance current) trip the polyfuses on my older parallel boards? ie do you have to use the ISDT1-8S SAFE PARALLEL board?
Fast balance doesn't run at higher current, I don't think. I think it just finishes sooner. Anyway, no, it shouldn't trip the polyfuses. Balancing current on most chargers is around 500 mA or less.
So to charge in the house I would need to mod a laptop power supply?
www.fpvknowitall.com/best-12v-power-supply-parts-list/
what power supply would you reccomend for the isdt t8? and this video a couple years old is there anything better that has come out since then? thanks=)
IM A COMPLETE NEWBY HERE!!! do i need a big battery to charge another battery? i cant plug this to my wall outlet? IM VERY CUNFUSED PLEASE HEEEELPP!
I own an isdt charger, it charges at 100mah increments. I don't know if that's common with other chargers. My question is; if I have a 4s 1550mah battery, do I charge it at 1.5A or 1.6A?
Well, at 1.5 amps you'd be slightly less than 1C charge rate, and at 1.6 amps, you'd be slightly more than 1C charge rate. The difference is probably negligible.
Do I need battery balancing on the battery pack or can I join the wires to my own cells that are not in a pack and does it charge LiFePo4?, because it does not say, it only states LiPo or LiFe, bit strange.
any new chargers? any with 12 or 16s?
I have the isdt SC-608. It is really nice. It can run off of a 20 dollar 10A 12v PSU.
Got the ISDT Q6 Lite, since for my needs it was perfect. Unfortunately, after charging all of 5 batteries it fried itself and returns an error that ISDT says requires replacing a bunch of surface mount bits on the board. Definitely going to move away from ISDT.
Did you try to exchange it with your retailer?
Hello Joshua, I’m looking at getting the mini charger as my first balance charger and like you I have a old dell laptop power supply. It’s a 19.5v output. Would that work as a power supply for the charger? Can I just replace the plug like you did and you it?
Depends what the amperage is. If you want to max out the plus or pro, it must be 15.5 amps at least. Hope this helps
Hello Joshua, I bought this charger but I have a big question, I adapted a xt60 to a pc charger but it only delivers 90w (19.5v 4.62a). So according to my math I can only get 5a while charging a 4s, so I can parallel charge 3 1550mah batteries at 1c . Am I right? Or does this charger pumps those 90w to the 300w that is labeled on the specs sheet?????
Sounds right to me.
Watts are watts. You can't pump watts. You can trade amps for volts or volts for amps but watts are constant. If you put 90 watts in you cannot possibly get more than 90 watts out because conservation of energy prohibits it.
My Q6 has a poor scroll wheel that just barely plays nice enough to start a charge. I still recommend the charger but just get one from a retailer that will help you with issues.
NoLongo I had the same issue with one of my Q6 chargers. Horrible wheel that clicked every time i scrolled.
I just ordered this charger, I need to get a power supply for it. I was just going to get a laptop charger and put an xt60 connector on the end like you've done. What watt and volt rating should I look for on the laptop charger to get the most out of this charger? Thank you
For the q6 you want about 350 watts 19 volts.
Amazon Q6 link in description no workie? I'm planning to get one. would like to use your affiliate link since your review got me to pull trigger.
amzn.to/2IiVdI8
Got it, thanks. That matches what was in description. Not sure what went wrong. Anyways, one in cart thru that link.
Great vid as always! Could you test the max input current of these, as you did for the sc620?
I assume that the Q6 will reach max output on 12v, but the T8 will not.
Joshua the input Voltage for the Q6 or SC620 needs to be higher than 12V for it to reach its 14A and 20A outputs when charging 4S Batteries. Using a 24V power supply overcomes this issue. On 12V you can only charge at approximately 12A on the Q6 and 17A on the SC620 when charging 4S batteries as the output voltage is higher than the input.
Very interesting information and a great review. I will look into these because I'm after a new fild charger. But as for home chargeing i use THUNDER POWER TP820HVC 40A charge , in my opinion the best on the market, but they do have a high price point, but they have come down in price recently.
I dont want to buy or make seperate powersupply. Please review ISDT D2.
Based on ISDT's reputation and history, I think I can safely recommend it to you.
goo.gl/cW7Aja
You forget to mention the non existing support from ISDT.
Story behind: the screen of my Q6 got broken after 3-4 days of usage, so i tried to contact ISDT also per Facebook message and also per e-mail, to ask them how to BUY a replacement sceen. I never got any answear from them..
This is not a bad support, this is a non existing support.
It's a shame.
I would expect this kind of support to come from the reseller not the manufacturer directly. If you're worried about support, buy from a reputable vendor like GetFPV. They're guaranteed to at least answer your emails. The bottom line seems to be that they don't sell replacement screens, so there probably isn't much to be done.
I could contact the supplier, or start a PayPal case, but that is not what I want.
Any company who will produce a good product should have product support, like all the other good companies in this hobby like Armattan, TBS, Immerson, and so one... If you have a problem with your armattan frame or motors you will not contact the reseller, you will contact armattan directly because they build the product so they heve all the know how to the product. The same for TBS, if you have a problem with your crossfire you will contact TBS support, not the resseler.
And by the way I hno I am not the only one who would need a replacement part for the Q6 but there is no option tu buy them.
Moral of the whole storry:
1, for me the Q6 is not the chatger what I can carry with me in my bag to the field to do some field charging.
2, All the great products have also great suport, that is not the case here.
I’ve been using the Q6 for 6 months and it’s been superb. It can really do the amps it claims. However.. it sucks at discharging, it discharges very slowly and usually after 1 minute it shuts down and says “OMG IM OVERHEATING” and beeps like crazy till you deal with it. Apart from that though, I love it 🙂
Honestly, the best tool for discharging is an automotive or halogen light bulb. Or you can build a discharge load out of some 1 ohm 300W resistors.
Joshua Bardwell fair point 🙂 however, have you seen the ISDT-FD100? It’s interesting and solves this problem. 80 watt discharger with automatic cutoff. And the heatsink/fan it uses looks great
m.banggood.com/ISDT-FD-100-80W-6A-Smart-Control-Discharger-for-2S-8S-Lipo-Battery-p-1145999.html
YEP. I will be reviewing it soon :-)
Joshua Bardwell cool, I will be looking out for that review! I hate having to disgracefully discharge my batteries after sessions where I break everything. I hate it even more when my chargers don’t do it properly so having that problem solved would make the process less annoying.
I also just had a thought.. you might be able to use a balance board for discharging with that ISDT discharger. I can’t immediately think of a reason why that wouldn’t work. It would be great to be able to stick everything on discharge at once
It's not a feature or design problem, it's physics...
All that energy in your batteries have to become heat in the charger (and if you have a parallel board worth of typical flight batteries that's ballpark 40 Wh into that small charger, at 10W that's four hours... )
Is there a way (or existing adapter board) for the T8 that'll combine 2 4s packs and simultaneously do a true balance charge on those two packs as if it were one big pack?
(ie: all 8 cells being monitored individually?
The way to do this would be with a serial adapter that takes the two 4S packs and makes them into one big 8S pack.
@@JoshuaBardwell Humm.. thats easy enough on the xt60 side of things, but there's a extra ground wire on the second 4s balance tap that'll muck up any plans of per cell balance monitoring without some sort of adapter. Seems they could greatly expand the T8's usefulness (for we quad folk) if they added a secondary xt60 plug and a secondary 4s balance port... or made a adapter for proper (safe) dual 4s charging. But then again, just buy two Q6's.
j
Finally picked up one of these:) thanks for the great info
What say you to their poor QC? Specifically on the Q6+, I know a lot of people have had QC issues, myself included. Hell, mine blew smoke out the back. And their customer support isn't very strong either, so the retailer is responsible for dealing with defective units.
+The Schire FPV if you're worried about that, buy from a retailer you know will back you up, like GetFPV or ReadymadeRC
Joshua Bardwell I agree that you should buy from a trusted retailer, but don't you think that the manufacturer should be willing and able to provide service and support to their customers. This was not my experience with isdt when my q6+ died.