Hitec Multi Charger for four 3.7V LiPo batteries - thumbs up.

Recently got a Hitec X4 Micro Multi Charger - for 1 cell LiPo batteries only (3.7V). Adjustable from 100 mA to 1 Amp current. GREAT for the little single 3.7V batteries used for R/C models like Embers, Mini-Radian, Micro Copters, and of course some of the lighter R/C Rocket Boosted Gliders that use one cell. Have had too many issues with the little 70 to 150 mAh "stick" batteries that appeared to "Charge" on the AA battery powered "dumb" chargers, but did not work at all or worked poorly.



In the photo, one is charged, two have error codes (bad batteries), and one is charging (showing 3.60 V).

This helps to see which are good and charging well, and which are bad (time to get rid of ). When a Lipo is showing 1 volt when you plug it in…. it is permanently damaged, and this charger gives an error code the moment you try to make it charge a bad one like that. Also it keeps track of the mAh used for a recharge, so if a 150 mAh battery only accepts a 75 mAh charge but the ESC had shut if off on the previous flight, that battery will have short flights on Embers and more seriously could lead to a dead battery crash of an R/C RBG, so it is VERY useful to be able to check out the battery health.

Only drawback is it is only for single cells, 3.7V. Wish it could do 2 Cells, as we use a lot for other R/C RBG's, especially for S8.

Manual: https://hitecrcd.com/files/Hitec_X4_Manual_US.pdf

It's AC/DC, so you can plug it into 110 VAC, or power it off any 11 to 15 V DC source (a 3S 11.1 V 2200 mAh Lipo will be good for charging a lot of little 3.7V batt's on the field).

youtube video: [video=youtube;iDNH1zLl-Uo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDNH1zLl-Uo[/video]

Thanks, George- this is a really handy little unit as it's hard to find one just for 1s. Usually you have to untie a Gordian knot of adapter cables and fiddle with settings just to charge 1 little altimeter battery. This is great for us guys who don't need our own reactor unit to power a Cray XP1 in the nose cone.

Many thanks for posting this. Looks perfect for the Raven / PowerPerch crowd (like me). Is there a suggested vendor to purchase from?

Glad you'll find it useful.

I got mine via eBay. With shipping it was a total of $53.85. Best deal I could find without having to wait to get one from China and/or a knock-off.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/301524267479?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

BTW - Used three batteries Friday flying a micro-quad copter. One flight seemed to be short in flying time.... but no stopwatch used for fun flying so I never know how long it was. In recharging it, the 150 mAh battery only accepted a 65 mAh charge (Another battery of the same brand charged at the same time accepted 130 mAh). So, it's been marked as "damaged", still flyable for little electric models that have ESC's that will power down before the voltage is too low to keep control. But not trustworthy for the R/C Rocket Boosted Gliders that have no throttle and I expect to last for "X" amount of time, with a safety margin, and not "Half-X" amount of time with no safety margin.

So I think this charger just paid for itself by discovering that low capacity battery.

(mouse click) Annnnd... ordered. Thanks George!

Just to close out this thread... I got one of these and am very happy with it. Excellent little charger. Thanks again to George for making me aware of it.

That looks very much like it's worth looking into. I've been using the Eflight four-port charger that runs on D cells (https://www.e-fliterc.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=EFLC1004AC) which I bought used from someone else on RC Groups a few years ago. But it doesn't give any data at all....

Thanks, George.

added: In doing a little research on this thing on RC Groups I find that the port that one would expect to plug in the usual EFlite type cell has a connector that's almost, but not quite, right. This is the port that all the cells in George's picture are in.

Apparently, after some use the polarizing/lock tab on the cell wears down. There is much discussion about adapters and apparently HiTec will send you one on request. There is also a vendor that makes 'em: https://www.rc-connectors.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=118&products_id=487. And finally there is a how-to thread to change those connectors to the correct ones for the Eflite UMX type cells: https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2396196

I find the charger on Amazon for $52 shipped (with Prime). https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FYL2INM/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Thanks for posting, but I'm not sure I understand this whole 'wrong connector' thing? The batteries I use for my altimeters seem to mate just fine with the connector on the charger. Are there two nearly-identical-but-different kinds of these plugs or something?

That's my understanding, yes.....

Since I don't have the HiTech charger in hand, I can't say for sure, but the gist of the discussion is that the the connectors on the cells have a lock tab which gets worn down by repeated use in this charger and at least one poster said he had a cell worn this way fall out of his airplane, which turned it into a free flight glider.

Another useful feature on any charger is the 12 VDC and 120 VAC power option. That allows you to use your charger at home from the wall plug, or in the field from you car's power port (in case you forgot to charge you favorite battery.)

Bob

I've got the same charger and can attest to its quality and longevity. I also have another charger from Hi-Tec for RC Cars, it is also a great unit.