Review: iSDT 608AC LiPo Charger – Great for Beginners?

I really like iSDT chargers, but they didn’t come with a power supply and so often beginners were unsure as to what to get. Finally iSDT released the new 608AC charger that comes with a PSU, and it’s in a very portable form factor too.

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Where to Buy?

The iSDT 608AC LiPo charger is available from the following vendors:

• AliExpress: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DeFsS2f
• Banggood: http://bit.ly/isdt-608ac
• Amazon: https://amzn.to/38YgRuY
• GetFPV: http://bit.ly/2Sf4Hax
• RaceDayQuad: http://bit.ly/390muJ1

In the box it comes with

• the charger + PSU
• manual
• power cable
• anti-slip foam tape
• iSDT stickers

What’s special about the 608AC?

My personal go-to LiPo charger has been the iSDT Q6 Pro, mainly because of its reliability and portability. However, in order to make it so small, power supply (PSU) is not included and so users have to buy the PSU separately.

Here is a beginner guide explaining the basics of LiPo chargers and power supply.

That’s why I think the latest iSDT 608AC might be a better first LiPo charger for beginners thanks to the included PSU. Including the PSU, the charger only weighs 350g, with dimension of 110.5×110.5x31mm.

What’s even better is that the PSU is removable, allowing the 608AC to take both AC and DC input power, it makes travelling easier and field charging possible. Learn about the basics of field charging in this article.

Despite the lower power rating, the 608AC is slightly bigger than the Q6 Pro even without the PSU.

Specs & Features of the 608AC

Power Supply Unit

• Power 60W
• Input Voltage 100V – 240V
• Output 19V 3A DC

Charger

• Power 200W
• Input Voltage 10V – 30V
• Output Voltage 1.0V – 30V
• Charge Current 0.1A – 8.0A
• Discharge Current 0.1A – 1.0A
• Max Discharge Power 10W

You can perform all the common tasks with the 608AC charger:

• “balance charge” single battery
• parallel charging
• charge 1S, 2S, 3S, 4S, 5S, 6S LiPo
• charge LiHV (4.35V/cell)
• charge 18650 Li-Ion Cells
• discharge battery for storage

The iSDT 608AC supports LiFe, Li-ion, LiPo, LiHv 1-6S / Pb 1-12S / NiMH 1-16S. The full list of supported batteries, voltage and current are as follow:

Close Look

The 608AC has a much smaller screen than the Q6.

But the interface and information displayed are almost identical. The text is smaller, but it’s perfectly readable. Perhaps I am used to the Q6, I find the 608AC interface really very simple to use.

The 608AC charger has a rolling wheel button on the side, similar to the one in the older iSDT 620 and 608 chargers. Operation is made intuitive and user-friendly by the wheel button, it allows you you to easily navigate through the menu and options.

On the front, there are the balance port and XT60 output, along with a micro USB port for firmware updates.

On the left hand side there is the AC connector and cooling fan.

The PSU is connected to the charge via a female XT60 connector.

Removing the PSU, you can power the 608AC from a DC power source between 10V to 30V (e.g. 3S to 6S LiPo).

When you use the included 60W PSU, the charger automatically sets the maximum power to 55W, and the lowest input voltage to 17V, and you cannot change it. This is clearly an excellent safety feature so you don’t overload the PSU by accident.

The full potential of 200W 608AC can be “unlocked” by powering from a DC source, e.g. a LiPo battery. You can do so by removing the PSU, and plug in a battery. Now you can now change “lowest input voltage” and “Max Input Power” freely just like a normal iSDT charger.

This is my huge 6S 10,000mAh LiPo battery for field charging, and I’d set lowest input voltage to 21.5V to avoid discharging my battery below 3.6V per cell. And set max input power to 200W just to match the power of the charger.

This is how I put the anti-slip stickers on the bottom.

Limitations

Although this is a 200W charger which is good enough for most people, unfortunately the included PSU is only 60W. To put that into perspective, you can only charge a 4S LiPo (16.8V) at 3.5A. Charging a 4S 1300mAh will take under 20 minutes, while charging a 6S 1000mAh will take under 25 minutes.

The PSU is indeed a bottleneck if you want charge  quicker, but I think for beginners 60W is plenty because you probably don’t have that many LiPo batteries to charge (yet). You can still parallel charge with this charger and PSU combo, but it’s not going to be very fast.

As you progress, you can simply get a more powerful PSU, and use the same charger. A decent 200W PSU for example, shouldn’t cost you more than $20. Alternatively you can also modify a server/computer PSU for your charger if you know how.

Conclusion

If you are new to LiPo batteries, make sure you learn about how to handle them safely to avoid damage.

I have been using the iSDT 608AC for a couple of weeks now it’s been performing reliably. With the detachable AC to DC power supply, this charger is easy to carry around, to use both indoor and outdoor.

I only wish the PSU is more powerful, it would be nice to match the power of the charger so we don’t have to upgrade in the future, but I guess that would increase the cost considerably. For $60, even with a 60W PSU this is still a pretty good deal in my opinion.

So yea, with the limitation in mind, I would recommend this charger to beginners and casual flyers. However, if you want a more powerful charger that you don’t have to upgrade for a long time, check out the D6 Pro. It also has a built-in PSU for AC power as well as accepting DC power :)