The iSDT Q6 Nano is the cheapest and smallest LiPo charger iSDT ever made. I’ve been using their chargers exclusively for over 4 years now without a single problem so I am excited about this one. I will go through the features and compare it to other small LiPo chargers.
Table of Contents
Where to Buy?
There are 3 color you can choose from: white, green and yellow.
- AliExpress: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DdpLP9f
- GetFPV: https://oscarliang.com/product-8hh2
- Banggood: https://bit.ly/q6-nano
- Amazon: https://bit.ly/q6-nano-amz
Specs
- Input Voltage: DC 10-30V
- Ouput Voltage: DC 1-30V
- Max Charge Current: 8A
- Max Charging Power: 200W
- Max Discharge Current: 1A
- Max Discharge Power: 10W
- Balance current: 0.5A / cell
- LiPo Balance Port for 2S – 6S
- Supported Battery Types:
- LiFe,Lion,LiPo,LiHV: 1-6S
- Pb: 1-12S
- NiMH: 1-16S
- Display: 1.5″ 240X240 IPS LCD
- Size: 72x72x32mm
- Weight: 116g
Closer Look at iSDT Q6 Nano LiPo Charger
The Q6 Nano is actually not that much smaller than the iSDT Q6 Pro I’ve been using, and it’s definitely not as small as the ToolkitRC M6. But in some ways the Q6 Nano is better than the M6 which I will talk about later.
The power input is an XT60 connector, it takes 10V to 30V DC voltage. That means you will need a power supply to run this charger. I will give you a couple of recommendations at the end.
Alternatively you can just power it from another LiPo battery, this is great for field charging.
Next to it is the Micro USB port which is for connecting to your computer to update the firmware. They even have their own software for this, so it’s very easy to do.
On the other side, we have the output ports – an XT60 and a balance port that supports 2S to 6S.
The iSDT Q6 Nano charger can charge 1S to 6S LiPo, with a maximum output power of 200W and up to 8A of charging current. It’s not as powerful as some of the more expensive chargers, but to be honest, that’s plenty for most people. After all, it’s a tiny little charger you can easily carry around. But if you do need more power, check out the Q6 Pro, it’s 300W.
And you can do “parallel charge” with the Q6 Nano too.
The cooling fan comes out of the side and not underneath like many previous iSDT chargers. It’s so much better to use outdoor as the fan won’t be covered up by grass again and overheat.
It supports BATTGO technology, but it’s not really a useful feature as there is not that many companies that make BATTGo compatible batteries.
I think they’ve fixed the issue with the fan where it would turn on at high speed upon power up, now it only turns on when it gets too warm and it works much more silently.
The screen is a lot smaller than the standard Q6, you might have to get closer to see the text. And it doesn’t come with screen protector, can’t complain at this price point. You will certainly have a messed up screen after sometime, just like all of my iSDT chargers. Perhaps you should keep the original screen protector on and don’t peel it off :)
The “3-way” push button is not easy to use. Pressing the top and bottom of the button is fine (to scroll up and down), but hitting the middle button for Enter is very tricky as you could accidentally hit the up or down button. It will take some getting used to. Anyway, it’s one sturdy design that should last.
Features
Plug in the battery, and the charger automatically detects the number of cells which saves you time entering that in the menu.
There are 5 tasks you can do: Charge, Discharge, Storage, DC Power and Destroy, all these are very self-explanatory. The Storage option will put the LiPo at 3.85V per cell, which is the safest state. The Destroy option will discharge the LiPo down to 0V for disposal, however it will take a very long time, so I normally just use my light bulb discharger for that.
Check out this guide to learn how to dispose Lipo properly.
You can also charge other types of batteries with the Q6 nano, including LI-Ion, LiFe, LiHV and NiMH.
I am very surprised to see the new feature – DC Power. It basically turns the Q6 nano into a adjustable power supply that’s capable of outputting 2V to 30V, up to 5A! It’s a great little tool for bench-testing and powering electrical equipment. I’ve only seen this function on much more expensive chargers, it’s such a nice addition.
During charging, you can see current and voltage of each cell. However, when charging your LiPo always make sure your battery can take the current set in the charger, otherwise the battery could overheat or even catch fire. Check out this guide to learn how to handle your LiPo properly.
Scroll down, it will show you the input and output voltage and power, as well as charger temperature.
It even shows you the internal resistance of each cell. Internal resistance is a great tool to determine the health of your battery pack. This guide explains how to read internal resistance.
The System Settings menu is identical to other iSDT chargers, where you can set language, back-light, beep volume, Input voltage and power etc…
Voltage Calibration
I had to calibrate my Q6 Nano as the voltage reading wasn’t accurate enough. It was only off by a little so it shouldn’t be a huge problem, but you should check yours and calibrate it just to be on the safe side.
You will find the calibration option in system settings.
Here was the testing I did on my unit:
| From Charger | From Multimeter | |
| Total Voltage | 12.2 | 12.38 |
| Cell #1 | 3.43 | 3.417 |
| Cell #2 | 1.89 | 2.013 |
| Cell #3 | 3.51 | 3.505 |
| Cell #4 | 3.45 | 3.431 |
If you plan to use 6S, you should calibrate it with a 6S battery :)
Compared to ToolkitRC M6
The M6 and Q6 Nano are both small chargers, which one should you get? Let me summarize the difference. And here is my review of the ToolkitRC M6 charger if you want to find out more.
They are similar in price. The M6 is smaller but has lower power (150W). The Q6 Nano looks so much better in terms of build quality though.
The M6 has a USB output for charging your phone or GoPro, which is quite handy, but its user interface is not as nice as the Q6’s.
Another downside of the M6 is the cooling fan location, it’s at the bottom and can get blocked (by grass for example) and overheats when used outdoor.
Field Charging
The Q6 Nano makes an excellent “field charging” solution. This post explains what field charging is. Basically you can bring a big LiPo with you to the field, and charge the smaller LiPo with it.
Also you can “step up” charging batteries with the Q6 Nano, e.g. you can use 4S LiPo as input and charge a 6S LiPo, no problem.
Getting a Power Supply
As mentioned you will need a power supply (PSU) in order to use the iSDT Q6 Nano in the house.
The PSU should have a output voltage between 10V to 30V DC, and should have a maximum power of 200W or higher if you want to use the Q6 Nano to its full potential. However it’s okay to have a less powerful PSU, just make sure you set the max power in the charger’s system settings so it doesn’t go above the limit and fry your PSU.
You power supply will have to have an XT60 output too. Here are couple of PSU that would work:
- Lantian 24V 400W PSU: https://bit.ly/2YwdGqY (this one is not 400W, but lower around 250-300W, but more than enough for the Q6 Nano)
- Hobbyporter 24V 400W PSU: https://bit.ly/3hp93Yd
- Options on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2UGkUr4
18 comments
Hi, if i use a car battery with q6 nano to charge lipos when outside, can i then recharge the car battery with q6 nano? is it safe? what do you think is better to charge lipos outside
I have seen people do it, but I’ve never tried it myself so not sure how reliable it is.
I have tried! But you have to be careful .I have did it with the power supply function and yo have to know the voltage of the dead battery and start with ~0.5 V and increase it to maximum 13.5-14 v at that time your car should be able to start
I used it to charge a dead car battery over the weekend, you just have to set it to PB (lead acid) and 6s which is what the vast majority of car batteries are. It handled it wonderfully.
None of my balance board connectors fit the Q6 nano which has raised “blocks” below the pins that include a broad flat bear the lower left. I cannot find a connector type identifier to know what will fit this charger. Anyone know?
Do any wires or connectors come with the ISDT Q6 NANO charger?
Thanks.
Is it possible to balance your cells? It’s not in the menu, but plugging in will balance all cells?
So, I found a ‘bug’ or maybe a wrong design decision with the Q6 nano: It relies on the balance connector for final stage of charging (constant voltage with small current). It is especially visible on low-capacity 1S batteries, where almost the complete charge happens at ‘low current’. E.g. I have a 250mAh LiFe cell that if I try charging at the Q6 nano with ONLY the battery lead connected it will put about 50mAh in and quit charging. You will see the cell voltage is below final voltage and if you connect it to a ‘proper’ charger afterwards it will still put 200mAh in it. If the cell is connected to both ports, charging AND balancing port (even though it’s a single cell), the charger will complete the charge normally (almost, still undercharging by some small percentage, but much better than without the balance connector connected). In other words, you need a Y-cable with a 2-pin Dupont connector for reliable 1S charging…
I bought 2 Q8 and then 2 Q6 nano and have 3 quality issues to tell.
At first I bought 2 Q8 and used them for a year or so happily until one of the scrolling wheels became erratic. It jumped 2 or 3 lines at a time which made it very difficult to change settings.
Then I ordered 2 of Q6 nano in November last year. As it was already cold outside, I didn’t use them until last week Mar 2021.
Last week I used the charger for the first time. I connected a lipo to the charger and after a minute or so thick white smoke came out of the charger. My room was full of smoke and smell coming out of the charger and itr was too hot to touch. and I had to shut the power down. The battery was cold and still has no problem. I suspect its cooling fan was DOA.
If I hadn’t found the smoke early. my house would have been burnt! The other Q6 nano works fine.
Another and last problem I found is that the impedance measured by Q6 and Q8 are very different. For example 25mohm and 40mohm for the same battery cell. Just ridiculously different values.
I fly hand launch gliders, and often use an 1S lipo for them. If you use an 1S LiPo on the Q6 Nano, it shows an error message “Unbalanced Charge?” which you have to confirm before you are able to charge the cell. Also you cannot see the current voltage and internal resistance of the cell. Problem is that the balance connector is not connected.
This is all possible if you charge a 2S LiPo. But I have a 1S LiPo. So I did an experiment and connected the LiPo also to the balance connector. You can not balance a 1S cell, but I did it anyway.
And it worked! No error message showing that the charge is unbalanced, and I can see the internal resistance of the cell now.
Maybe a tip for 1S LiPo users.
Yea it’s just a false warning with 1S, there is no balance charging for 1S anyway :)
There is not realy a problem with the button.
You have to push the whole button completely (“up” & “down” at same time) to make the “middle click”
Very easy.
I open this little charger and found that is only two button behind (for up and down function). You are right for middle click.
I have one of these and I’m trying to charge a 4S lipo. After I press start the unit asks “Perform unbalancing task?”. I have the xt60 and the other connector (balancing) attached. New battery and first time using so maybe the battery is bad?
either the charger is faulty, or the battery’s balance lead is. Check the voltage of each contact on the balance lead and see if you are getting the right voltage?
I just got one, I have another one on the way as I’m building a charge case.
I will say one thing I do not like at all is that unlike the other ISDT chargers, you cannot hold the up/down buttons to scroll constantly. Instead, you have to press over and over. This can make changing the current quite a slow process. I hope ISDT makes a new firmware that will allow you to hold the button to scroll like the Q8.
Which one did you recommend to buy? Q6 Nano or M6? I don’t think to much on the power but more on practicality. I’ve seen the pros and cons but that only makes more confusion on which one to buy ?. Thanks
I personally prefer the Q6 nano a little bit :) Not so much with the button, but the build quality just looks better than the M6 :)
But if you have the budget, get the Q6 Pro/Plus it’s still my primary charger :)