I needed a cheap charger that is able to charge HvLi batteries. I found this smart charger delivers good amount of power, and has a very well designed user interface and features.
Unboxing the IMAX X150 Charger
I am not experienced enough with LiPo chargers to say which is the best, but I was well impressed with this X150 charger by the features it offers and how easy it is to use. I have been using the Turnigy Accurel-6 for over 2 years now, and it does what I need, but I have always wanted a more powerful charger, because with only 50W it simply takes too long to charge!
Further Reading: How too choose LiPo charger
It looks exactly like the popular X120 Hobbyking has been selling for months. They are probably the same battery charger but this one is more powerful. Also the X120 doesn’t have built-in power supply (PSU), the X150 does!
It includes:
- X150 AC/DC Charger
- AC Input Cable
- DC Input Cable
- Output Cable
- Balance Cable & Board (PQ/HP type)
- Alligator Clip
- Touch Pen
- Instruction Manual
Lovely Charger!
First of all there is the colour touch screen! Scrolling cross the menu with buttons could be tedious, with the touch screen you can almost instantly choose what you want.
It has integrated power supply built-in, so you don’t need to purchase this separately, saves lots of hassle thinking about the power rating etc.
The user interface is very friendly, very easy to pick up.
The manufacturer really put the colour screen in good use! I love the real time graph while you are charging. It shows you the battery voltage, charging current, charged capacity and temperature.
150W is very decent power for mini quad hobbyists like myself. With 150W, you should be able to parallel charge 3 x 4S 1500mah packs at 2C, or 6 x 4S 1500mah packs at 1C the same time. (3*3A*14.8=133.2W)
It has an USB charging output! Which can be used to charge your mobile devices and cameras with 5V, very handy.
It has 2 inputs, AC (normal wall plug) and DC (10V – 28V) which means you can even use it at the field with some generator or even just large LiPo packs to charge up smaller packs.
More on Sepc
Some more spec I copied from the box:
- Touch Screen Resolution: 3 inch, 400 x 240 pixel
- Operating voltage range: AC input 100V-240V, DC input 10V-28V
- Max Charging Power: DC 150W (Max 12A), AC 100W (Max 8A)
- Max Discharging Power: 10W (Max 3A)
- USB 5V charging output: 5V/2.1A
- HvLi/LiPo/LiFe battery count: 1~6 cells
- NiCd/NiMH battery count: 1~16 cells
- Pb battery voltage: 2 to 24V
- 94% efficiency
Faulty Unit?!
Only problem I found was probably the quality control. The unit I received seems to be faulty!! Doh!
It was working all fine when charging the first lipo, then on the second one, it started to behave funny. Whenever the charging power went over 50W, it activated the fan, and the charging current started to fluctuate, and at the same time the fan goes on and off as well. However if I charge with smaller current to keep the power under 50W, which will not trigger the fan to spin, it seems to be fine!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jqryo9QUyv8
Anyway I am unsure about this issue and stopped using this charger further. Hopefully the shop can sort this out for me.
Update – 08 Sept 2016
Looks like I won’t be given a replacement, so I will look for a more reliable charger.
18 comments
The firmware on my X150 does not support storage charge for 1S (e.g. 1S/500mAh used for quadrocopters). If you select it and go back to main menu you will read 2S and the charger will complain about if only 1S is connected.
Works fine so far with my 3S/850 and 2S/2200 cells.
Unfortunately there is no way to update the firmware.
Fan is very loud with my unit as well, but good luck, with my batteries is usually not switches on while charging (just on discharge).
Yes, I doubt you will ever hear from them again.
I bought the X400 Twins charger and B45 power supply from them and both broke in less than 2 months.
They are avoiding honoring the warranty by insisting that I pay the shipping costs both ways, which of course makes it not cost-effective to do so.
Lesson learned. Don’t do business with imax.
It’s too bad, because I liked the way the product is designed and the User interface.
Larry
Did you ever get the replacement
no i don’t think they are going to send it now.
They don’t stand behind their products.
I bought the B45 DC power supply and the X400Twins dual charger and I really liked them at first. But within 3 months I began to have trouble with both of them.
The company representative was very rude and tried to blame me for the faults. They “said” they would replace them if I sent them back to China, but I really don’t trust them and decided to write them off as a loss.
I have the 100 model. I use it all the time for my 2s-4slipo batteries. I’m not real smart, but it makes charging batteries easy. It has quit working a few times during mid charge on 5amp for overheating. After placing something under corner of charger to raise it and allow more airflow, it works fine.
Hi Oscar!
I have the bigger version of this charger, the IMAX X400 and it has worked flawlessly for a year now. Only complaints are that it’s fan seems to have only two speeds, very low idle in the menus and quite loud setting while charging (charge current does not have an effect on the fan speed). It has a lot of power but in turn requires quite a beefy PSU to keep it running. Ready made power supplies tend to cost a lot so I made my own from a server PSU. It has a huge amount of amps available for 12V (how does 82A sound like..) and they are cheap.
that’s good to know :)
400W is a lot :D I think I am happy with 150W !
Hi Oscar
It could be great With a High end charger test Eks. The icharger 4010 duo and the 300 series…. Up against similar quality models….. People ar soeinding more and more on this hobby, and With a more expensive purchase it’s even more importaint to make the Right choice……
And to know If its worth the money?..
Also ther is a lot of talk about powering your charger With a High watt server power suply… Is that a good option?
I am getting a replacement see if it actually work … but if it does it’s a pretty good charger for $40 :) I will update shortly after I test it
and Yes it doesn’t harm to use higher watt PSU if you can, it can help over heat issue if you are pushing the power limit of the charger :)
I also have an Imax X100 (almost the same as the X150), it works ok, no problems with the fan, but it have 2 cons: Since new make a funny sound like a high freq power supply noise (maybe are the capacitors) maybe my unit is faulty but it works flawless until now.
And second and most important, is almost impossible to see the LCD when i use it on the field.
Thanks Oscar by all your reviews.
Regards.
thanks for letting me know :)
what’s the weight of your charger?
Hi,
i have weaker version X100 and im almost totally happy. I dont have problem with fan like you (guarantee repair?), charger is BFU (=me) freindly. But – this charger can charge Lead-acid battery while maximum charging time is 120min?!? Seriously? How you can charge 40Ah battery with 6A output in 2 hours?! I curse iMax for this fail.
yes it’s a bit of a weird limitation hehe :) guess it’s not designed for pack that large
I’ve been looking at this charger to have one that packs easily. Please make another post when/if you get yours sorted out, I’d like to know what it’s doing before I buy one. Thanks for all the reviews!
I have a replacement on the way within a week :)
i will update after I test it!
Did you get your replacement charger? I need a new charger and this looks like a pretty good option.
nope not yet, i am not sure if they are willing to send me a replacement now as i haven’t heard from them for a quite a few weeks.