HobbyMate D6 Duo Pro Charger Review, supplied by HobbyCool

[@d3c0deFPV]

I went from an iMAX B6AC V2 to one of these. Definitely a worthwhile upgrade. I've converted all of my banana plug charging boards to XT60 and I'm not looking back! A few months in and no complaints so far. Came well calibrated from the factory, although I'm not sure if that's the norm. I'm glad, since that calibration menu is silly with the super long code, and you'll have to do it twice if you need to calibrate each channel!

[@FPVSteve]

Very nice - I'm still using an old balance charger I've had since 2011 .... it does 2A max and a single battery at a time!

[@CurryKitten]

Depends what you are flying. My mini Talon can do 40 mins+ on a single lipo, but most quads do 3 mins, so 1 lipo at a time would be a pain :D

[@EnglishTurbines]

I like my tiny ISDT field Charger, the best bit about this one is its ability to discharge back into a big capacity Lipo. Taking Lipos down into Storage condition is a bit of a pain TBH....Nice review Wayne, well done.

[@CurryKitten]

Cheers ET :)

[@propwash6880]

Just got mine yesterday. So far it is the nicest charger I've ever owned and I've owned all kinds of massive chargers and power supplies etc. Question: Is that film on the surface of the screen removable? I tried but seems like it might ruin it if I pick and scratch at it. I can't tell...

[@CurryKitten]

Haha, weirdly when I first got it out of the box, I thought "I'll have to get that film off" and vaguely picked at it but never did. 2 secs.... yes it is, and it looks very nice underneath. I had a few bubbles in my film that made it a bit more obvious, but it's not that easy to get a bit to pick it off from

[@propwash6880]

@@CurryKitten Thanks for confirming. I have a boat and the console had a similar looking film on some of the gauges and it wouldn't come off, it just made unsightly marks. Many dollars later I realized I made a big mistake by picking at it.

[@richgixxer6]

I did have an old charger like you had but bit the bullet and bought a skyrc q200 a little expensive but it’s been worth every penny so far... good review I do like portable chargers so it could be something I’d look at in the future 👍🏻

[@CurryKitten]

That q200 looks really nice - bluetooth link looks really useful if you want to put the charger outside or something - cool :)

[@nerdCopter]

+1👍 thanks you sir, makes me want one. bought an 80watt as a noob. ;/ love "no separate power brick"

[@CurryKitten]

I had a very basic charger when I started out, and only 2 lipos so it wasn't such a hardship. It's only when you want to go out in 2 hours time and you need at least 8 lipos charged that you start to think that an investment in a good charger is a necessity

[@Dav2112]

I really need to upgrade my charger, one of these would be perfect. Nice review man.

[@CurryKitten]

Thanks :)

[@FlyingFun.]

This is a great charger , I have the same as you with that hk 4in1 charger which is LOUD!!!! Time to update soon. Hobbycool were supposed to be sending me that charger a while back but seem to have forgotten..

[@CurryKitten]

Send them a sneaky reminder :-) That Quattro charger is fine, it just feels a bit like when you used to go in a computer room and see "the computer" which was the huge thing with cooling all over, and the D6 is like a Raspberry Pi which is also more powerful

[@FlyingFun.]

@@CurryKitten yes, my wife would defo be happy to see the back of the hk 4in1 , needs its own sound proof room lol. Plus mine only works on 2 channels now anyway..

[@MCsCreations]

Fantastic charger, man... I need to get one like that too! Mine is the old iMax B6! LOL

[@CurryKitten]

The B6 was my first charger (and it wasn't even an original) worked fine, but not so good when you want 8 lipos done in a hurry !

[@yossishi221]

hi is it do discharge with balancer to discharge all battery that on the series????, because i have one that stop the discharge when the first battery get to the lowest volt thanks yossi

[@CurryKitten]

Are you asking if both sides of the charger stop if one hits storage/discharge first? If that the case, the answer is no - both charge sides act completely indpendantly. Perhaps you are asking about using a parallel charge board ?

[@robertcorsa581]

How can I get black one like video ?????

[@patrickcolclough2423]

No distribution in the UK yet though, so with import duty and 'administration' charges its way more expensive than the ISDT.

[@CurryKitten]

I think the administration charges are the biggest peeve in my life. I'd be quite happy to pay the import tax if I wasn't charged an extra £8-£16 on top for "admin"

[@tomaschmelevskij623]

Had Hota version, AC stopped working after few months, bangood won't refund 😭 Don't know if would take take the risk now of getting another one...

[@CurryKitten]

If it's literally a few months then it's still in the PayPal dispute territory - in which case raise one and then escalate it ASAP

[@petermarshall2189]

Never got External discharge to work - from the full manual i was supplied it will discharge through a resistor, but not regenerative charge the input, which was annoying as the external discharge which was the main purchase reason

[@CurryKitten]

I must admit, I've not tried it - but I can certainly give it a whirl to check that's how it works if you are interested. I presume you checked firmware versions and things to make sure there wasn't an issue on the level you were on ?

[@petermarshall2189]

@@CurryKitten I'd checked for a new version, and tried with a lipo input with no joy. I even contacted the manufacturer as it's not very well documented. As I understand it they way the external discharge works is that a Lipo in port 1 will discharge through a load resistor connected to port 2 but not seen any specs for the resistor, or found one that will handle the load safely.

[@ricardoferreira2811]

Got a similar one, a Hota D6 Pro from Banggood and when turned on I just get the message "CH1 Self-check failed! (E108)". Not happy!

[@CurryKitten]

Get onto them and get yourself a refund or a replacement

[@ricardoferreira2811]

@@CurryKitten Update: - reported the issue to HOTA, sent emails several times for any news, and they only kept replying "sorry to hear that" and did nothing - reported the issue to Banggood, and after sending the unit back was fully refunded - now I have an ISDT D2

[@carpenterrick186]

Great video!! It does seem to be a great charger!!!

[@ched999uk]

Nice charger. It's a figure 8 mains cable, kettle ones have an earth. Looks a bit too easy to charge to a higher voltage which can be very dangerous. OK so I know some racers charge to a higher voltage to give them a little more watts but that menu was too easy to adjust.

[@CurryKitten]

Yep - I'd watched it back and said to myself about the difference between a kettle and a figure 8 (although I didn't know about the earth, I was just thinking of the physical shape) But decided that I couldn't be doing with re-recording the whole thing, and perhaps nobody would notice so uploaded. Well done :D

[@ched999uk]

Not trying to pick holes mate. Kettle leads come in 2 varieties, 1 with a notch next to earth is heat resistant one (supposed to be used on kettles :-) ) the other no notch and not heat proof. Fig 8 only have 2 terminals so should only be fitted to double insulated things (items marked with a square inside a square). Keep up the great videos and Have a great Christmas.

[@CurryKitten]

Haha - it's all good. I always full encourage anyone to point out where I've got it wrong... as I do a lot, but then I can learn something.... or in this case just admit I was too lazy to redo something :D

[@Rich-TeaFPV]

Nice charger, makes my b6 look like a relic from the distant past😁 have you seen the HRTC chargers on Amazon and banggood from £50. They look to have similar features to this one but at a much lower cost and on Amazon prime next day delivery

[@CurryKitten]

Hey they look pretty good as well. I've been on my old quattro for so long, I've not looked around. Nice too see that there's plenty of decent stuff out there

[@taevy12]

Is there any charger that come with XT90 output? I can’t find one.

[@CurryKitten]

I've never seen one either - making your own cables/ adapters seems to be the way to go there

[@taevy12]

@@CurryKitten M horrible at soldering 😂

[@robertcorsa581]

Lot of them are gray. I want the black one. How can I get black one ????????

[@CurryKitten]

I don't know - mine just came like that :D

[@robertcorsa581]

Not sure I’ll get black one. So can’t order one. Should be a way to be sure .

[@CaribbeanZapatta]

ps we all know max cell 4.2 volts yes ? WHY ?? is it a physical limit that lithium polymer on foil can produce dv voltage ??

[@CurryKitten]

Don't know the technical details - presumably something to do with the battery chemistry, but quite what I don't know

[@robertcorsa581]

Do you have the black one ??????

[@CurryKitten]

Yes - just like in the video

[@Spicks96]

Its nice but as you said "its not cheap" I expect it would be close to $200 including shipping, and then you would probably get hit with import duty and the post office charge too! So nearly $250.... Not a chance lol

[@CurryKitten]

Yep - definitely a downside. It is lovely as far as a charger can be though :)

[@CaribbeanZapatta]

…...first I HATE LIPOS !!! I AM TERRIFIED OF LIPOS ! I had a BAD fire last summer charging indoors at 2:00 am and nearly burned the house. both hands badly burned. the lipo was fairly new ..it happens. now I NEVER EVER CHARGE INDOORS. PERIOD. NEED or WANT ? WE all end up with a pile of chargers. reality the old 4-button style worked perfect.I have one that has 4 separate a/c power source built-in ! but it is noisy and not digital ..Joshua explained how amps going IN dictated by amount going out of balance leads ...so ...using the simple $15.00 balance lead ONLY chargers I NEVER had an issue ! that Hobbymate and iCharger and iSDT all GREAT ! take your pick. because I already have MANY usb chargers and a surface phone charger comes down to noise and changing colors ?? I fly every day and usually charge at the field using car battery (with 15' jumper cable with xt-60 on one end ). I just purchased a DC ONLY charger with Bluetooth ap so you can monitor charging on your phone. Sorta cool ? Silly, Also a 4 at one time balance lead only charger. Maybe will help keep cells in balance ?? but YOURS changes color ? Oh Man ….and tells internal health of lipo ?? move over guys another charger on the way ...gtreat review !

[@CurryKitten]

I have to charge inside given that it almost always rains here :) I do stay in the room when I have lipos on though. I've only ever had issues when I was doing parallel charging - smoke and flames twice, but happily nothing serious. Part of the reason I've got chargers that can do mulitple lipos at a time is that I'll never do parallel again

[@HOBBYMATERCHOBBY]

A hobbymate lipo safe bag recommended if you charge a lipo indoor

[@frasersteen]

@@CurryKitten what happened with the parallel charging? I've been doing parallel for a while with different packs and different sizes, I am super paranoid about the voltage when plugging in and I'm reasonably diligent on checking pack health. With all this 6s stuff though I'm still starting to worry. Was it a human error issue or just a random failure? I'm working on some electronics so I can try and eliminate the human error bit but I fear the kraken. Charging 6-10 packs in less than 2 hours kinda needs parallel charging or a lot of money on chargers, did you come to the conclusion it wasn't worth the risk to parallel charge?

[@CurryKitten]

I used to use parallel charging when I had a single B6 charger and I'd do 4-6 packs at a time. I was super-careful, making sure that all the cells were within 0.1v of each other and plugging in very carefully. Was fine for 1 year or more, but then In the first instance, the charging board literally went up in smoke. Magic smoke everywhere, awful smell etc. I figured it was just a faulty board so replaced it with a better one - again all good for a while, and then ready to start charging with batteries plugged in and I had the wires in two balance leads burst into flames. This is a very scary situation, but luckily it was just the leads and nothing else caught. Once again, the voltages were right, and the connections were done correctly. I could accept doing something where I'd had 2 issues without any errors on my part that I could spot, so went over to multi chargers.

[@CurryKitten]

Always a good idea - I must admit to be a little lazy with charge bags, unless I'm charging some larger lipos

[@51im]

Turn the blooming beeper off

[@CurryKitten]

Yeah - I should have done, hindsight is a wonderful thing :)

[@51im]

@@CurryKitten It's the first setting I look for on anything that beeps at me. 😁

[@stofffpv3128]

$150

[@frasersteen]

subscribed, check. liked, check. arbitrary engagement for the algorithms (I got nothing, it's a great charger), check.

[@CurryKitten]

I thank-you :)