We’ve got a 6S pack — and nothing safe to charge it with

The HOTA S6 — ordered. Product shot via Oscar Liang; our own unboxing photo follows once it arrives.

The Tattu 1480 mAh 6S pack was on the table and I briefly thought: “maybe that old RC-car charger can do this too.” Short flicker of hope. Then we lined up the plugs. Different S-count, different connectors. Don’t force it — that’s how you ruin LiPos.

Our pack: XT60 + balance lead. The charger was missing — until we finally clicked buy.

So before any first flight (maiden), we needed a real FPV balance charger. One that understands 6S, XT60, and JST-XH. And one that still makes sense later: this 1480 mAh pack is only for bring-up. On the UL8 we’ll want fatter packs (think 3–5 Ah).

What “6S” and balance charging mean: LiPo batteries explained. This post is about which charger we picked — and why it took longer than “click the cheapest one”. Status (Sep 2026): HOTA S6 ordered (NL shop); firebag still open.

What an FPV charger actually does

A laptop battery often has a BMS watching your back. A raw FPV LiPo usually doesn’t. You and the charger are the protection.

The charger must:

• know it’s LiPo (not the wrong chemistry mode on this pack)
• watch six cells through the balance lead
• stop around 4.20 V per cell
• ideally offer storage (~3.8 V/cell) when you won’t fly for days

1C is a sensible start: amps ≈ capacity in Ah. First pack: 1480 mAh → about 1.5 A. Almost any decent charger can do that. The hard part is later: two fat 5 Ah packs from the wall at once wants serious AC watts.

Rough 1C order-of-magnitude:

• 1480 mAh 6S → ~40 W
• 5000 mAh 6S → ~125 W
• two of those → ~250 W

Many “dual AC” chargers share 200 W across both channels. Fine for one fat pack. Tight if you want two full at once without sharing.

Also: a firebag. We don’t charge unattended. Sounds strict; LiPos earn that.

The rabbit hole (and how we climbed out)

At first, “ToolkitRC with more AC watts” looked smart. More wall power, USB-C, price close to the others. Then we actually read people who’ve been teaching this hobby for years. We keep a fixed panel of five (Oscar, Bardwell, Rosser, Painless360, UAV Tech). Details below.

What stuck:

• Joshua Bardwell has run a HOTA D6 Pro for years. Reliability beats a fancy USB-C when you care about not burning the house down.
• Oscar Liang, roughly: D6 Pro is still value; S6 if you want bigger packs or higher per-channel current on AC.
• ToolkitRC has nice features, but Joshua is cautious after QC issues. Not a hard ban — a red flag for our first serious charger.
• Chris Rosser / UAV Tech: no useful HOTA charger review found. Painless360 has charger content (e.g. compact ISDT), no S6 piece. We don’t invent opinions where there’s silence.

So the pick tilted from “most AC on the marketing slide” to: HOTA, enough AC for later, balance current that isn’t weak.

Last wobble before checkout: Ali D6 Pro (~€116), Droneshop D6 Ultra (€129, 300 W AC GaN), or S6 (€159, 400 W AC). For now (1480 mAh) Ultra would have been enough. We want fatter 6S packs later — then 400 W AC from the wall wins. Q6AC (4 channels) stayed on the shelf: too much money for two channels we’ll actually use.

Our pick — ordered

S6 from the front: dual XT60 + balance. That’s where our Tattu plugs go. (Photo: Oscar Liang)

We ordered the HOTA S6 (around €159 in NL, e.g. droneshop).

Why, in plain language:

1. We start small, but bigger 6S packs are coming.
2. 400 W AC covers two fat packs near 1C from the wall more calmly than 200–300 W shared.
3. 1.6 A balance — unbalanced cells finish sooner than on ~1 A balancers.
4. HOTA has a Bardwell track record. That matters as beginners.

What’s in the box (Oscar’s unbox). Useful to see what you still need to buy separately — firebag stays separate.

Budget options we skipped: D6 Ultra (~€129, 300 W AC) — compact GaN refresh of the Pro; D6 Pro (~€110–116, 200 W AC) — Joshua’s daily driver. Fine if you usually charge one pack at a time, or add a DC PSU later.

D6 Pro: same dual-channel idea, less AC wattage. Was plan B. (Photo: Oscar Liang)

Others we took seriously: ISDT K2 Zip, SkyRC D200neo, ToolkitRC M6DAC/Q6AC, iSDT 608AC (too weak on AC for fat 6S), Spektrum S2100 (pricey + Smart plugs our Tattu doesn’t have).

Firebag separately (~€15–30) — still on the must-have BOM.

When it arrives: check System Info; HOTA publishes no changelog, only firmware. Latest we saw: V1.0.4 (Oct 2024) via hota-exp.com support + HTLoader / micro-USB.

How we’ll charge (once it arrives)

1. Mode: LiPo Balance Charge, 6S.
2. XT60 and the white balance plug. Both.
3. Current: start at 1C.
4. Pack in the firebag. Stay nearby. Hard surface.
5. Done → off the charger. Don’t sit at 4.20 V/cell for days → storage.
6. Puffy or damaged? Don’t charge. Retire it.

Reference — comparison (EU, Sep 2026)

Ballpark incl. VAT. Shops change.

Model	≈ price	Channels	AC	Note
SkyRC B6neo(+)	€40–50	1	no (PD/DC)	Budget; needs a brick
iSDT 608AC	~€73	1	~50–60 W	Slow on wall power
HOTA D6 Pro	€106–122	2	200 W	Budget workhorse
HOTA D6 Ultra	~€129	2	300 W	GaN; compact; we skipped
ToolkitRC M6DAC / Pro	€134–141	2	200–300 W	USB-C; QC caution
ISDT K2 Zip	~€139	2	200 W	Up to 8S; Bardwell all-rounder
SkyRC D200neo	€140–155	2	200 W	Feature-rich (Oscar)
HOTA S6	~€159	2	400 W	Ordered
Gens Ace iMars Dual	~€130–140	2	200 W	Fine; fiddlier UI
ToolkitRC Q6AC	~€250	4	~400 W class	Oscar favorite; pricey + QC caution
Spektrum S2100	~€200	2	2×100 W	Poor XT60 fit

What do the five say?

Reviewer	Found?	Takeaway
Oscar Liang	Yes	Guide, S6, M6DAC, D200neo, Q6AC
Joshua Bardwell	Yes	Charger shopping list — D6 Pro / S6 / K2 Zip; ToolkitRC QC caution
Chris Rosser	No*	No HOTA charger review; nearby battery testing
Painless360	Partial	No S6; charger practice e.g. ISDT 608PD
UAV Tech	No	No HOTA/S6 review found

*No review ≠ disapproval.

Related

• LiPo batteries explained
• Tattu 1480 mAh 6S
• Tools · XT60 connections · Power & capacitors
• Project intro

Decision log

We had a pack and no safe charger. Almost chased “more watts on the brochure.” After Oscar + Bardwell (and honestly: thin charger coverage from Rosser/UAV Tech) — plus a late Ultra/Pro/Ali wobble — we ordered the HOTA S6 for later fat 6S packs. Firebag still open. Charge first — fly later.

Sources: review panel (Oscar, Bardwell, Rosser, Painless360, UAV Tech).

Photos