OT battery chargers and cyclers recommendations

[tmunn]

What would you guys recommend for a battery charger/Cycler that would be good for battery packs.

I use individual cells in the plastic holders that comes with the radios.

I also have some packs that come all made up and soldered together.

I am leaning toward getting away from the single cells and plastic holder with the leads and looking at buying or making up packs with the correct end on them for my tx packs.

I was wondering if the battery chargers/cyclers that are currently available charge the batteries if they are in the plastic battery trays/holders that come with the many of the 2 and 3 channel radio's.

Obviousy the connections would have to be compadible but i was wondering if a pack can be cycled and charged using these newer style chargers.

I currently take the cells out or force the connector on the pack into a futaba connector from a wall charger.Or charge them 4 at a time in my charger.

I hope i explained this properly.

Terry

 

[Preston_Hall]

The Accu Cycle Elite has great features and works well. It comes with an AC-DC converter so it can be used anywhere.I have had mine for a few years and it has been beneficial in determining the actual mah of some cells/packs.

 

[tnrcboatracer]

I use the Ace Digipulse for all my NiMh 5 cell receiver and 8 cell xmitter packs. I charge the xmitter from the charging jack on the back of my PJ radios.

 

[moparbarn]

mrc 960 will do 1 - 9 cells, aa - sub c. plug and play or set rate, amps, and delta peak level. about $50, buy it now on e-bay

 

[Don Ferrette]

The Accu Cycle Elite has great features and works well. It comes with an AC-DC converter so it can be used anywhere.I have had mine for a few years and it has been beneficial in determining the actual mah of some cells/packs.

Ditto here. I checked out the one Preston had one day at a club race & decided to try it, yeah buddy! B)

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti00...SM&I=LXEYD4

 

[moparbarn]

my bad, mrc is not a cycler, just charger. $48 on tower......

 

[RaceMechaniX]

I have two of the Triton Jr's which work great for TX/RX and glow-ignitors. They do cycle up to 3x-, only downside in my opinion is the 1A max discharge rate.

Tyler

 

[Joe_Knesek]

I use the Bantam E-station 301 which will charge & cycle Li-Poly, Ni-MH, Ni-Cd & lead acid batteries. It's programmable but it also has a simple mode that allows you to just select the battery type & hit the Start button. It will then figure out the charge rate for you.

http://www.bantamtek.com/http://www.bantamtek.com/

 

[tnrcboatracer]

Oops, missed the cycler part. I also have an Ace Digipace cycler. I believe is has a 550mA discharge rate limit, but I'm not 100% sure of the max rate. I'll have to check it out at home, to see.

 

[tmunn]

Preston and don

How long does it take to charge a 6V nimh pack in the 2000 mah range.

Just wondering if I could charge 2 packs and then 2 more before the following day.

Terry

 

[tmunn]

how long would it take to charge say a 2000 mah nimih 6v receiver pack with this unit ?

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti00...SM&I=LXEYD4

 

[Thom]

I have a Triton and a Triton Jr. Both are capable of charging and cycling NiCd, Nimh, Li-ion, Li-Po, and lead/acid batteries. They are relatively 'smart' and pretty simple to use.

If I was charging a 2000 mah nimh pack (already cycled a few times), I would probably charge it at 1 amp (1/2 it's capacity) and it would be charged in 2 hours. Theoretically, you could fast charge it at 2 amps (one x it's capacity) and it would be charged in one hour. I try not to fast charge very often.

The Triton charges everything that I have in my fleet and my hangar - 4 cell Rx packs, 5 cell Rx packs, 8 cell Transmitter packs, 2 cell Li-Po, 3- cell Li-Po, 4-cell Li-Po, 2-cell Li-Ion, 14.4 volt Nimh, 12 volt lead batteries, and 24 volt lead batteries. It has never let me down yet...

>T

 

[nitrotwin]

TRITON 2 ALL THE WAY

 

[Tim Kish]

I had my charger built buy one of the local airplane guys.

You just tell him how many four and five cell rx packs you have and how many radios and he builds to suit.

You simply plug everything in and it keeps everything peek charged and ready for use.

My charger is also set up to keep my twentyfour volt starter batteries fully charged as well , no more week starter batteries .

He will also add as many glow igniter leads as you want as well.

It has LED lights for every battery pack and radio so you know that it is working , I can't say enough about this little system it is awesome.

This is by far the best system I have ever used everything is charged all the time , just unplug what you want to run check the voltage and go play.

I was also told that this system will extend the life of your bateries by years , we will see.

Tim K

 

[dave roach]

I have a Jim irwin charger I beleave it is the one Tim K is talking about for 10 years and you leave the batteries on untill you are ready to run check them and go run.When you are done for the day come home and put the batteries back on untill the next time.Great charger.

Dave Roach

 

[Grimracer]

Ice for me.

Grims Choice

 

[piper_chuck]

how long would it take to charge say a 2000 mah nimih 6v receiver pack with this unit ?
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti00...SM&I=LXEYD4

It depends on what charge rate you set. With the Accucycle Elite when you select the battery capacity, the charger will choose a rate, which you can change. I usually just let the charger set the rate. I've used mine to charge multiple packs the day before a race.

 

[Bernowt]

I'll toss in another vote for the Accu-Cycle Elite. I've had mine for three years and just had it repaired (out of warranty) for $15. The only thing I would suggest with that charger is to avoid high discharge rates as the unit gets VERY hot and has no fans like most modern chargers.

If you want a charger that'll do it all, get the FMA CellPro 10s. Dual outputs, built-in balancing, supports all battery chemistries and has an upgradable firmware as well as PC interface. I don't own one, but I have one on back order. B)

If you're just doing NiCd & NiMH and 1-3S LiPo, go for the accu-cycle. If you think you may one day try A123s or other high-current battery technology, go for the CellPro 10S.

And last but not least, spend a few extra bucks on a GOOD DC power supply. I use a Ripmax 18A and it runs four chargers (accu-cycle, pirahnna digital; polycharge4 and a Triton2) at full blast with no voltage drop or excessive heat at the power supply.