Anyone using a Venom Pro Charger?

[Webbage]

I saw a couple of guys at the UK Nats running Venom Pro Chargers, and they look the muts nuts, they do charge, discharge, balancer and cycling all in one box, and it's available with a AC mains pack.

Is anyone here using one? I'd be interested to see how well you think they work, especially for charging 2S and 3S LiPo packs with balance. I also would like to know what Balancer cable end type the charger uses, as I can get different ends put on by MaxAmps when I order my LiPo packs and I'd like to get the correct ones!

 

[CharliesTheMan]

I've never used the Venom LiPo chargers. I asked about it a while back, and a few guys that were serious into racing and stuff had some negative things to say about it, so I moved on. I have no personal experience with it though. I HIGHLY reccomend the Hyperion line of chargers and balancers. IMO, they can't be beat. They're high quality chargers and have a wonderul built in balancer. I've talked to several battery manufacturers and they've all said good things about the Hyperion. Also, having talked to some people that have the Hyperion along with the other chargers like the ICE and accu-cycle chargers, they all say that the Hyperion is by far the easiest to use, and because of it's safety features, it's pretty much impossible to charge a battery improperly. I think it's one of the best values out there for the money, and I'm almost sure that there is a distributor on your side of the pond. Here's the one that I have, it costs me $125 with my discount.

http://www.maxamps.com/EOS0606i-AC-DC.htm

 

[Webbage]

Thanks, again.

I guess the fact that MaxAmps packs all come with Hyperion balance connectors as standard and they sell Hyperion chargers says a lot. Plus it'll save me a whole 4 bucks of the two packs I was gonna order

 

[CharliesTheMan]

well Maxamps.com keeps up with every dime that you spend with them. So after you spend $100, you save 5% on every order, $250, you save 10%, and so one. I'm up to 15%, and it's amazing how much money I've been saving. It usually saves me at least $10 on each battery pack, and it adds up quick. I've probably saved $300 just with that rewards program. The guys at maxamps.com are really good to deal with.

Here's an example of their excellent customer service if you want to read it.

One time when I ordered some packs, I had to have them for a competition that was coming up in a week. I needed a special size that they were able to build to fit just right on my crawler and put the weight just like I wanted it. They were out of those cells, so it said on their site that if I ordered them I would have a 2 week wait. I emailed Jason and asked him if he knew anywhere else that I could get them because I was in a bind to get them before the competition. He sent me an email in about 5 minutes and said that he might be able to help me. In about 15 minutes, I got another email. One of the employees had pulled some of the cells out of their inventory and bought them for his personal stuff. He hadn't used the cells, so Jason sent me the email letting me know about the guy buying the cells for his personal stuff. He told me to order the batteries like normal, and he would get them and have the batteries built in a few days and mail them to me. I told him how much I appreciated it and went on about my business. I was at work, so I was going to wait until I got home to place the order on their site and pay for them. About 4 hours later, I got an email from UPS that I had a package being shipped to me. I thought it had to be a mistake since I hadn't even paid yet. I emailed Jason, and he said it was no mistake. He knew how bad I needed them, so he had the guys in the shop build them immdiately and went ahead and shipped them, BEFORE I had even paid, because he wanted me to have them in planty of time. That's the kind of customer serive that you don't get at most places.

 

[Webbage]

I'm definitely using them for the packs, but I have to but the charger in the UK because of warranty issues. I can cope with posting a Sidewinder back to the the USA if it goes wrong, they are only small, but a AC/DC charger is a bit of a lump to ship in either direction! Add to that cost + shipping from MaxAmps is about 10 USD cheaper than buying it in the UK and, well, it makes very little sense sadly.

If I get along well with the MaxAmps batteries I'm gonna grab a big 2S 7.4V brick for my WK as well. It's going back to a reversed stock chassis at some stage and being used for now as a basher until I can afford to spend money on the project I have in line for it.