Charger dilema

[jetmechG550]

Help me, please. I run pretty everything nitro and have an M18 I play with on occasion. I'm looking to get a new charger and can't decide between the Duratrax Intellipeak Ice, the Orion (it's about $150 +/-, can't remember name at the moment) and the Pulsar 2 Comp. Any recommendations good, bad or otherwise? TIA

 

[Plaidfish]

Ice is nice but if you want anything to charge like E-maxx super sized packs get the triton.....

 

[Revo Rancher]

Jet, I pretty much use my new MRC 959 for everyting from stick packs to Rx packs. I have the ICE, but by the time I set it up I can get the 959 up and charging quicker. If you have a need for discharging or heavy, balanced charging issues, get a better charger than the 959 like the ICE or the Triton.

 

[FastEddy]

I believe the ICE uses an external PS. Theres another $60-$100.
In the past I have used it and it is a great unit.

A few things to look at are:

Is it AC only? Great for the bench but you will need a converter if you want to use it in the field. Some units are DC Only and require a PS for use on your bench. Some offer both AC and DC.

DO you want a discharger or other functions built in. Think twice before you say no. Your M18 packs will benefit from this. If your getting a charger for the long haul and have any aspirations of doing more Electrics in the future this is a good feature to have.

Price V functions. Chargers get expensive. Look at and question the functions of different chargers your looking at. If you want to buy good and buy once research the functions and what they do.

150-200 will get you a real good "Pro-Sumer" charger, just need to find the right one for you.

 

[RatzoRC]

I use LRP chargers. The comp 2 is an excellent charger, but wont do li-pol batteries.
Also you need a power supply to power it.
That means extra $$$.

 

[Plaidfish]

for power supplies check grainger for tripp-lites...you only need a 10Amp for charging/discharging...they're pretty cheap now, around 40 bucks.....if you intend on using the charger (like the ice for motor break-in) then you need at least 20 Amp PS....being inthe aircraft industry you can probably get a deal on some slick Powersupplies.....I narrowed alll my wants in a charger down to the ICE and the triton....in retrospect I should have gotten the triton....but if I ever decide to race electrics I have a break in capability already.....those 2 chargers (from what I've been told) are basically the same thing...owned by the same parent company but duratrax packaged it for cars and great planes packeaged theirs for planes.......

 

[FastEddy]

Is Li-pol an issue for you with this charger?
IMO you will want a separate charger.
Thanks for bringing up the issue Ratzo.

 

[jetmechG550]

Thanks for the insight. I do want to be able to discharge, IMO, even rx packs can use it now and then. Li-Po capability would be nice to have but it's not a necessity. As far as external power supply it I figured on buying one, or "borrowing" the one we have at work. I can count on one hand how many times we have used it in the last five years and that was only for demo'ing an electric seat we put into the airplanes. I'm guessing this winter will determine how much more into electrics I get, but I want to buy one charger one time. I don't want to chince on it. I was hoping to and got to see what some of you "pros" are using to give me a better direction to head. Thanks again for the insight!

 

[FastEddy]

If you want to use what the pros use there is only 1 choice... Yes, only one. The issue is price. Get ready to pull out the wallet or be real quick on e-bay.

Competition Electronics Turbo 35 GFX.
http://competitionelectronics.com/GFX.html
http://search.ebay.com/search/searc...fkr=1&from=R8&satitle=turbo+35+gfx&category0=

I have this charger and will never go back to another.

 

[kx250ryder]

MRC's Super Brain 977 is king of the pile for me. It can charge/discharge two different packs at once, is AC/DC and can charge every type of battery currently used in R/C.
Lead Acid
Nicd
Nimh
Li poly/ion

Best of all, its under a hundred bucks on e-bay, or only a buck twenty when tower eventually gets them in.

 

[1500valk]

I heard the earlier MRC Superbrains had a major problem with the LiPo programming. Major pack damage/fires from them. They did not charge in the right manner. Heard this on the RunRyder Heli forum, a few heli's were damaged from charging LiPo's with them. I used a Triton for a while on small electric heli batteries, but never on LiPo's, but it seemed like a good charger. Sold the chopper because the only way you can get good run time is with lithiums and didn't want to mess with those (scary).

 

[kx250ryder]

The MRC Super Brain 969 Pro had this fault. I heard that anyone who has one of these can send it in for free and get their charger upgraded to the 977 specs, which are supposed to correct the Li-Po fault.

So maybe the best advice would be to get the 969 Pro on the cheap, and send it in for the free upgrade.

 

[jetmechG550]

If you want to use what the pros use there is only 1 choice... Yes, only one. The issue is price. Get ready to pull out the wallet or be real quick on e-bay.

Competition Electronics Turbo 35 GFX.
http://competitionelectronics.com/GFX.html
http://search.ebay.com/search/searc...fkr=1&from=R8&satitle=turbo+35+gfx&category0=

I have this charger and will never go back to another.

A little out of my league, and besides I was referring to you guys here as the "pros." I was using the term loosely though

I was looking at the Super Brain but got mixed reviews on it from what I had read. Might take another look.

 

[Plaidfish]

Ice...If you think you'll get into electric racing pick one up.....we have a super pro guy at the local TC track..I just know his name is Bob (Etswald I think, I don't follow pro's to know who's who)....been racing electric road stuff for eternity....if he uses it I know it's good...when i went in to buy my charger I wanted the triton but was still on the fence about getting into hardcore electric racing (probably will this winter)....anyway the only difference between the triton and the Ice was the motor break in feature on the Ice vs being able to charge 20 cells on the triton (whick also allows 12VDC gel cell charging) I went Ice, now I want a triton cause I keep finding cool E-maxxes I want but just don't want to deal w/ charging packs separately......if you want to get into racing I would recommend the Ice....does every type of battery including Lipo.......and you cna hook up the temp sensor too....

 

[kx250ryder]

I am a little confused. So which also charges 12 Volt batteries, Triton or Ice?

Edit: Can whichever one it is that does 12 V, also do multiple packs at once? If so, maybe I won't get the Super Brain 977 after all.

 

[jetmechG550]

Does the Ice do 12V gells? I missed that, I've got way too many starter boxes and gels!

 

[Plaidfish]

the ICE does not....the triton can charge up to 20 cells so if you made a harness you could charge 3 six cell packs at once......not hard to make em......and the triton does do 12V gel cells....supposedly the ICE was geared more for cars and the triton is geared for planes & helis.....I guess they use large capacity packs in them......

 

[jetmechG550]

Thanks for the info.

 

[jetmechG550]

Hey all, thanks for your input. I ended up ordering the Ice and an LRP power supply, should get in the next day or two.

 

[Plaidfish]

What was the deciding Factor? Just curious as mine was the largeer LCD screen & break in feature for motors, and it doesn't look like I'm using the break in feature any time soon LOL......