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Charger Recommendations!

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J

jimsus

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Hey guys!

I've just picked up my second RC car - An e-revo 1/16 VXL off eBay. It came with two stock batteries (They look stock - Traxxas branded 1200mA, 6 cell, NiMh)

Charging each battery with the standard little wall charger means a full 12 hours between bash abouts. Can't be having that! Does anyone have any good recommendations for getting out and about with more frequency? Perhaps one that will charge two batteries at once?

http://modelsport.co.uk/?CallFunction=ShowSpecification&ItemID=28791 looks OK, but will only do one battery at a time. Is there anything particular that I should be looking out for?
 
most peak chargers will do a pack in about an hour. i use the venom pro.

hobbico makes a dual charger but it needs an external power supply and it doesn't do lipo
 
Had a bit of a shop around and found something that at least seems to fit the bill. (at my kind of price) Has anyone got any experience or thoughts about this one?

http://www.apexmodels.com/gbu0-prodshow/NX82.html

Looks like I'll need to find some Traxxas connectors for it. No banana plug which is a bit of a downer...

Also not really sure about all this power rating business... Will charging with this thing damage the battery?
 
That charger will work, but I am not sure if it is internally powered or if it needs an external power supply. It lists the imput voltage at 110-240v but does not specify if that is internal or not. Wouldn't hurt to call or write them first to make sure.
 
Yeah, I think it is, it says "240v mains powered charger" in the description. I'm slightly worried why this charger seems to be able to charge two batteries at the same time in under 40 minutes for only 25 quid... What's the downside? I mean, most other ones that do that either need an external power supply or are 200 quid plus... Too good to be true?
 
That charger you are looking at has a 5 amp charge rate, jimsus. The batteries are going to charge rather quickly if that is 5 amps per side. I normally charge my packs at 4 amps so I really don't think the extra amp would really hurt. That being said DO NOT use that charger for receiver batteries for nitro rigs. A 5 amp charge rate is way too high for those little packs. For 7.2 volt 6 cells I see no issue other than it not having a peak detector as beason pointed out.
 
RC Addict said:
That charger you are looking at has a 5 amp charge rate, jimsus. The batteries are going to charge rather quickly if that is 5 amps per side. I normally charge my packs at 4 amps so I really don't think the extra amp would really hurt. That being said DO NOT use that charger for receiver batteries for nitro rigs. A 5 amp charge rate is way too high for those little packs. For 7.2 volt 6 cells I see no issue other than it not having a peak detector as beason pointed out.
Click to expand...

You sure about that RCA? The merv runs 2/3A receiver style cells. I'm pretty sure trying to force those to charge at 5A is going to pop them like popcorn. Sure they are 6 cell 7.2V, but still only 2/3A cells in the packs. Not sub-c.

Or am I totally off base here?

From what I've read, you shouldn't charge cells any higher than their capacity rating. 1200mah cells can be charged at 1.2A, which is a minimum of an hour charge. You may be able to go for a higher charge rate with higher quality cells, but I'll let some of the electric guys tell us.
 
olds97_lss said:
You sure about that RCA? The merv runs 2/3A receiver style cells. I'm pretty sure trying to force those to charge at 5A is going to pop them like popcorn. Sure they are 6 cell 7.2V, but still only 2/3A cells in the packs. Not sub-c.

Or am I totally off base here?

From what I've read, you shouldn't charge cells any higher than their capacity rating. 1200mah cells can be charged at 1.2A, which is a minimum of an hour charge. You may be able to go for a higher charge rate with higher quality cells, but I'll let some of the electric guys tell us.
Click to expand...

No, You are right, Bryan. I would not go over 2 amps on 2/3a cells. I was assuming (incorrectly obviously) that the MERV was using sub-c's. The 2/3a's are essentially receiver packs. I do not know if the wires would even handle 5 amps, much less the cells.

Thanks for correcting my oversite!!!
 
Last edited:
RC Addict said:
I do not know if the wires would even handle 5 amps, much less the cells.
Click to expand...

What I thought was a bit odd was that the charger has tamiya plugs... can those things even handle 5A for any length of time?

Regardless, I'd look for a charger that has variable charge rates that go down to 1A for your merv type 2/3A packs.
 
olds97_lss said:
What I thought was a bit odd was that the charger has tamiya plugs... can those things even handle 5A for any length of time?
Click to expand...

I charge my 3600 mah packs at 4 amps with a Tamiya to traxxas adapter. Perhaps I have just been lucky. Then again charging at 4 amps is a lot different from drawing 5 amps!

Again, good call!!! Not bad for a Nitro Guru!
 
i always base my charge on the packs mah rating, but i never do nimh over 3a. i actually had to slow (.5a) charge and discharge a pack a few times recently because it wouldnt take a charge at 3a.

a good adjustable charger will do you well, even if it only does one pack. it will still be done in a couple of hours.
 
Hey guys! Interesting discussion to wake up to, thanks for that... I certainly don't want to be treating my batteries like popcorn! Anyway, I've been whittling down chargers to a shortlist that should fit the bill and the price range. Noticed that all the ones below that need an external PSU can have a seperate laptop charger type PSU that should do the job for under 20 quid. Juuust inside my price range!! What do you guys think of these ones? Any one stand out as better or worse than the other, or should I just pick the one with the shiniest case?!

http://www.apexmodels.com/gbu0-prodshow/CR104.html

http://modelsport.co.uk/?CallFunction=ShowSpecification&ItemID=34376

http://modelsport.co.uk/?CallFunction=ShowSpecification&ItemID=32526

http://modelsport.co.uk/?CallFunction=ShowSpecification&ItemID=28791

...And these for connecting it to the E-Revo style battery connector?
http://modelsport.co.uk/?CallFunction=ShowSpecification&ItemID=28953

Note - I do have a Savage X 4.6 too, so something that'll do the various batteries associated with that wouldn't go a miss!! Thanks for your advice guys, this hobby is expensive and I don't want to be sinking money into black holes without advise from people who've been there!
 
they both look nice, and they look very similar to my venom pro that i payed more then twice that for.

the black one shows to come with the balance leads, where the gold one doesn't show them. it may come with them, but they are not pictured.

the black one states it does lead acid, the gold one does not, although it may and just isnt listed.

id say the black one, just because it has more detail. i would wager they both are capable of the same things, but the gold one doesn't state it.
 
I got the black one! Thanks for the advice chaps!
 
he mentioned it before, so I'm pretty sure he knew it needed one. I hope i grabbed one!!
 
super brain 977 the best all around charger!! for the money .....nimh,lipos, even lead acid batteries (motor cycle and carbatteries)and nicd
 

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