Vision Peak 6/7 cell charger

[SnakEyez151]

So I saw this in the hobby shop in their 'used' section the other day. It had a tag "NiCad Batteries only" taped to it. I have the same charger (picked it up in a trade a year or so back), and was always under the impression it charged Nimhs too. I have used it on my Nimhs, with some success. I did a google search on the charger also, and in an article found that it does charge Nimh batteries but Dynamite didn't suggest it. It explains that the charger causes them to heat up a bit and monitor your Nimh batteries. I have noticed in the past that one of my batteries got VERY hot (heat shrink started to peal back from the heat). My run times weren't so great either. This kind of turned me off the Electric truck, and I my attention went more towards Nitro. Maybe the run times are normal for electric tho - I dont know. I've really only seen Lipo packs run...

So the problem is, I recently charged up a 16000mah 6-cell pack for my Mini LST thats Brand New. Orion recomends a 1amp charge, but I dont have a 1amp charge option on mine, so I charged it at 2 amps. The battery at fully charged last only about 15 minutes of run time.. I was a bit disappointed. The stock battery (which burned up from the cheap stock-connectors) with the stock wall-charger (also began showed signs of overheating so I threw that away) seemed to last much longer than 15 minutes.

Could it be my charger? Or just that I'm charging @ 2amps instead of 1? If I go to buy another charger - any suggestions?

Thanks
Mike

 

[dougc]

well when you charge a 2/3 A battery pack above 1 amp you tend to overheat it very fast. By charging it at 2 amps you could of "killed" the cells. These little cells can only take so much power so fast. I would recommend buying a new charger ...this is what I use http://www.dynamiterc.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=DYN4049 It Dont do lipo and that is its only downfall. my friend bought a dynamite charger that does all 3 but I can't seem to find it.


Opps I didn't mean sub C...

 

[FastEddy]

well when you charge a sub c battery pack above 1 amp you tend to overheat it very fast. By charging it at 2 amps you could of "killed" the cells.

Do you mean 2/3A? not Sub C? Its common to charge sub Cs at up to 5 amps.

So the problem is, I recently charged up a 16000mah 6-cell

Ill assume you mean 1,600 not 16,000.


With that said,
If your charging a hump pack or flat pack made of 2/3 As, 2 amps isnt going to hurt it as long as the charger has a peak cut off. You are better off charging it at .5-1 but if all you have is 2, thats fine.

If the pack is new or has been sitting for a while you will need to cycle it a few times before it will fully charge. The first few charges and discharges wont reflect the full capacity of the pack. You need to wake them up first. Its not uncommon to take 3-4 FULL cycles to get them to full capacity.

 

[SnakEyez151]

Yeah, 1600mah, not 16k. I have this battery. Its in my Mini LST. It was my first run. At first take-off, it ran terribly slow. I shut it off thinkin the battery was already dead, and 5 minutes later ran it to find the MLST was goin full speed, but the run time was very short. I haven't had a chance to run it again. Maybe after a few more charges it'll bring it to life. I've also been charging regular 6-cell sticks for my XXXT with it, but battery life seems to suck? I was looking at maybe the Dynamite Vision Peak Ultra as a replacement- it'll charge Lipo's also so when I eventually step up to Lipo's, i'm covered.

What do you guys think about that charger? If/when I get a replacement, I want AC primarily - i run cars, not planes. Maybe another would suite better, or simply do the same but cheaper?

Anyways- Thanks for your help!

Mike

 

[FastEddy]

I have had one or shall I say 3 of them.
On the surface they look like a great charger for the price. The issue I have had with it is that when I charge a pack thats more then 3500mAh it blows up. 3 times now I have had this happen. For some reason it plows out the AC charging capabilities. I can still use the DC power clips to power it up but not the AC plug. After the 2nd time, They wouldn't replace it again. Worked fine on 2500 and below but not above.

 

[SnakEyez151]

So I take it as a suggestion NOT to get the Vision Peak Ultra? Have any suggestions? The 2 sticks I have at home for my XXXT are 3300s. I'm sure if I Dont go lipo on that, I'll be gettin better batteries.

Mike

 

[psunitro]

Do NOT get that charger. As a lot of people have had good luck with them many have had false peaking problems. I had that charger and it false peaked from the start. When I sent it in for service, they just sent me a new one. Of which I sold after trying it a couple times to see if it worked, which it did. What is you budget?

 

[SnakEyez151]

hehe, well now - not a whole lot. I just bought an Paasche Airbrush/compressor. I dont run my XXXT enough. I'm probably just going to charge the MLST battery with the same wall-charger for my servo packs. I dont think that'll cause any problems, will it? However, when i do start lookin for a charger, I would like to find around $100-115. I do want to go lipo/brushless on the MLST, and get a 1/10th electric buggy eventually.

Mike