Chargers & Batteries: The modern era - Help!

[extrememacko]

Hello wise ones, need advice.

Last time I raced there were 2400Nicad cells which you cared for better than your own child and then got rid of after 20 cycles. The Pro-Trak BMS was the best charger and you could grade chargers by their price......No idea whats happened to the world since because todays batteries seem to last all day?! And does that mean there's no advantage to be gained by a good charger any more? What should a club guy like me be equipping myself with in this new strange world? Hoping to start 1/10 off road again soon so please share your opinions

[haggis]

Im a returned racer this year as well

I bought a ripmax cavalier charger from the local shop but it is pretty much the same as every other charger (core or imax b6). Loads of them have the same screen and menus so the only aspect i can really see a difference on is whether they are 12v or 240v

Im going to change to the orion iq605 purely because i want to do away with the power supply. Ive found them to be the weak link. My first, a gt power cost 50 quid and smells everytime you turn it on. The second, a 30 quid fusion lasted half an hour so was replaced by the model shop to the basic 15quid effort and has worked fine since.


Batteries ive found to be a bit of a lottery. It doesnt seem to matter how much you pay they still go pear shaped at random. Just look after them and dont run them flat!

[/tobys]

Unless your going to spend £100+ then all the chargers are virtually the same innards with slight variations (some have internal psu, others require an external unit if you want to run off mains). I recently upgraded from a "generic" charger (a route66 gold unit from Kyosho I think) to a Muchmore Cellmaster Legend. The route66 was fine but the MM charger seems a better bit of kit in my opinion. It can charge at a higher rate, so I can charge at 1c or higher on 5500mah or greater lipos, the wiring setup is much neater and when I balance charge it seems to do this more quickly. Will it make my car faster faster or make the lipo last longer - I doubt it, but you never know

[/tobys]

Originally Posted by extrememacko

The Pro-Trak BMS was the best charger

I had a Turbo30 and that was the BEST charger

[danDanEFC]

I agree with what has been said above.

Unless your a superhuman I have not noticed any big difference in any of the lipos I have tried.

I use LRP lipos in both stick and saddle, some of these have been bought second hand from club members I know.

[extrememacko]

Ah yea the Turbo 30.......

Some food for thought, so there is some chinese factory somewhere knocking out these chargers and companies are just rebranding them.

What about numbers of batteries used, for example I am now thinking if these lipos dont care if they are kept full or half full, can you just charge 2 or 3 on saturday then just show up for racing the next day without even bringing your charger?

[/tobys]

I have a couple of set of Lipos that I charge the day before and then just recharge them after each race - usually puts in less than 2000mah - and alternate the batteries between runs so they can cool down/rest. No discharging required.

I'm currently using Orion 90c and they seem fine used this way.

[JCJC]

Yep, some chinese company knocking out the chargers, as above the options will be charge rate, do you need to charge at more than 5amps (charge at 1C so 5000mA lipo @ 5amps), 12v, 230v or both, Balance charge option (must I think) then its how much you want to pay and get some cables with it, connectors can vari. (you can charge 6500's at 5amps just takes a bit longer)

We can run all day on one lipo, top up between rounds, the lipo's stand that with no problems, don't let the voltage fall to low or use until flat, (modern esc have a cutoff), don't leave in the car connected even with the switch off.

much easier than a box load of cells that needed discharging/equi/recharge/cyclewhathaveyou..... I still have a Turbo 35

Brushless is also a must, fit and forget motors.

Visit a local club see what they are using, enjoy

[extrememacko]

Thanks, this new world seems better by the minute