GotNoRice

I was going to loan one of my vehicles to a friend. I don't feel that he is ready to deal with LiPo yet and he doesn't have a charger for that, so I was going to give him a Traxxas 7-Cell NIMH pack along with one of the simple stock black wall chargers.

Digging through my spare parts bag, I found two of the stock black traxxas chargers. They both look the same, and list the same charging times for each capacity, but to my surprise, each has different specs:

Model: SW-096050
Output: 9.6v DC500mA

Model: SW05-S055-05
Output: 10.5v DC350mA

I'm sure both would work, as they both list right on the label that they are meant to charge Traxxas 7-Cell NIMH packs. Still, I am very curious about the different pros and cons of each voltage/amp configuration. Is one better for the health of the battery?

Thanks!

chuckk2

I'd make a guess that the lower voltage charger was intended for one cell less than the higher one.
But, here is the problem - - -
Is the labeled voltage a no load voltage, or a voltage under some load?
And what is the capacity rating of the pack(s)?
The 7 cell has a rated voltage of 8.4v, so I'd go with the lower voltage charger, unless I had more information.

GotNoRice

The packs are 3000mah. Both chargers say "Only 7-Cell NiMH battery packs should be used with this charger". I'm not sure if it is a load voltage or not, it's just what it says on the label.

RustyUs

Either charger will work. But I'd choose the 500mA charger over the 350mA. Not much of a difference in the output...it's gonna take a long time (many, many hours) to charge a battery pack with either charger.

RustyUs

If you had a 3000mA (3amp) charger, you theoretically would be able to charge a 3000mah completely discharged NiMh pack in 1 hour. Having a 6amp charger would cut that charging time in half.