Charger question
 

Hey all! I'm looking at taking the electric leap if you will and was looking at chargers. The Hobbico quick field charger MKII seems like a heck of a deal! NiCd's,NiMH,Li-Ion and Li-Po! all for 49.99! What is everyones thoughts on this charger? I have looked at it before as a way to charge my TX andRX at the field, But I am really interested in the Li-Po packs for a small electric plane for the backyard ( by the time I get home from work I cant always get to the field to fly gas) Anyway enough of my ramblin's what do you all think of this charger? Thanks!

RE: Charger question
 

Put the $49.99 towards a Great Planes Triton charger......

RE: Charger question
 

The Hobbico one is that good huh? LMAO:D

RE: Charger question
 

It's not that versatile. If you save up your money and buy the Triton, it'll probably be the last charger you'll ever need to buy. Unless, of course, you're nuts like me and start flying the big stuff.

RE: Charger question
 

What impressed me the most about the Triton was the number of features it has and how easy it is to use.

1. It was smaller than I thought, about the size of my CG-340
2. It has a nice built in heat sink with an automatic fan
3. It analizes your batteries with dishcharge/charge cycles.
4. It has an external temp probe to monitor the battery's temp with automatic shutdown.
5. It will charge all your batteries including Li-poly faster and safer than other chargers.
6. The LCD readout along with different beeps tell you everything about what's going on.
7. The Triton looks like a well designed and professional piece of gear.

I charge alot of batteries now, including Lipoly and take safety precautions seriously. I feel very safe with this charger. I'd be concerned with other chargers because if they fail or are misused you will burn down your house. That's the bottom line.

BTW: I'm almost nuts but I'm not into the big stuff yet. I'm going through the Wing stage. :)

Tad

RE: Charger question
 

How are you converting to DC power at home? I did do some research on it last night and there is not that much of a $ increase to go to it. I have an Accu Cycle for my TX and RX and like it..... Have no idea how deep into electrics I'll get but from what little I do know there is allot to learn! Is the temp probe worth it? I know it's not that much money but other that the obviuos what does it do? To the packs get that hot?

RE: Charger question
 

The temp probe is 10 bucks. I do not use mine much because I follow the charge chart for quick charging and I'm always hanging around when the batteries are charging. You can get the probe later. It seems if a pack starts to go bad they can get hot.

I use a radio Shack heavy duty 3 amp power supply I caught on sale. It might be a little low in amps but it seems to handle the task with no problems.

There is information on how to use a computer power supply for your home based R/C charging supply power supply.

If you didn't stay with electrics you could unload that Triton in a heartbeat. I can't say that about other chargers.

RE: Charger question
 

The Triton will do all batterie's but I forget.... how many packs at a time?

RE: Charger question
 

The Great Planes Electrifly Triton charger is possibly the best charger value available today. Capable of charging Nimh, NiCad, Li-ion, Li-poly, and Lead Acid battery types up to 5amps (2.5amps max for Li-ion/poly). Built in voltage-boost circuitry allows charging up to 24 nicad/nimh cells or 4 Li-ion cells from a standard 12v power supply or car battery. A two line 32 character LCD screen displays voltage, mah, current, & time for easy monitoring of your battery during charge. The Triton also has 10 available memory slots for storing battery information & performance tracking. The Triton also has a built in discharger for cycling NiMh & NiCad packs.

$119.00

http://www.b-p-p.com/triton.htm. Good place for Li-polys. Contact: Troy

RE: Charger question
 

There are a number of 12v power supplies available. I use a Radio Shack power supply to run my Triton. They have them on sale frequently for $59.

SG

RE: Charger question
 

Thanks for the info all! Easy to make my mind up now.

RE: Charger question
 

Chargers? A good discussion is located here.

I'd go with a Hitec CG-340 34.95 at servo city of a Triton $119.00 at Bishop Power products. I own both, but use the Triton all the time now.

:)

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_13...tm.htm#1307625

RE: Charger question
 

Use an old AT power supply.
You can find them in REALLY old computers-pentium or before is usually your best bet.
ATX power supplies are usually a little stronger, but they're a bit of a pain to get to work, or so I've heard.
Then again, I have an old power supply for a piano sitting around-it's about 2 ampres....

RE: Charger question
 

If you are not into converting computer power supplies, the Radio Shack dedicated DC power supplies are ideal - I have the 13.8V, 10A model [~$59] and it provides everything I'll ever need. As sargentw says, the 3A version is really too small, especially if you need to charge larger NiCd packs.

Cheers, Phil

RE: Charger question
 

My $39 Shack charger has been fine for my park flyers so far. The Dr. is right I'm pushing the limits charging the 1500 mah Nicad packs on my XE2 wing.

The shack is selling the 10 amp model for $79.00 free shipping. If I see one for $59.00 free shipping I'd snap it up and sell my other one.

:)

Tad