RcKrazy23

What is the best charger for nimh, nicad, li-poly, and li-ion hands down?

JNorton

My Feedback: (2)

My vote is for the Triton. And you'll get a lot of votes.

avionics12

My Feedback: (12)

It is my belief that you have to look for the long term needs for what you want a charger/cycler to do. I have a Composite Arf 2.6 Yak with 2 3300mAh Emcotec Longgo LiPo batteries and one NoBs 2700mAh NiMh battery for the ignition. That's a lot of charging to do, although I can fly all weekend, 6-7 flights per day, and still have plenty of reserve.

If you buy a charger/cycler that has two charging ports then you have to switch over after the first charge cycle. I'm lazy. I want to hook things up, verify the correct chemistry and program (charge, discharge&charge, cycle, test, whatever...) and go on to do other hobby things or stuff around the house. If I need to charge more than two batteries I would need to buy a second charger to get that done, plus keep an eye on what's going on. Notwithstanding the fact that I detest having to calculate what charge rate and time I need to set things at.

I have a considerable investment in my airplanes and I went one step further and made a considerable investment in a charger/cycler. I bought a Miniron Mobile charger /cycler and a Pyramid PS-14KX power supply. I have $350.00 invested in this and here are the capabilities I have.

A rock solid power supply that doesn't even break a sweat powering the Miniron even on fast charge. The Miniron has 5 ports for charging and works on NiCd, NiMh, LiPo (up to 4 cell), LiOn and Lead Acid. It has a 2 amp output and will charge sequentially or in parellel. It's easy to set for what you want it to accomplish and works well for me. I am still learning about this charger as I try new battery chemistries and if new technology comes along the Miniron is upgradeable via EEPROM. The Miniron remembers the last charge program used for each charging port and will use this if you do not change it.

As usual you must exercise common sense and safety when using any charger. There are a couple of "downsides" to the Miniron although they do not affect me. If you leave the batteries on charge for three days after the cycle is complete the Miniron will cycle the batteries and then go into a trickle charge mode. In 15 days it repeats this cycle. After the cycle is complete I take the charging leads off anyway.

The writing on the face of the Miniron is in German. This hasn't proved to be a problem for me as the instruction book that comes with it does a fair job of interpretation and there is a picture of the face of the Miniron in English in the manual.

The point I'm trying to get across here is that some/most of us grow in this sport at a intoxicating rate . If you look carefully you can find a charger that will be higher in initial price but the long term cost will be lower. Does it do what you want it to do now? Will it do what you will need it to do as you grow in the sport? Spend a little or spend a lot now at the beginning and you'll spend less/more later. There are chargers/cyclers that will do what you need now. Will the purchase you make today serve you well tommorrow?

I know not every one has money like this for battery maintenance. But then again, at the time, I didn't have the money for three different transmitters. I had to learn the hard way to buy the best I could at the time or save up for what I needed.

There is a review of the Miniron and other chargers on Red's website. I suggest you go there and see what the expert in battery maintenance has to say also.



[link=http://www.rcbatteryclinic.com/]R/C Battery Clinic[/link]

famousdave

My Feedback: (61)

1> Miniron
2> Triton


No need to look anywhere else.
I have both as well as a Fromeco 4 port charger for my airborne packs... for when I am lazy and just want to charge without monitoring...

DP

r/cnerd

triton=best bang for buck

I would suggest not "investing" too much. every year new, better, cheaper, stuff appears.

I know some guys who "invested" in chargers like victors that don't do lithium.

who knows what breakthroughs lie around the corner!

RcKrazy23

I'm looking for a great charger around $100-200 range. I've heard alot of good things about the triton, but after reading the reviews on towerhobbies website I'm abit skeptical. It says "MISSES - Programmable trickle charge and an on-off switch would be nice.

Lithium charge rates based on very conservative protocol may not fully charge some lithium packs. Great Planes is working to resolve this issue."

How big of a problem is this?

After viewing another posting people are choosing either the triton or the duratrax ice charger, but the ice charger doesn't have higher discharge rate settings. Wouldn't I want a discharger that discharges at the same rate my airplanes would?

Now does the miniron charger have all the misses that triton and ice lack?

exeter_acres

My Feedback: (2)

I have and love my Accucycle Elite... all chemistries, 2 ports (that is the key selling point for me over the Triton) programmable and remembers past charge programs...

r/cnerd

A: a flat faomy draws maybe 10A, a 540 plane 25, etc. It is a lot to expect a charger to discharge at these rates.
A: I haven't had a problem with this but it could explain why some of my packs deliver less than their rated mah's, but on the other hand, considering how good the energy density of these batteries is I can afford to lose a few mash's if it increases safety in my home.

I never even pondered the existance of the entity "programmable trickle charge" let alone missed having it, but that's just me.

things that connect via jumper cables and alligator clips should not have on off swithches......there isn't even a fuse near the battery. it should be disconnected from the power supply if not in use.....

DHG

My Feedback: (7)

Another vote for the Triton.

QUALIFIER: If you get as addicted to small electrics as I am now, a 1-port charger like the Triton may frustrate you because you'll have multiple Li-Po packs and they each need at least an hour to top off. So I got a GP Polycharge 4 also. It only does Li-Pos, but that frees up the Triton for everything else -- plus all the detailed diagnosis you can do with your LiPos on the Triton, which you can't do on the Polycharge. That would be stuff like discharge tests, measuring the mAh going in, checking the voltage when you land, watching the voltage & current as it charges, etc.

r/cnerd

I'm with ya....I got the polycharge 4 too.....another great charger.....and so much less ugly than the triton!

freeonthree

My Feedback: (1)

I just ordered the Triton earlier this evening. I bought it primarily for my Revo as I have a Hobbico Quick Field Charger that I have been using for my planes and my T6XAs. The Revo has NiMH batts, and the older Hobbico doesn't support them... My friend Greg has a Triton, and I thought it was the berries...

RcKrazy23

After some carefull thinking and what r/cnerd had mentioned about new technology-chargers are coming out every year. I migh as well stick with the triton it seems to be reasonably priced and when I get into electriflight then I'll just get another multiple lipo charger like the polycharge 4.

I appreciate your opinions. I'm looking forward to coming to rcu for 411.

Thanks ALL

guver

My Feedback: (325)

I vote for the ice, here's the 2 drawbacks I see is a single charger and has a max voltage of 20. ps I own tritons too.

LeeU

My Feedback: (5)

3 Tritons, that way I can balance my 3 cell lipos or charge a lot of packs fast. LeeU

freeonthree

My Feedback: (1)

Im doin all my batts with the Triton right now, I am very impressed with it so far... Turns out that my stock Traxxas charger was not gettin me anywhere close to a full charge. It took 30 minutes roughly for the Triton to peak the batt at 1.5 amps, after the Traxxas kicked into trickle. Im shocked !!! Dennis in Red Bluff, Calif.

da Rock

I bought the AccuCycle Elite because it was AC and DC input (it comes with a power pack) and the price was about the same as the Triton but the Triton was only DC input.

It'll do the big three chemistries, Ni-CD, Ni-MH, and Li-both. And I've used it for all three so far and it's simple to use and although it has it's own parameters already programmed in, they are all easily changed to whatever you wish. And it's menus and programming gets to be intuitive almost right away.

And a hidden benefit.... I've been using that power pack to run an old field charger that was only good plugged into the car battery.

Mad Wax

I use a Ripmax Constellation, does NICD, NIMH, Lithium and lead acid. Last might be useful as I might pickup a set of Smart headlights (dirt cheap) High cell count support also, although biggest I'm using 12 cell at the moment (14.4V NIMH pack)

Fast Charge and Discharge
- 1-25 cell NiCad/NiMH Batteries
- 2-12v lead Acid Batteries
- 3.6-14.8v Lithium Ion/Lithium Polymer Batteries
• 100-700OmA Fast Charge Current (120Watt Maximum)
• 100-300OmA Discharge Current (20 Watt Maximum)
• User Definable Memories for
- Battery Pack Type, Number of Cells, Capacity
- Charge/Discharge Current
- Delta Peak sensitivity (NiCad/NiMH only)
• 2 Line LCD Display
• Delta Peak Detection/Zero Current Voltage Check
• Temperature detection voltage cutoff
(NiCad/NiMH only)
• 12v DC input voltage
• Audible Function Alarm
• Integral Cooling Fan

r/cnerd

How do you balance w/ 3 chgrs? What type of packs? I have some tanic packs w/ 3 "tanic taps" for balancing, but you can only use one at a time.

freeonthree

My Feedback: (1)

Well, I am very impressed... Whereas I used to get maybe 1 1/2 tanks per receiver batt charge with the stock Traxxas charger, I ran from 12:30 to 4:30 today, off and on, about 5 or 6 tankfuls, without recharging at all. I just love my new Triton !!! Dennis in Red Bluff, Calif.

daven

My Feedback: (1)

I like the triton, but I also like my cirrius pro also.

The cirrius is plug and play for transmitters and receiver batteries. The triton is nice for starter batteries, and Lipos.

Both nice chargers, but I gotta think more when I use the triton.

draganfly.com

My Feedback: (40)

The Hyperion line smokes the Triton in bang for buck.

bluestratos

Who sells the Miniron Charger.. dont see it at tower...

Best regards,
Randy

rajul

My Feedback: (58)

Dave from Starflight http://www.rcuniverse.com/market/item.cfm?itemId=153214 I don't think he has a website yet

kx250ryder

Well, I seem to be outnumbered by Triton owners here, but I cast my vote for my MRC Super Brain 977.

What it can't do: cycle, store battery charge profiles

What it can do: Charge/discharge all chemistries, its ac/dc, it can charge 12 volt lead acid batteries, its cheaper than similar competitors and IT CAN CHARGE/DISCHARGE TWO DIFFERENT PACKS AT ONCE (spikes football).

LeeU

My Feedback: (5)

r/cnerd,

I use mostly Tanic Packs except for a few lighter TP Pro packs for a real light 3D foamy. With the Tanics I use the Tanic Taps that come with the packs and hook one each up to one of my 3 Tritons and charge as a single cell, I also use the temp probes on the Tritons when charging this way, never needed them but I use them for peace of mind. Another reason to use the Tanics and 3 chargers is one could charge a 6S pack by ganging 3 of the Tanic Taps together and charging as a 3S and doing the same with the other 3 taps and charge with 2 Tritons as the Tritons will charge only up to 4S. I just bought off of EBay a new aluminum paint ball case for $10.50 that is 18" X 14" X 6" that will be the new home for the 3 tritons, all I need is a larger 12 volt power supply that puts out more than the 13. v and 13 amps than the one I now have, this power supply works fine as long as I'm not charging 18 volt NMH boat packs with more than 1 Triton.
I have been charging my packs in a fire safe but I'm in the process of making a 3 pack charge safe out of 2" diam galvanized pipe, I took 6 ea 2" galvanized water pipe screw caps and 3 ea 8" thread both ends 2" galvanized water pipe and threaded a cap on one end for the bottom, I then had a .25" slot milled on the other end past where the other cap or lid screws on, this is for the charging leads to slide into while the cap is screwed down and to release pressure in case of a battery fire. I need to sand blast the galvanized coating so I can weld steel tabs on to each pipe assembly and join them to the other pipe assemblies to make a three legged and stable charge safe.

LeeU