zsultan

My Feedback: (35)

Hi,

I am looking for buying a cycler for my Tx and Rx batteries from ebay.

Can some one tell me which is a good one HOBBICO ACCU CYCLE PRO SERIES PLUS CHARGER (discontinued by hobbico can get from ebay) or Hobbico Accu-Cycle Tx/Rx Battery Cycler (sold for $69.99 at tower hobbies not elite).

What are the differences?

Please advise

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

There was a lot of 'talk' about the Accu Charger on here a while back. They were having some problems with the accuracy of the discharge portion, and calibration of the units.

You may be much better off skipping E-bay and going to the manufacturer of a much better charger unit. Sirius chargers are very well made and will do the job very nicely, but they are charger units only. Sirius also sells a discharger that will give accurate figures on current drain.

The Triton also has a discharge cycler and is very good.

There is another unit, ICE, which works very well. I have all three. (or should I say four). I usually discharge through the Sirius unit then charge back up using the Sirius unit.. this is for all of my NiMH and NiCad batteries. I use the Triton and Ice for my LiPo's.

Be very careful using E-Bay. You really don't know what you are getting, even if it does say 'new' or 'never used'. I've been burned a couple times and will never go back to E-Bay. I just prefer to buy my RC stuff from RC people. Sirius (George Joy) is an expert on batteries and chargers and has a section on his web site (advertized here on RCU by the way) that talks about chargers and specifically the Accu Charger.

http://www.siriuselectronics.com

Campgems

I've heard this before and as I bought one on Ebay, I checked it out. Charge current, discharge current and cut off voltages on discharge were exactly as advertised. Having said that, I still am not very happy with it. I think part of it is confusion with what is showing on the screen. The MAH or time is the discharge time required to knock the battery back to it's discharge cutoff, not how much of a charge it took. To get the real reading on yoyur battery, you have to knock it down to cut off and then give it a full charge and then knock it down again.

A second issue is that it has a maximum of 15 hrs charge time, so my 2000 mah transmitter battery would not take a full charge due to the limited 125 ma charge rate. The math comes out to 1875 mah, but the charger showed 1305. This was on a battery that had been cycled three times.

SO, I wouldn't buy another, but I'll continue to use the one I have for batteries that fall in it's range.

One last point, I tried to cycle my Glow stick 2400 mah battery and it drove the Accu Cycle crazzy. Guess I'll just use it till it is run down and then charge it. I keep a spare charged battery in the case anyway.

Don

ricfly52

Save your money, and buy the Accu-cycle elite. It will take care of you. Tritons are good also, I have friends that have them. I personally have the elite. I really like it. I have anywhere from three to six flyable panes at any given time, and the Elite does the job for me. Just my .02

Happy Flying

zsultan

My Feedback: (35)

Hi,

I am using only NiCDs and dont have any plans to use lipos or NiMH in future, thats why i wanted to get something cheaper instead of buying elite and not using all the features offered by it.

What do you guys think about Hobbico Accu Cycle charger ($69.99 one) ? is it ok or waste of money?

Thanks

pilotpete2

For charging and cycling Nicds for radio use the Accucycle is a great choice, it's geared to charging at C/10 only, no fast charge capability, but then your batteries will be happier
Pete

trdexter

Love my Accu-cycle elite

Rodney

The original Accu Cycle was good for slow charges. The Elite is not. Both have their advantages; I have both but the Elite does most of my charging chores, I use the original only for form charging.