samolot

My Feedback: (14)

I know i have been asking alot of "which...??" questions lately, but its for my own good in the hobby, because last flying season, i was very unprepared about everything. I was constantly asking people for stuff to help me. I felt embarrased. Im down to my last piece of equipment. The Field Charger. I have come to 2 good choices below:

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXCTZ5&P=ML

or this:

http://www.horizonhobby.com/Shop/ByC...?ProdID=HAN114

They are the Hobbico MKII Field Charger and the Hanger 9 Double vision charger. Which one is better? If there is any other better charger on the RC market that i have not listed, please submit it. Im open to all view points.

Thanks alot!

Samolot

piper_chuck

My Feedback: (12)

What's your budget, and what are you going to do with it?

My "field" charger is also my shop charger, Accucycle Elite. It's like an enhanced MKII. The reasons I like it are that it can charge and discharge two batteries independently. It comes with a power supply and alligator clips so I can use it in the shop, or at the field. It's got a digital display that allows you to review the results of what you've done. It can handle NiCad, NiMH, and LiPos. It has memory for several different batteries. It automatically selects the charge and discharge rates and cutoffs based on battery type, capacity, and voltage, but also allows manual override. After playing with these some at first, I've found that the automac selections work pretty well. It costs significantly more than the MKII, I'm glad I spent the extra money.

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

Samolot,
I have the Hanger 9 charger and I have been less than impressed with it. I plan on getting rid of it and getting the Hobbico charger this year. The main reason is that with the Hobbico charger you can adjust your charge rate, which you can't do with the Hanger 9 unit.

Ken

Geistware

My Feedback: (16)

Samolot,
I have both the Hobbico Field Charger II and the Elite. Both are/can be used as a field charger.
Get the Elite. You are paying 3 times the price but it is worth it in all that it does.

If you do decided to get the MKII field charger, just be carefull if you quick charge a near full pack. It will mis-calculate the number of cells you have and potentially fry your pack!

Lowlevlflyer

My Feedback: (3)

I started out with the Hangar 9 Double Vision, and it worked fine for me. Never had a problem with mine, but I know some guys who have. It is just a basic charger, nothing more. IF all you are planning on charging is just your basic Nicd packs, it's fine. IF you plan on getting Nimh, Lion, or Li poly packs at some point, spend the extra money now and get a better charger. I bought a GP Triton charger a few months ago, and have been very satisfied with it. It's a little pricey, but it will charge basically anything you want to charge, and it will also cycle your battery packs. I think the Hobbico Accucycle Elite will do this as well. Just remember, the saying "you get what yo pay for" is very true when considering chargers.

samolot

My Feedback: (14)

I think the elite is a bit pricey.... Anything else maybe? So far im leaning on the field charger MKII (50$)

bhole74

I have had good results with the MKII.

elenasgrumpy

My Feedback: (4)

I have the MKII as well, it does all three types of batteries, 2 at a time if I want. Mine works very well! I haven't anything bad to say about it. I have heard guys in the electrics talk like if you havent spent $300 on a charger you've bought junk. I don't buy into that theory. The MKII works like a champ! It also can be fitted nicely into your field box right above or below your power panel. I have mine set up with connectors that allow me to run it off the power panel of my flight box, or another connector set-up that I mostly use, that allows me to run it right off of my F-150.

I suppose if I were an electric power kind of guy, & that was all I was flying,[:'(] maybe then I could see investing in an expensive charger. Since I'm a real-power kind of guy, this one suits me just fine!

Machinegun21

If you can afford it i would probally go with the great planes Triton charger. I have had mine for about a year and a half and it is really good.

mnrcaerobat

My Feedback: (197)

I would get the hobbico. It's a great little charger for the price. If you want a cheap charger, pm me and I could sell you a hanger 9 perfect peak pretty reasonable.

shd3920

I need a charger that will charge ALL that is listed here:

1]all the receivers (RX) I have in my models;
2]the transmitter (TX);
3]the electric airplanes I plan on getting - both battery packs for the receiver AND the electric motor (or does the charger charge both the motor AND receiver at the same time with one plug?)

Please advise the best charger to get that would work with both glow and electric planes both at the field and at the hangar?

piper_chuck

My Feedback: (12)

As I said in post 2, I recommend the Accucycle Elite.

shd3920

Very expensive, anything that does the same but a bit cheaper?

Total cost if all is needed would be in excess of $230.00. If anyone could suggest something equally as good but cheaper that charges all batteries please help.

shd3920

Went back to Tower Hobbies site, gonna do more studying on chargers.

samolot

My Feedback: (14)

Since we are talking about the MKII mostly now, i have a few questions. Does it charge lipos too? (i know it does, but is it easy?) Also, i have a general electric question. I am building my tiger moth electric from hobby-lobby.com. So far, its going great, but i have one question. Is there one battery for the receiver and one for the motor, or is the one for the motor supposed to power the reciever? Because now i have two switch jacks and i would like to know if i have two batteries in my plane, will it work? Basically, does the battery that power the brushless motor (lipo), also power the receiver?

Thanks alot,

And i decided that i would like to get the MKII.

Thanks alot guys!

shd3920

If I was to get the MKII will I be able to charge ALL MY BATTERY PACKS in the receivers (both glow & electric aircraft), transmitter, electric motor and all other battery packs that may be required?????

Please help, with me not being an electronics person I do NOT understand one charger from the other so I am looking for . . .
1]cheap as possible but very reliable and able to charge all I need
2]easy to assemble and follow the instructions
3]something that comes complete with everything I need or specifies clearly what I will need.

shd3920

EDIT > > > Sorry, did not realize at the time that it may look like I was stealing the spotlight here but that definitely was not my purpose. I have modified all my posts here to simply look for a charger that charges all batteries. Please forgive me for the hijacking. [8D]

samolot

My Feedback: (14)

When you get the telemaster, PM me and tell me how it builds.

flyinrog

My Feedback: (1)

Get a Voltwatch, its $10 at tower,,and when the little light gets down to the caution area (or just before)....Go home. or get out your other plane(s)...Rog

MannyEdge

My Feedback: (9)

The best purchase I made for a charge was the Accu-cycle elite. What a great charger!!! Just get it you will not regard it. I love to use it. Never had a problem with it. Easy to use.

elenasgrumpy

My Feedback: (4)

Samolot, Yes the lipo battery powers evrything in a brushless set-up, motor & reciever. Yes the MKII does lipos, & yes it easy, the same as Nihms, Or Nicads. There is a sqare button on the charger, when you plug in a battery to charge you push the button, the light will flash red, yellow or green. you push the button untill it flashes the right color for type of battery you are charging. I know the lipo is green which means I push it three time to get the green light, it will flash green letting me know it's set to charge lipo then the light will go solid green until the battery is charged. Then it will start flashing & beeping to tell me it's done. It has fail-safe on it, it stops charging as soon as it reaches peak charge then just beeps & flashes until I take the batterry off.

Tigerdude, there is no magic plug that will connect everything to the charger at once. The MKII will do all my batteries, but I did have to pop for a connecting wire & plug for the Tx & Rx batteries, no big deal I think it was like around 9 bucks. As far as building an electric plane cheaply yet with a brushless set-up? pretty much forget it. If you wanna set it up right, with a good brushless motor, & esc, micro receiver & servos, & a good 3 cell lipo, you're gonna spend 2 to 3 hundred bucks depending on how well you want it to perform, that's just the reality of electrics, & keep in mind that when building small electrics, grams matter, not ounces. If you don't buy the right stuff to give you the right weight to thrust ratio, it's not gonna perform right. I don't know much about electrics, but I have learned that much the hard way! You should really go to the electrics forums & let the E-gurus suggest the right set-up for that plane for you. Good luck.

piper_chuck

My Feedback: (12)

I couldn't decide which of your posts to respond to, so I chose this one. My first comment is that you've hijacked Samolot's thread. Saying you were also looking for a charger and then following the discussion is ok, but when it starts branching into the entire plane setup, it's straying from the original question. This makes it hard for those of us following to focus on two diverging subjects. If you want more help with the selections for your plane, it might be better to start a new thread.

But anyway, yes, the Elite is more expensive than the MK II. It should be, it provides some additional valuable features, including memory for different batteries, a 110 volt power supply, discharging as well as charging, and a digital display showing voltage, mah, and other things. I think mine is great, but if it's more than you want to spend, that's ok.

As far as the cables go, you are going to need a variety no matter what charger you buy. While you certainly can buy the premade ones, it's also easy to make your own.

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

I will agree with one think that Piper_chuck did say. That this thread is threatening to go off course here. I normally take a very light hand with moderating these forums and will step in only when needed. This thread is intended for Samolot to get information on a field charger. As long as the discussion stays on that we'll all be good. If there is a need to expand the discussion to encompass other subject let's go ahead and open up another thread.

I do want to make one comment on the subject to Samolot. If you are going to be dealing with Lithium batteries (Li-Ion or Li-po) batteries there are some serious fire risks involved if the batteries are mishandled or improperly charged. Please make sure you get all the proper information on these batteries before you start using them.

Ken

samolot

My Feedback: (14)

Dont worry RCKen, i am completely aware of all the risks and responsibilities involved with owning a lipo. I understand that i will never leave the battery unattended and i will charge them according to the instructions given. I have already covered that during my build. By the way, this Voltwatch, will it work with all batteries? This gadget sounds like a very nifty thing to have.

carrellh

The voltwatch will not work with all batteries. Look it up at www.hobbico.com and you can see the various models and what they are compatible with.