What is your favourite cycler. I want to look for one at the weak signals and wanted some different opinions from every one. Also why do you like it?

Thanks Dave Trimmer.

Cyclers are unnecessary and, IMHO a waste of your money. If you bought your batteries within the last 5 years, don't bother. The quality of newer NiCDs and NiMH are beyond the need.

I like the Accucycle Elite. My reasons are:
1) It comes with a 110 volt power supply, but will also work off 12 volts.
2) Indepently charges/discharges two batteries at one time.
3) Digital display.
4) Handles nicad, nimh, and lipos.

I had an Accucycle. Actually, I still do. After about two and a half years of service it just gave up the ghost, and I haven't thrown it out yet. My MRC 969 is a big improvement over the Accucycle.

Four

I was interested in a cycler and I end up buying the MRC Super Brain 989 charger/cycler

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXLTW4&P=ML



10 Amp external AC power supply, it includes the temperature probe, it has a 10 amp maximum charge rate, and it will charge up to 8S LiPo packs. I paid $110 for it after Tower's discount and got free shipping.

I used it to cycle my transmitter and receiver packs, and the charger remembers the average discharge capacity of the pack after all of the cycles are complete.

If you need a top notch charger that also cycles, this is one sweet unit.

G'day Mate,
I'm sure you will change your mind, as soon as you have a battery failure, that crashes a plane, that cycling your battery would have prevented. Then you will realise, the importance of knowing the capacity, or lack of capacity, of your battery packs.
They do fail, & if a cycler can warn you of a failing cell, it has paid for itself.
Maybe you have not been flying long enough to have older batteries yet.

Agreed Allan. Plus, 4.9V on my 40 sized plane means I have at least a couple of more flights, but with my bigger birds, going up at the same point, would mean disaster. Only way I am sure of capacity is by checking on the remaining charge with a cycler.

i take a triton jr. with me to the field. it's dc and great for a quick charge if you're running low. i also cycle with the jr. it's easy to use and really quite a good machine. they're all pretty handy to have around and you can find them at a reasonable price very often......sometimes a sale item. i got mine for 80 bucks. well worth having in the tool box, thats my opinion

THIS is funny stuff.

Alan, your post here reminds me of some of the um.....'experienced' guys at one or more of the 7 fields I frequent regularly. It is no secret that I consider myself a beginner and that I have only been flying for 15 months now....BUT. I will add that I have SOME experience and knowledge, and I try to contribute here in the beginners forum as much as my time allows. I am very interested in helping beginners like myself, save time, money and wasted interest in the ramblings of 'those who can't'.

Cyclers are nothing more than an outdated gadget designed to enrich those who sell them while playing on the fears of those who know no better, like yourself. One who flys model airplanes more often than he/she peruses the latest Tower cataolg knows the difference between an outmoded gadget and a useful tool. Just in case you missed it, that was directed at you and the literally hunderds of tinkerers, worriers and wannabees that work harder at fixing un-broken airplanes than improving their own ability to fly them that I have met.

A 'cycler' in-itself is a waste of money and, more importantly, TIME. There are many CHARGERS on the market which will cycle batteries if so desired by the user. This function is the very definition of a 'useless gadget'. An example of a 'useful tool' would be something like a voltmeter. With a voltmeter, you can actually monitor voltage drop, and therefore, the comparative rate at which you are depleting your pack.

Thank You for you interest in my current level of experience. Although I am a beginner, I have accumulated more than 250 hours of stick-time since last June. I am quite interested in improving my current inadequate skill-set. I believe I have some limited experience and knowledge which may be helpful to those who are interested in listening. I seek LOTS of advice at my fields, in my social circles and among my most trusted flying buddies. Oh yeah, and I fly EVERY SINGLE DAY, except most Sundays.

I have INDEED lost a cell on a NiCD pack and I caught it by PAYING ATTENTION to the voltage drop with the use of a VOLTMETER, AT THE FIELD. I am lucky enough to actually have the NEED to charge my TX and RX packs DAILY. I have almost 270 cycles on my current 1100MAH TX pack. I only use lithiums, now, in most of my planes because I like the weight savings and the larger capacity.

So, in answer to your assertion in the quoted post, NO, I will not change my mind. I know that capacity of my battery packs because I pay attention. It's a rediculous waste if time to 'cycle' batteries and it reduces their useful life.

If you choose to spend your time doing things like cycling batteries and removing unsightly castor build-up from your barely-flown engine, please do it at home so the rest of us may continue to fly without stepping over you.

G'day Mate,
When you have been flying for 26 years, become an instructor, & flown pattern, & gliders, then I'll believe you.
Also I don't need to clean my motors, because I don't use Castor Oil in my fuel, I use synthetic, coolpower, & they don't get black crap on them.
But I will still check the capacity, of my battery packs, with a cycler, so my 160 size Katana, my 60 size Yak 54, & my 60 size Diabolo, stay in the air.

actually i believe a full scale aircraft battery would be on the leading edge of battery technology. they are deep cycled periodically. this prevent the battery from developing a memory. memory is when you use the battery more than usual. you wont get a rapid discharge to an unuseable voltage.
however you dont need a cycler to perform this function. i dont have one and i cycle my batteries every couple of months.
besides TX batteries are diode protected you have to remove them to use a cycler on them with the correct battery connector.
hope this helps put out the fire

G'day Mate,
Not if you bypass the diode, or if the diode is not there in the first place, as in Spektrum DX7.
There is no fire, Agexpert has his opinion, & I have mine, & I will defend his right to his opinion.
No malice at all, I hope he realizes that.
That is what these forums are for, the free exchange of ideas.

I have two cycler chargers for Lipo and one more for just NiCd and NiMH batteries. The Triton and the Intellipoint Ice Charger/Cycler. I also have a Sirius Cycler, and two Sirius NiCd / NiMh field chargers.

I have a Sears emergency car jumper. It's a motorcycle battery with a high capacity in a plastic case. I converted it over to a field source for charging batteries and operating my electric starter. It usually lasts a day at the field with full use except for when I start charging my LiPo's from it. The Triton and Ice both plug right into the device so I can field charge without having to drain the battery in my car, although that is a good backup. The Sears jumper just plugs into the wall outlet for recharging. Takes about 10 hours to fully charge it after a day of use, so I just charge it overnight when I am done.

That's my story and I'm gonna stick to it.
DS.

A few words of wisdom. Nicad packs are still the most reliable and will take more abuse than anything else out there. You should charge your nicad packs at 10% rate if at all possible because you cannot damage them that way. You should use a loaded volt meter to check your packs, knowing the voltage with no load is useless information. Serius (spelling ?) makes one of the best cycler's on the market although it is not a charger. Cycling batteries is not all that required, but you should replace your batteries more regularly if you don't. The guys who really need to cycle thier batteries are the one's who have alot of planes, don't fly them very often and have alot of old batteries to deal with. Without cycling, it would very hard to keep track.

thanks everyone for your replies, but I am even more confused as to even if i buy one. will it hurt to cycle them and will that shorten the battery life?

Thanks, Dave Trimmer

A good quality battery cycler will not hurt your batteries assuming you use it the way it was designed. Its a good diagnostic tool but as for preventing the forming of a memory, that really is not an issue with modern high quality cells. I think if you pull batteries off a 10% charge, check them with a loaded volt meter for full voltage and check them every couple of flights and replace your batteries periodically, you should be fine.

My favorite Cycle? Harley-Davidson, Followed by Triumph, B.S.A., Norton (only the Commando). That's about it. I still pile the Japaneese Junk over on the other side of the fence with Electric Powered Model Airplanes.

Bill