Electrically Confused
 

OK...after reading all the info on here I am confused on what/which/kind of charger to get for my new Electristar Select. Will be charging 3000MAH NIMH packs. I preferably would like a dual charger. Im guessing i will need a 12V battery for field charging. Will I need a charger that cycles, discharges and charges for NIMH? I would like to get a single unit that would cover everything i need for the NIHM packs. PLEASE HELP.....IM ON INFORMATION OVERLOAD - CONFUSED! Any charger recomendations would be great and /or links to info on NIHM packs to confuse me more would be great too!


THANKS!

RE: Electrically Confused
 

Going vcheap on a charger will cost you money in the long run. Look at either an Astro 112D or the Schultz line. My Schultz and my Astro have both been bullet proof for several years.
Walt

RE: Electrically Confused
 

ro347, greetings from Toledo:

the Astro flight 112D can be used to charge the flight battery, the receiver battery if used, and your transmitter battery. It charges nicad and nimh batteries only. Yeah this is the one I heartily recommend.

ciao -rjf

ps: It is made in the USA by Bob Boucher who is, literally, the inventor of eflight. -r

RE: Electrically Confused
 

A couple of years ago I started flying some electric planes and didn't know what charging capability I might need in the future. To avoid buying a bunch of separtate chargers I bought a Triton from Tower and have been very satisfied. It will charge field batteries, Nicads, NiMh and Lithium batteries.

RE: Electrically Confused
 

I now have 4 different kinds of chargers and can't say which is best because I use them all.

The ones suited for your application would be:

Triton - good all round charger/discharger/cycler, but only does one battery at a time. I don't use the cycling function much, but other features are handy for my lipo packs (such as partially discharging them for storage).

Hobbico MK II - less than half the price of the Triton and will do 2 packs at once, but has a max charge rate of 2000mA (Nicad/Nimh) or 1000mA for Lipos and only charges Lipos to 80% full. It would take about 1.5 hours to recharge one of your fully discharged nimh batteries.

The only reason I would have trouble recommending the Triton is because it looks as if you fly big electrics. There is a new cell out now, the A123 cell, which seems better suited to large electrics than any other cell and the Triton does not charge these.

If you've got the money, consider a Triton or a Trition Jr. If you stay with electrics, you're likely going to pick up a few extra chargers along the way anyway and it's good to have at least one charger with extra features.

RE: Electrically Confused
 

One small piece of additional information.

No matter which charger you use, fully charging any size lipo will take between 1 and 1.5 hours. This assumes: 1) the battery is fully discharged; 2) you charge it at the recommended 1C charge rate.

If you charge at a rate below 1C (often recommended to maximize battery life), the charge time will be longer.

- Jeff