I'm looking for a new charger. I need to charge larger nicads, nimh and lithiums. I was checking out the Graupner Duo 30 as it seemed to have a lot of capabilities. Suggestions, anyone?

The Triton is nice, but if you want more power with similar multi-chemistry capability, check out the Hyperion: http://www.aircraft-world.com/shopexd.asp?id=3001

Too bad the Orbit Microlader V6.31 is quite expensive in the US from what I´ve seen as that would be my obvious choice. I got an older V6.0 and love it. I´m considering a pair of V6.31s to replace it.

/Erik

OK, dumb electronic question here. If the charger I currently have has a max battery capacity of say 1300ma yet I have packs with 2100ma capacity, will it still charge to full capacity, albeit taking longer to charge? Isn't full capacity determined by the voltage of the cells not the milliamps pumped into them?

Well, yes and no. It will be fine for lithium packs (if it supports them), but when talking delta peak charging, the method of charge termination (for nicd and nimh packs) only works reliably when charging at a current of at least 1C (meaning 1 time the capacity of the pack. 1C = 1.5A for a 1500mAh pack, 2C = 3A, etc).

/Erik

Thanks, Erik. I figured it wouldn't work right...

Adam, that Hyperion does look interesting... Appears to have full-adjustability in all aspects of charging. Are there any "flaws" or shortcomings with this charger?

I know only what the website says.

Give a look at the Duratrax Ice. It even has graphs. I don't own one but a friend a the flying field has one and he speaks highly of it.

Thanks, Sam. Say, how's that Oxai of yours flying? I was out visiting Troy at the field a few weeks ago (with the wife and kids) and saw both of your Oxai's.... Nice looking birds!

A lot of chargers have a mAh cutoff also. Reason being that if the peak detection is missed, it will quit charging after a certain amount of energy is added to the battery. If the mAh cutoff is less than your pack capacity, simply restart it and let it peak detect.

Dymond has an all-cell charger for sale. I have no experience with it, but have used their SuperTurbo charger for a couple of years and it works very well.

Hi Mark,

The Oxai is flying good. Unfortunately, I'm not. After 17 or 18 years of not flying a pattern plane it's tough to get up to speed. I had not flown that much RC in the mid 80's so it's almost like starting over again. I'll get there. It's just going to take practice - a lot of practice.

Well you have a beautiful plane, get to rub elbows with Troy and get some coaching from him....a pretty good situation IMHO!

You are right. I am really lucky to have Troy and Greg and Rusty here to give me pointers. They are a big help and nice guys as well.