Chally2

I’d like to charge my HL batteries a little bit faster. The HL charger is really just a wall wart and not very complex, but it does the job, if a little slowly. I’ve found another AC adaptor that states it is 12v and has an output of 1amp, the open circuit voltage is 15.6v. I have a spare Tamiya connector and could easily convert this slightly beefier wall wart, but I need to know if it would harm the batteries or not?

Thanks gents,

Stan.

wackywheelz

Boom.

Chally2

You could have put a smilie in there.

But, I understand you inference. I'm ordering an Ansmann peak charger as I type.

Cheers mate.

wackywheelz

I had a lot of threads open, and really just banged my response out - in one word (and full stop!). I had contemplated a smiley, it just didnt make it in the final cut

Yeah its best to just get a good charger and be done with it - This week I bought 26 AAs, 8 AAAs and a decent charger - I once bought a "1hr" smart charger (microprocessor controlled, more safety mechanisms than you can poke a stick at), and it effectively killed 16 of my good AAs in short fashion - never again, slow-chargers for me thank you very much !!

Chally2

Understood mate, no worries.

Here's the spec for the Ansmann (it's a respected brand over here):-

"Typeowerjack 6 delta

Use:Nicd/Nimh battery packs 6 cells

Indication:LED red charge indication-LED green trickle charge-LED yellow discharge

Input:230v/~+/-10% 50hz

Output:8.4v dc

Charging Current: 600 mah"

That should be gentle enough for the HL batteries, I suspect.

wackywheelz

Looks good to me mate. I'm yet to get a decent 6-cell (7.2v) charger.... stock wallwarts at the moment, which is no good for me as I have too many batterys to keep track of charge.

shenlonco

My Feedback: (2)

Get a peak charger MRC 569 is good..... set the amps you need .5 up to 4.5 in .5 inrcaments push a button and that's it!

wackywheelz

It's a geographical thing - MRC/Brain series chargers are mostly US availability thing, whereas here (and UK it seems) Ansmann are easier to come by. What are you guys paying for them (MRC series chargers) over there?

shenlonco

My Feedback: (2)

Can't you search e-bay? i am sure some body will ship to you...try a e-bay search see what you find.

wackywheelz

Ship it, yeah sure, for the money thats makes the local options just look so much better...

Wozwasnt

And then there's the difference in plugs and mains voltage.

We use three pin plugs 230/240v at 50Hz.

Not sure what they use in Auss'

wackywheelz

Same, but with this plug (ignore the dots, theyre just to get the spacing right - without them the formatting is one big collapsed mess)

/...\
..|..

shenlonco

My Feedback: (2)

Man that stinks looks like your best bet is to find a charger at a hobby shop near you then.

angusx

I use a regular old motor driven light timer along with the HL charger for one of my tanks that I keep at a friend's place. Clearly that doesn't make any difference to the total charging time, but it does makes that period flexible. You can do it overnight or whatever.

A lot of the annoyance with slow charging is not only do you have to be present at the beginning of the cycle, you also have to be there at the end. With a timer, that's not necessary.

wackywheelz

Overnight is bad with the stock chargers (without a settable timer), unless you sleep 5-6 hours maximum...

angusx

True, and even with an old-style timer, if you sleep much beyond 24 hours the battery will start to charge again. For Oblomovs and narcoleptics, an electronic one with date settings is a must.

shenlonco

My Feedback: (2)

Come on you got to be kidding there must be RC chargers available where you are located?

Chally2

Yes there are, Ansmann does a range of basic and more sophistcated units (like these : http://www.ansmann.de/cms/en/racingr...e-charger.html) though I only require a simple chager like the Powerjack 6 delta at the moment.

The reason I considered converting a wall wart was to make use of it rather than it ending up in landfill.

brel

put the wallwart in the normal rubbish and it will end up in the incinerator at Sideway

ostketten

I have the MRC Super Brain 960 http://www.modelrectifier.com/rc-pro...y-chargers.asp that I picked up for under $50 at RCPlanet, and I've been very happy with it, a hard to beat combination of performance and features for the price.

shenlonco

My Feedback: (2)

Hi here is all you need any of these will work run it off a car battery or your own 12 power supply.. won't need to plug it into a wall!
And they are cheap like $30.00 can't go wrong with one of these!
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXHJB5&P=7



This guy on e-bay ships world wide for this one that will be ok also

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dynamite-Prophet...2em118Q2el1247

Chally2

Good, it's a clever bit of kit that incinerator. We seem to be getting our act together in North Staffs with regard to recycling and reducing landfill, at last.

brel

yeah, burn every thing and make the carbon footprint even bigger, better than putting it in the landfill where it will take 400+ years for the plastic parts to decompose.

fv432

Hi stan i use a j perkins pro charger 500 does lead acid lipo's NiMh and Nicads mega slow charge and fast charge all programmable

bought in the U.K from my L.H.S for £50 the only pain is you need an adapter for mains running as it can run off a car batt

you also get all fly leads with deans connectors all in for most types of batteries

Chally2

I understand what you're saying. I'd like to see the incinerator (and measure what comes out of it) But in the mean time it's up to the individual to make a difference. Our goals may be differently driven than those of the County and City councils.