suggestion on NiMh battery charger...

[FILIPPO]

hi,
I have decided to buy a good charger and throw away my old one...

I have 3 battery packs made of high current / high cost shakehead) cells and I don't want to waste them...

I'd like you to suggest me a good charger...I don't know a lot about them and don't want to buy something unuseful...

I have seen around a lot of "hobby" charger like Triton, Triton Jr. , BC6 but I can't decide....

please help me!:wave:

 

[FILIPPO]

anyone can give me an advice??

 

[baterija]

The charger comparison in the stickied threads of interest has some good info, and this recent thread has some suggestions for decent chargers on a budget

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/196942

I use the Soshine charger mentioned in that thread and am pretty happy with it. It certainly seemed to give some new life to some cells that never performed very well with my old bundled no name charger.

 

[FarmerJP]

http://www.bantamtek.com/products/charger-BC8.htm

This is the charger that I was recommended, and bought.

This is a vaious capability hobby charger that will balance as is charges.

Also will charge 1-27 NI cells, and 1-8 lithiums.

Acutally just look at the link this thing does alot of cool stuff.

JP

 

[FILIPPO]

Wow...seems BC8 is one of the best (AFAIK)...but it also cost around 290$...

I was thinking about a good charger but that seems a little bit overkill for me...


I'll probably end buying it or at least BC6...mostly because I can get them in italy but also becouse are the most affordable...

in your opinion is triton a good charger or I shoul look for something else?

I'd say in 100-150$ range...

 

[SafetyBob]

I got a Triton2 from a CPF member maybe 6 months ago. I have a Voltcraft battery holder to go with it which makes it primo. If you have friends who visit Europe regularly, I suggest you have them get a couple for you and then tell us how much because once you use one, you will not want to charge batteries any other way. Especially since it is already made for you....no modification necessary.

Including Triton2, battery holder, and associated cords to clip and clamp everything in the world to, I have close to $200+ in the setup. I do not regret anything about this setup. Go a little overboard of what you think you will need so that extra capacity or feature is available to you when you need it in the future.

So far I have charged Ni-Cds, Ni-MH, and Emoli batteries with my Triton.

Bob E.

 

[FILIPPO]

Thanks for your reply!

I actually live in eurupe but I think I don't need a battery holder since I'll only have to chatge battery packs...anyway I may need it in the future


.....Ok! decided...Triton2 :twothumbs


thanks for your help!

 

[SafetyBob]

Filippo, I promise you that you will not regret getting a Triton2. There are others, and they may be better also, but I love the control I have with my Triton2.

If you can't get one locally (I think I saw a good hobby shop in Rome a couple years ago when I was there from the bus window as we were driving by) for like 12 euro Conrad Electronic will ship from Germany. I got a reasonable power supply for mine from ebay, you should be able to do the same unless you already have one.

I just made my cable to charge battery packs tonight, I can't believe I have not made one sooner. This is just to simple.

Bob E.

 

[uluapoundr]

Does the Triton 2 come with a 120v AC power cord. If not, is there a specific power cord that I would need?

 

[Mr Happy]

Does the Triton 2 come with a 120v AC power cord. If not, is there a specific power cord that I would need?

Charger details: http://www.electrifly.com/chargers/gpmm3153.html

It requires a nominal 12 V DC input at several amps (8-10 A I think). You need to run it from a car battery or obtain a 12 V power supply separately.

 

[uluapoundr]

I guess I'll run it on my car battery for now and look for a power cord in the future. If anyone has an idea where I can get that power cord, please give me a shout. Thanks Mr. Happy!

 

[FILIPPO]

Charger details: http://www.electrifly.com/chargers/gpmm3153.html

It requires a nominal 12 V DC input at several amps (8-10 A I think). You need to run it from a car battery or obtain a 12 V power supply separately.

sounds like a car battery isn't enough....If I want to condition batteries for 12hrs I'll need a big battery something like 100/120Ah....and at the end it will be completly drained...

 

[Mr Happy]

sounds like a car battery isn't enough....If I want to condition batteries for 12hrs I'll need a big battery something like 100/120Ah....and at the end it will be completly drained...

You would have to keep the engine running in your car...

If you run a slow conditioning charge it won't take as much current as a rapid charge. The 8-10 A draw is my estimate of the maximum when charging a large battery pack at the highest rate (I believe I read that the maximum output from the charger is 90 W).

I think people often use these chargers out in the field and run them from their cars. To run them at home, I have heard many suggest finding a suitable power supply on Ebay.

 

[FILIPPO]

mmmh....

my car battery is well over 100Ah but i was tinking to run that with a spare battery with 45Ah of capacity....

I think I'll look for a tractor battery that I used with my old Landini...it may be somethink like 500Ah.

 

[SafetyBob]

Pretty much everybody at their home uses an inexpensive regulated 12 volt power supply. I found a Pyramid PS-14KX on ebay for I think less than 30 dollars around Christmas. It is a 12 Amp constant, 14 Amp surge and I don't think I have ever even gotten close to using to much power from it. I will put an amp meter on it and check though just how much the thing draws while charging batteries during the weekend. It was recommended from one of the RC sites.

Just find a cheap regulated 12 volt power supply and you will be good to go. The Triton2 does not plug in the wall directly. It is DC powered only. Yes, the RC guys either bring a roll around cart with batteries on it to fast charge stuff or the use thier car/truck battery with cables. They don't use it for 12 hours (like we do, because we are trying to maximize the life of the batteries) they usually charge as hard as the battery(s) will take. Notice a Triton2 will charge Ni-MH at up to 7 Amps. Please don't try that with your Eneloops if you want them to last. But that's how they charge because they want to get up in the air or around the race track without waiting forever for batteries to charge.

Bob E.

 

[Anders]

Hello FILIPPO.

If you haven't read this from RCGroups:
About Bantam BC-6
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=735847

Or maybe Bantam BC6-10 , same features as the BC6 but DC-input only and 200W/10A output.

I have one BC6 and I am very pleased with it.

Anders

 

[FILIPPO]

hi guys.

I have changed my mind...

I didn't found any big battery and don't really want to buy an extra alimentator or run the charger with my car battery and the engine on...

so I decided to buy the BC6...I heard a lot of good things about it and I found one @ 130€ shipped here in italy.

thanks for all suggestion!

 

[FILIPPO]

Re: suggestion on NiMh battery charger...(thanks CPF!)

I'd like to say THANKS to all that helped me choosing this beautiful charger....finally I recived it and I'm very happy :twothumbs

I read the all user manual and I didn't find any diffucult understanding it...is very simple and clear.

because I know you LOVE pics here you are two:

this is the first break in cycle with BC6 on ELITE 1700 AAs:

close up on the Bantam:

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!:twothumbs