Battery Charger?

[jasonck08]

I'm looking for a battery charger that is very flexible that can charge all different types of chemistries Ni-Hm and Lion's etc. I also want the charger to be able to charge a good number of cells. This one seems perfect for my needs: http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/...ame=Turnigy_Accucel-6_50W_5A_Balancer/Charger

Does anyone have any opinions? It does require a 11-17V power supply. I have like an old 5Amp 14v laptop power supply that I could probably use... Would this work if I stripped the connector?

Let me know what you think about this charger, or if you have another one you'd recommend. I really like the flexibility on this one and the LCD screen and stuff.

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Jason,

You may find this thread informative...

Tom

 

[jasonck08]

Hey... Thanks a lot for the link man. I read the first roughly 30 pages on the forum, and overall it sounds like a VERY good charger for the money...

 

[jasonck08]

Well unless anyone can persuade me otherwise, I'm going to order this charger...

Are there any other chargers I should take a look at that charge a variety of cell #'s and batter chemistries?

 

[jasonck08]

Any comments?

 

[mdocod]

For $40 I think that's probably the most charger you are going to get for the money. If you wanted to spend more, the next logical steps are in the $100-200 range, so it just depends what you want out of it I suppose..

More money will probably get you better accuracy all around. High end chargers will have tighter component tolerances and faster processors for monitoring NiMH/NiCD charging. Based on skimming through a little bit of that thread that Tom linked to, the actual charge rate, and the rate it is set to, are probably going to be slightly different...

As to whether or not your power supply will work... Depends on what you are doing with the charger at the time, and the efficiency of the charger, and whether the 50W rating is true output, or maximum power consumption. If the charger were say, 50% efficient, and actually could deliver 50W output, then you would need a power supply that could deliver 100W, which the laptop power supply probably would not, but if it's say, 75% efficient, and it can deliver 50W on the output, then you only need ~67W to power the device, in which case, the laptop power supply will be fine.

Eric

 

[linterno]

All items in that site seem to be rated 5 stars. Few are 4 stars.

Are all their products so good? or Do they only publish good reviews/comments?

 

[LEDmodMan]

I was going to post a new thread, but it might just be better to post here. I'm in the market for a new multi-purpose charger, and my #1 option was the Triton 2 EQ though it is a bit expensive at $200 retail.

I came across this thread while searching, and the Turnigy Accucel chargers seem like a great bang for the buck based on my internet research. I am considering buying one of those instead, and I was wondering if anyone here had any real experience with them? I think the Accucel-6 looks good and would likely suit my needs for a mere $40, though the Accucel-8 is even more flexible and has some other nice features for $80. The extra features don't really warrant the doubling in price IMHO, but to keep it in perspective, the Accucel-6 is a spectacular deal. I have to say I'm a bit hesitant to place my order (and give them my CC info) directly through the Chinese company...

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone had any other thoughts or recommendations. I'm also considering the Bantam BC-6 (discussed here) and the knock-off Imax B6.

Anyway, the rcgroups.com forums has some pretty good charger info, so I'm still searching over there. Thanks in advance!!!

 

[alfreddajero]

I use this charger and it works well.......im also into rc's so this serves my purpose well without buying a new charger.......i havent charged any lithiums since i use a charger that came with the batts.

 

[LEDmodMan]

Well, I'm having a lot of trouble making this decision. The Triton 2 EQ is currently unavailable (out of stock), and though it sure sounds like it is a good charger, $200 is a bit pricey. Also, it does lack some of the features of the other two. BOTH the Turnigy Accucel-8 and the Bantam BC-6 have USB capability to monitor the charge via your computer. That's nice.

I've also been looking at the Hyperion EOS0720i, which is the most powerful of all of them, but it doesn't have the computer capability or AC power, and it is $210.

:sigh:

The Accucel-8 honestly seems like the best charger BY FAR, but lack of AC power (I do have an old computer p/s I can use) and having to buy it directly from China knowing any warranty issues will be at least $30 have me hesitating...

:help:

 

[LEDmodMan]

Hmm. This is interesting:
It appears to me that the Bantam BC-8 ($210), Imax B8 ($100), GT Power A8 ($90), and Turnigy Accucel-8 ($80) are the SAME chargers, just cosmetically different. Likely made by the same Chinese factory…

Bantam BC-8



Imax B8


G.T. Power A8


Turnigy Accucel-8 (8150)

See what I mean. Tech specs are basically identical, and they look an aweful lot alike. The GT Power and the Turnigy appear to be siblings, whereas the Imax and Bantam units are more of like close cousins. I suppose there might be slight internal differences like maybe different quality electronic components, but otherwise, I think they're the same units. I've looked at the online manuals for all four, and those are basically the same too. Heck, even the downloadable software for ALL four is the same from my research.

Decisions, decisions... :sick2:




Hotlinked images removed. DO NOT HOTLINK

 

[jasonck08]

I think I'll just go with the $37 buck one. Shipping is $12 though or $18 for EMS... I might go with EMS just for the heck of it.

 

[LEDmodMan]

I think I'll just go with the $37 buck one. Shipping is $12 though or $18 for EMS... I might go with EMS just for the heck of it.

I'm currently heavily leaning on giving the Accucel-8 a try. It is a bit of a gamble, but if the charger has problems (and there are plenty of reports of this), I think I can probably fix it myself.

If you do decide to go with ANY of the chargers listed in my posts above (or the -6 models of them), both the HobbyCity Forums (same site where you buy the charger) and the RCGroups Forums (TONS of info here) have been extremely helpful in my research.

 

[LEDmodMan]

Well, I pulled the trigger on the Turnigy Accucel-8. Express shipping was $26; only $6 more than standard registered airmail, and door-to-door time is 4-6 days versus 8-30...

It turns out that the Hobby King (hobbycity) web store takes Paypal, so the credit card risk wasn't there which was a relief. I'll report back on how I like it once I get it and have a chance to use it some and put it through its paces (think 3-4 weeks here since I'm out of town for the next 2).

 

[jasonck08]

Just ordered the Turnigy Accucel-6. Turns out they have a warehouse in the US. I opted to have it ship from there. It was $10 more, but shipping was only $4.80 vs $12 for (slow mail) or $18 for EMS. It should get here faster than via EMS (which is what I was going to pay for) so I'm happy.

Ships via USPS PRIORITY MAIL! 🙂

 

[LEDmodMan]

Ha. If they would have had he 8150 in the US warehouse, I would have ordered from there. Oh well. Due to the Chinese new year, I'm guessing my order won't ship until next week. No biggie though, I won't be at home to try it for awhile anyway...

 

[65535]

Are the output jacks seriously on the opposite side from the balancing plugs?

 

[jasonck08]

I got mine a few days ago. I have not tested it very much but one thing I noticed is that the voltage cut off is not that great. I don't know if I'm doing something wrong or not, but It got a few of my batteries very hot even when I charged them at .5 or 1 amp. Is this too high for hi discharge rate batteries that can take 20-30c of discharge?

 

[LEDmodMan]

Are the output jacks seriously on the opposite side from the balancing plugs?

They are... :shakehead

I got mine a few days ago. I have not tested it very much but one thing I noticed is that the voltage cut off is not that great. I don't know if I'm doing something wrong or not, but It got a few of my batteries very hot even when I charged them at .5 or 1 amp. Is this too high for hi discharge rate batteries that can take 20-30c of discharge?

After making my old 250W ATX computer PS into a single-output 12v 175W PS, I used the charger a bit over the weekend to charge up some of my Aero NiMh packs. I charged 4 5-cell 1/2 D packs, and had pretty good luck. The charger seemed to terminate properly using the default cut-off setting (not sure what mV it is though), and I didn't see temp go over 40 degrees C (room temp was 21 deg. C) even when charging at upwards of 4A (1c). I also charged my big 9 cell 1/2D Aero NiMh pack (used in a 6D Mag85) and the charger handled it just fine at up to 4A. The one pack that got the warmest (40 deg C) was one that has been accidentally abused in the past. The other packs typically ran about 34-35 deg. C, so not really that bad; just slightly warm.

Need more info on the batteries you were trying to charge. What chemistry were they, and what charging mode were you using? Were you in "Manual" or "Auto"?

 

[Black Rose]

What would someone need in addition to the Accucell-6 and a power supply to charge Li-Ion cells?