Battery Chargers? Which one to buy?

[Cam]

Hi. I am ordering some new 3600-4200mah 7.2-8.4V batteries soon. Movin up in the world from the nicad 1500mah to the NIMH variety. I geuss I will have to upgrade my 15 year old astro fligt charger. I am not sure if I want to move in to lipo right away but mabe in the future. What is a good charger to buy? Also How long does the average charger take to these types of batteries?

[JimClark]

Hyperion makes some good chargers that will do Lipos and NIMH and Nicads

The 4200's will take about an hour charged at 4 amps

[Diegoboy]

I like the Vision Peak Ultra.

• Charges virtually all 1- to 8-cell Ni-Cd and Ni-MH battery packs and 1- to 3-cell Li-Po battery packs
• Adjustable charge rates from 0.1A to 5A for Ni-Cd and Ni-MH battery packs
• Adjustable charge rates from 0.1A to 2.5A for Li-Po battery packs
• Multi-function LCD shows charge time, current and voltage
• Input and output circuit protection
• Automatic trickle charge
• Limited 5-year warranty

[Doby]

Do yourself a favor, spend a bit more money now and get LiPos,,,,I switched this year and all my NiHh are being demoted to my scale boats. I wished I hadn't spent so much on MiMh's last year. For the price difference, which is getting better,,,there is no comparison in performance.

[Eodman]

Well Cam -- There's alot of good advice here & a lot of good chargers on the market! I just upgraded to the MRC 977 super brain ... nice price point($114.00)!

When ordering a new charger be certain that it will charge all 3 types of batteries! Another plus is get one that will allow you to charge 2 at once, the 977 super brain will --- it also has a discharge function!

The 977 doesn't have a great paint job or great graphicas but it does the job!

[SweetZ28]

I think one of the BEST chargers out is the team checkpoint TC-1030 Pro it does everything and has up to 30 amp discharge!

[NorthernBoater]

The Bantam chargers are supposed to be good. They have the balancer built in. I plan on purchasing one over the winter and trying it.

[Darin Jordan]

I think one of the BEST chargers out is the team checkpoint TC-1030 Pro it does everything and has up to 30 amp discharge!

I will double this recommendation...

I own three Duratrax ICE chargers and one Hyperion, and the ICE charges have done a terrific job of charging everything I have up to 4S Lipos... the TC-1030 is an evolution of the ICE, and I'd buy one of these in a heartbeat were I in the market...

The ONLY downfall to these is that they can only do 1-10 sub-Cs, rather than a full set of 12... Not sure why this is, but it is... BUT, they are lipo compatible and will charge your 1-10 cell packs beautifully...

If you don't care about the big discharge numbers (the ICE only does 10-amps... which is still fine...), then you can usually find an ICE on E-Bay for around $70.00 or less...

I LOVE mine...

[Flying Scotsman]

As Darin states the Ice is a great charger and I also own one. At this time though, I would purchase a Hyperion, Bantam or FMA based on your possible future requirements, as Li-Po is now dominating, until the next new battery marvel!!
I believe that a ballancing charger is the way to go, but many people have success without.
Doug

[Doby]

I agree with the Scotsman, I have several FMA's for my LiPos, great chargers. set them and forget them, its that easy

[SweetZ28]

Don't forget there are ballencers that you can buy and use on any charger that charges lipo packs so even if you get a ice or a mrc 977 or any other charger you can buy the ballencer for like $30.00 to make your charger charge lipo safer and better.

[Darin Jordan]

Don't forget there are ballencers that you can buy and use on any charger that charges lipo packs so even if you get a ice or a mrc 977 or any other charger you can buy the ballencer for like $30.00 to make your charger charge lipo safer and better.

Good point... I use all Hyperion balancers with both my ICE and my Hyperion chargers... they work perfectly on both chargers...

[NorthernBoater]

How many cells do you intend to charge. I will run 2 4s packs in parrellel and then charge them in series on my hyperion charger.

[watts=power]

I just picked up an Astroflight 109 Lithium

This charger rocks, its may not be the most feature based but it seems to have one of the best charging methods.

It does lithium only, but it does it very well. It steps through 3 distinct modes, and in its last mode, pulses the battery to obtain maximum voltage

I have a friend who has a super brain, it charges small packs fine, but I have seen it swell a perfectly good Lipo pack. A 2100 3-cell, if i remember correctly.

Also, I seem to recall a slip of paper included with an older thunder power battery that warned AGAINST using the super brain chargers


The ICE/Checkpoint charges have gotten rave reviews and is a very good choice in my opinion. I have used it only briefly, but a college of mine has one and never had any problems at the boat pond.

The ICE/Checkpoint chargers can do a large number of cells (ANy Chemistry...Almost)

ANd a pretty impressive charge/discharge rate


I say ICE/Checkpoint because there are 2 charges with the same case/software, only minor cosmetic difference between the 2; well and maybe price

[Flying Scotsman]

I have 1 Ice, 1 Bantam and 2 FMA. Neither of these chargers are perfecct, but they are all good chargers. For Li-Po, I would choose the latter two