$50 Lipo charger, set it and forget it

[RC104ever]

Just saw this and I have to admit, I'm highly curious about it and for $50, I may just take a flyer on it.

http://www.rccaraction.com/blog/2013/08/27/hobby-people-announces-activator-ez-one-touch-liponimh-charger/

I mean - no setting the battery type? No setting the capacity? Just plug it in and press a button? Seriously? Am I being punked?

[Coelacanth]

Damn...if someone here can confirm it works as advertised, *I* would splurge for one, too!

[knixdad]

Based on it's output, it seems to get away with simple operation by having a low charge rate. At least from first glance.

[jwscab]

probably if it measures a voltage on the balance pins, it will assume lipo, otherwise, nimh. because the lipo is 3.7 nominally per cell and nimh is 1.2-ish, you can make some determination based on an assumed discharged voltage measurement, and that's probably what it does.

[GoMachV]

You press the button to select NiMH or LiPo, then hold the button down to begin charging

It ain't "that" smart

[justinspeed79]

If you guys are looking for a good cheap charger, check out the hobbyking accucell6. Its agreat little charger with an impressive list of features for under $20. I have had mine four about a year now, and it works just as good, if not better, than the "high end" chargers I have had.

[Lonestar]

or my fs thread

[cobalta70]

If you guys are looking for a good cheap charger, check out the hobbyking accucell6. Its agreat little charger with an impressive list of features for under $20. I have had mine four about a year now, and it works just as good, if not better, than the "high end" chargers I have had.

I agree - I have been using an Accucell 6 since 2008 and it has never skipped a beat. It is interesting to see how much the price has dropped on them. I just checked my invoice, and I payed $38 for it back in the day. The newer ones also have an IR (internal resistance ) feature, which mine does not. Apparently they also removed the calibration menu at some point as well. However, it may be back in the very latest ones. If not, I would look elsewhere, because if you get one that is not well calibrated from the factory it is basically garbage without that feature.

[RC104ever]

If you guys are looking for a good cheap charger, check out the hobbyking accucell6. Its agreat little charger with an impressive list of features for under $20. I have had mine four about a year now, and it works just as good, if not better, than the "high end" chargers I have had.

I agree - I have been using an Accucell 6 since 2008 and it has never skipped a beat. It is interesting to see how much the price has dropped on them. I just checked my invoice, and I payed $38 for it back in the day. The newer ones also have an IR (internal resistance ) feature, which mine does not. Apparently they also removed the calibration menu at some point as well. However, it may be back in the very latest ones. If not, I would look elsewhere, because if you get one that is not well calibrated from the factory it is basically garbage without that feature.

Can you enlighten me on the calibration feature? What does it do exactly?

I'm using a Triton EQ which is great - bought from my LHS before I looked at other options online.

[justinspeed79]

If you guys are looking for a good cheap charger, check out the hobbyking accucell6. Its agreat little charger with an impressive list of features for under $20. I have had mine four about a year now, and it works just as good, if not better, than the "high end" chargers I have had.

I agree - I have been using an Accucell 6 since 2008 and it has never skipped a beat. It is interesting to see how much the price has dropped on them. I just checked my invoice, and I payed $38 for it back in the day. The newer ones also have an IR (internal resistance ) feature, which mine does not. Apparently they also removed the calibration menu at some point as well. However, it may be back in the very latest ones. If not, I would look elsewhere, because if you get one that is not well calibrated from the factory it is basically garbage without that feature.

Mine doesn't have that. To be honest I have never heard of that feature on a charger. I don't know what you would need to calibrate, but I haven't had any need for it so far. The only shortcomings I would note is the fact that it can only discharge a 1 amp and lower, which doesn't bother me too much since I do most of my discharging with my vehicles. Slightly more annoying is the fact that max capacity for a single charge is 5000mah. So if your battery has 5000+ mah capacity, the charge automatically stops at 5000 and you have to restart it to finish the charge. A minor inconvenience that I can live with for such a great value.

[cobalta70]

Can you enlighten me on the calibration feature? What does it do exactly?

The older Accucell 6 chargers have a hidden menu that lets you adjust the voltage that it reads from the pack as compared to the actual voltage in the pack (as read by a real volt meter).

Slightly more annoying is the fact that max capacity for a single charge is 5000mah. So if your battery has 5000+ mah capacity, the charge automatically stops at 5000 and you have to restart it to finish the charge. A minor inconvenience that I can live with for such a great value.

5000mah is the default capacity cut-off. To set it to a higher value, enter the "User Set" menu and scroll through to the "Capacity Cut-Off" setting. Then change the value of that setting to something greater than the capacity of your largest pack. I have it set to 6500mah on mine. You can also disable the cut-off, but that is probably not recommended. The idea is that if something goes wrong, it will stop charging at the cut-off, instead continuing on forever (or until something drastic occurs).

Disclaimer: That is how the cut-off works with the older version. I assume that it is the same on the newer ones, but I could be wrong.

[justinspeed79]

5000mah is the default capacity cut-off. To set it to a higher value, enter the "User Set" menu and scroll through to the "Capacity Cut-Off" setting. Then change the value of that setting to something greater than the capacity of your largest pack. I have it set to 6500mah on mine. You can also disable the cut-off, but that is probably not recommended. The idea is that if something goes wrong, it will stop charging at the cut-off, instead continuing on forever (or until something drastic occurs).

Disclaimer: That is how the cut-off works with the older version. I assume that it is the same on the newer ones, but I could be wrong.

Word!?! I didn't know that was adjustable. Cool! Thanks for the heads up, I will have to check that out!

[justinspeed79]

The older Accucell 6 chargers have a hidden menu that lets you adjust the voltage that it reads from the pack as compared to the actual voltage in the pack (as read by a real volt meter)alue.

From what I have heard/experienced, that reading is not supposed to be the actual voltage of the battery, but the voltage required by the charger to maintain a given charge rate. Is this not correct?

How do you get to the hidden menu?

[cobalta70]

From what I have heard/experienced, that reading is not supposed to be the actual voltage of the battery, but the voltage required by the charger to maintain a given charge rate. Is this not correct?

How do you get to the hidden menu?

To access the hidden menu hold down the left Status button (-) and the Start button and then turn on the charger. It will show you the voltage that it is reading, and if it does not agree with your digital volt meter, you can adjust it from there.

[LTO_Dave]

Sounds interesting, but is it as good as this one: