What Battery charger to buy

[Brandon G]

don't buy an MRC 989, it's the worst charger

I'll second that.

I use Hyperion on all of my Lipo's and they work great. For my NIMH stuff I recently picked up a Onyx charger ac/dc with dual outlet capability. Plug in the wall and go for it. They work well for the $.

[shodog]

Thats the super Brain Right? I've here there not all that good. And thats the only charger that are LHS sells.

Yes the super brain. Tons of false peaks and some lipos wouldn't charge at all. I knew the batteries were good as they would charge on my electrify lipo charger

[Brandon G]

That and the push buttons go bad in about a month. Might not even take that long.

Orion states on their LIPO instructions that the use of MRC chargers voids their warranty...

[MelvinsArmy]

MRC has a history of making bad chargers. A few years ago I had a 959 and it would also false peak. Eventually it just stopped working all together. Several friends also had that charger and had the same problems. I wouldn't buy anything made by MRC.

[KvilleKrawler]

I got the Hyperion EOS0606I about 6 months ago and love it. I use it for NIMH, Lipo 2 and 3 cell packs and it works great. I love the built in balancer and it charges very quickly with the balancer. Great charger for the price. With the money I have invested in my batteries I wanted to be sure I got a good charger to use.

http://holmeshobbies.com/product.php?productid=145&cat=7&page=1

[MOmo]

I like this one:

http://www.multiplexusa.com/electric_flight_accessories/chargers/ln-5014_field_charger.php



MOmo

[robsdak]

WOW! after reading some of the responses about Super Brains, i have come to the conclusion that i have the only good one they made. It is the 960, i did a fan MOD to it, to keep it cool and added a cig. lighter plug so i didn't have to raise the hood.

[THEYTOOKMYTHUMB]

I felt the need to come back here and make another post just in case someone is reading this and is in the same situation I've been in lately. I have the Hyperion EOS0606i DC only and I love it. The problem is the DC only part. I have been doing spring clean up around the house and have been 1000x busier with work so have had little time for R/C lately. I desperately need to cycle my batteries; especially the LIPOs. It's a real pain in the sack to hook the charger up to a car. Spring for the AC/DC or shop for a good power source as I am now.

[markt311]

Duratrax Onyx 230 is a great charger, I'm getting one this weekend. At $80 you can't beat it. I'm just getting back into the world of electric, been running nitros for a few years now. My brother has this charger and I used it for a few weeks, once you figure out the menu it's great.

[JK Racing]

I desperately need to cycle my batteries; especially the LIPOs.

I've never cycled Lipos...only NiCd and NiMh.

[mtbnjim]

Get the Hyperion AC/DC verision - Hyperion EOS 0606i Li/NiMH/A123 AC/DC Balancing Charger...can't beat the convenience of not having to carry a ps around, especailly if you travel a lot.

[THEYTOOKMYTHUMB]

I desperately need to cycle my batteries; especially the LIPOs.

I've never cycled Lipos...only NiCd and NiMh.

How long have you let them sit at one time? I ask because mine have been 2 months at least now. I did fire them up tonight and there is definitely plenty of juice in there. I just hate the thought of ruining them. They will get ran very soon, but I want full performance. I don't have a lot of experience with Lipos(none really). Will sitting that long hurt performance? thanks

[JK Racing]

that is kinda what i was asking also....i use mine about once a month, sometimes less, depending upon my family schedule. ive ran lipos that have sat for a month without charging them...

my understanding is you dont repeak lipos, run 'em, charge 'em, store 'em.....

[THEYTOOKMYTHUMB]

that is kinda what i was asking also....i use mine about once a month, sometimes less, depending upon my family schedule. ive ran lipos that have sat for a month without charging them...

my understanding is you dont repeak lipos, run 'em, charge 'em, store 'em.....

I think you're right. Without racing(for me) true performance is hard to judge. They will get ran this weekend though and I'm curious to see how long they run. I could tell from bench testing though that 2 months cost them no punch.

[mtbnjim]

There are a couple schools of thought on how to run/store lipos. On any of my 2s-3s stuff, I just run it, charge it, run it, charge it- then store it fully charged. I've gone 5-6 months w/o use on some of the lipos and haven't had any problems. On the 4s-5s lipos, I'd top them off at least every two months, just because of the additional cells that can go bad and turn a $150 lipo into a paper weight.

Some of my heli friends who run huge 10s matched lipos, will go through a whole charge/discharge/balance routine and top them off at least once a month when not in use.