Charger Buying Help

[Gimp]

Hello, need some help with purchasing a charger. I've used a car charger to charge a car battery and I'm assuming its roughly the same process. Problem is, which one is right for me?

I would be charging 6(7.2V) and 7(8.4V) cell NiMh Stick packs only. Looking for something thats reliable, but doesn't cost a fortune. I would like to stay around the $50 range.

I'm assuming the chargers come with instructions on amp levels and what not?

Thanks for your input, and any will help. Thanks!

[addictedtonitro]

Just my .02

I've gone thru the mediocre chargers before. They do the job....somewhat.
But you will never know the power of a good battery till you get a decent charger. This is the one I use. It does everything. It's only down side is that it's dc only. But I made a power supply out of a old cpu power box and it's worked perfect ever since(about a year now).

The charger on the other hand is awesome. I couldn't ask for any more out of it. It brought dead batteries back to life that I thought were trash. Just a all around good charger that you won't have to replace when you go lipo
http://www.electrifly.com/chargers/gpmm3153.html

[Sharkey]

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXTCJ9&P=0 that is what id recomend for what your doing now. its a basic charger with a couple nice fetures, however the downside is your limited with charge currents. if in the future you change to smaller cells or want to go lithium your needing to upgrade again. for an extra $10 you can get the 220, its much more adjustable and better for smaller cells, and it can also charge radio batteries. for around $80 you can get the 230, it does all the above plus lithium/life/a123 cells.

chargers are something you should always plan for the future. in crawling everyone evetualy goes with lithium and not having to buy a new charger when that times comes is a big bonus

[Gimp]

Thanks guys, I honestly don't ever plan on going to lipo. I like scalers more than comp crawlers and I(personally) don't think I need a lipo in a scaler. Just my opinion.

I like the looks of the DuraTrax Onyx 210 and 220. Do I really need the 220? I'll do some more research tommorrow. Just want to buy the right one for me because I'm in college and the budget's tight lol.

Thanks!

[squatch71]

you have 13 batteries to charge?? if your looking at the onyx, I would suggest the 240...it can charge 2 different batteries at the same time, at different rates.

[Sharkey]

Originally Posted by cmb5450

Thanks guys, I honestly don't ever plan on going to lipo. I like scalers more than comp crawlers and I(personally) don't think I need a lipo in a scaler. Just my opinion.

you likely dont need lipo right now, however think about what you might do in the future. when i bought my charger years ago all i thought id be charging was a couple 6 cell 2400 nicd packs for my electric touring car, i really only needed a cheap charger for that, but i spent the extra on something with fully adjustable charging amperage from 0.5-6.5 amps and a 2 and 10 amp discharge (its a duratrax intelipeak for those wondering). i spent about twice what i planned on a charger, but im glad i did because i was able to then put nimh cells in my radio and saved a pile of money on AA batteries, i ended up getting bigger than i was in nitro stuff and was charging receiver packs, along with i went to nimh batteries eventually in the touring car (keep in mind this was back when nimh was becoming the hot thing, kind of like were lipo was a year ago). ive had this charger for more than 6 years now and its served me well, had i bought a charger that just did what i needed i would have had to replace it long ago. im now just looking to replace it as im thinking lipo is going to be the way to go in my crawler.

basicly what im saying is think of what you might do in the future. you may not need a lipo charger, but something with adjustable amperages (not 3 selectable amperages like lower models) will serve you well in the future.

[CHRIZAD]

regardless of having a comp or a crawler, you will need lipo later.. With all the blings that you might want to add on you scaler like the winch, lights etc., you will need smaller batteries with sufficient power to handle all those things.

just my 2 cents

[Gimp]

Thanks for all of your input! I've got some thinking and research to do. Thanks again!