Charger Suggestion (yes another one)

[Wade]

I have an old piranha charger (no lipo) I have had this for years still going strong, I want to jump up to lipo. Now I have searched and searched and researched some more for around two years (not kidding). My original plan was to go with a duratrax 245....reasons are,

1) Two batteries at once
2) AC/DC
The only problem I see is that it only charges at either 1.5, 3, or 5 amps.
So now I am on the fence again as to what to purchase. I know I could get two thunder chargers the 680's and still come out ahead......but I really don't want to go cheap on a charger, I know they have served people well, but I own a home and have a 3yr old which takes precedence over el cheapo.

But I don't want to spend a small fortune either (Hyperion) although I have looked at them in the past and really like them, just a lot of $. I only run my stuff at home so I dont want to have an external power supply, Still kind of leaning towards the duratrax.......so if anyone has the 245 and would like to add anything please do.......or anyone else who wants to chime in. I know this has been covered before, but there is a lot more on the market right now.....Thanks

Cheers,
Wade

[Trubble]

I, personally like my Onyx chargers, and I think you'll be fine with the 245.

Any idea which LiPos you are strongly leaning towards?

[twb4525]

I run the onyx 235. I like it a lot, even though it charges one battery at a time. the 245 should be ok

[Wade]

Originally Posted by Trubble

I, personally like my Onyx chargers, and I think you'll be fine with the 245.

Any idea which LiPos you are strongly leaning towards?

Probably going with gens ace......I have heard a lot of good reviews on those. The duratrax has served me well in the past, and the 245 has 2x the wires included for most applications, which is nice...just wish you could adjust the amps instead of 1 of 3 possibilities. But I can probably live with that, I only plan on running 2s maybe 3s down the road, and there are no plans on running anything more then 5000mah most likely in the 3200/4000 range.

Thanks for the responses...
Cheers,
Wade

[Charlie-III]

My son & I have Venom ProChargers..... both the green & red versions.

They can charge from an outlet (110VAC) or a DC supply (supply or car battery).

They handle ANY battery (NiCD/NiMH/LiPO/LiFE/LeadAcid).

I have no issues (other than some noisy cooling fans).

Others will comment on their "best".

[Wade]

I have also looked at the Venom's.....The nice thing with the duratrax is it comes with a 5 year warranty..not sure what Venom is but I will look. My problem is I decide and then re-decide lol. I usually research the hell out of products, because I don't want to spend twice. But I will say this is my hardest decision so far. That and the second one would be a transmitter

I researched RTR short course trucks and decided on the traxxas, only because I don't race just more for bashing....bought one

Researched crawlers- Bought Axial
Researched batteries- Gens Ace Nimh..will be going lipo
Transmitter- Finally decided on Futaba ( even though I own Spektrum) want to check the Futaba out

But when it comes to chargers I can't make up my mind, Ive been running my AX10 and all my others using an old Duratrax Piranha for 15 years and still going strong.....Screw it I'll just buy all of em

[Wade]

Well I took at a look at some of venom's chargers and I must say that the Venom Medion Dual charger looks pretty nice. Can charge at 10 amps compared to the duratrax 245's 5 amps. Also it is more $ and you would need a power supply.....but it is sweet looking, really don't care about the speakers with it, but is a really neat looking charger. And you can get it with a 350 watt charger for 169.00 or a 600 watt for 267.00..... Now if I only I knew if these would be worth it or not, I'd be golden.

Cheers,
Wade

[crazy nick]

I've had many chargers including the full trakpower vr1 dps combo. I always recommend the onyx 245. Nice charger for the price.

[tgh117]

I like my venom, but would like to upgrade to a quad charger at some point down the road. I have no complaints about it other then the noisy fan, but does everything I need it to. I also was looked at the 245, seemed nice. I don't think you can go wrong really with either the newer venom dual, or the 245.

[Exocaged]

Hitec X4 is awesome. I have a red venom pro charger that's served me very well. I kinda have a fleet of batteries, 24 of em I think. The $200 X4 is worth every penny and I still use the venom as well.

[Charlie-III]

Originally Posted by Wade

Well I took at a look at some of Venom's chargers and I must say that the Venom Medion Dual charger looks pretty nice. Can charge at 10 amps compared to the duratrax 245's 5 amps. Also it is more $ and you would need a power supply.....but it is sweet looking, really don't care about the speakers with it, but is a really neat looking charger. And you can get it with a 350 watt charger for 169.00 or a 600 watt for 267.00..... Now if I only I knew if these would be worth it or not, I'd be golden.

Cheers,
Wade

I read the specs.... LiPO Battery Charger - Medion Dual 10 Amp LiPO Charger with Speakers | Venom RC cool looking unit. My current Venoms all have an attached cable with medium clips for use on a DC supply (car battery out in the field) as well as a small AC to DC supply.
Since I usually charge @ 1C and my "large packs" are ~1300mah, a 10A charge is not needed, my 5A charge is sorta overkill.

For the Medion, you could do a modified PC power supply for fairly cheap. I prefer old server supplies rather than "consumer PC supplies", the server ones are small but high amp.

[hpiguy]

It all depends on what you need out of it. I have a fleet of RC's, both ground rigs and aircraft so I like being able to charge / discharge a lot of packs at once. I have an icharger 206b that can charge at 20a, which means I can charge five of my 4000mah scaler packs at once, at a 1C charge rate. I grew tired of having to charge packs all week long to take my stuff out to play with a 5A charger. But again, it's all in what you need to be able to do.

[Wade]

We'll I don't exactly have a fleet lol. I would like to charge multiple batteries though, I don't need a x4 charger, a duel would be fine. I like the duratrax brand, that is what I use now, just no lipo function.

The only drawback for me is that there are only three choices for amps 1.5, 3, and 5. I would like more options, the 235 you can adjust, but can only charge one battery at a time, that is probably the only thing that is keeping me from diving in an getting it. May not even be that big of a deal. The Venom might be a bit overkill.......but it sure does look nice and the 600 watt power supply just compliments it. For the price the 245 is a great deal. Oh and even though I probably will never run anything more then a 3s, that's all the 245 can handle.


I know venom had some bad reviews with their batteries in the past, I have heard good things about there chargers. Thank you all for the replies. Now back to some more research.


Cheers
Wade

[hpiguy]

You can charge as many packs as you want using a parallel squid adapter, up to whatever the charger can support. For example, charging two 4000mah packs at 1c would be an 8a charge rate. Don't let chargers that don't advertise multiple outputs deter you on your decision. My charger only has one output, but I could charge something like 44 comp rig packs if I wanted to, or owned that many. It looks like from your needs, a 10a charger would work just fine for you.

[Johnnysplits]

Originally Posted by Wade

I have an old piranha charger (no lipo) I have had this for years still going strong, I want to jump up to lipo. Now I have searched and searched and researched some more for around two years (not kidding). My original plan was to go with a duratrax 245....reasons are,

1) Two batteries at once
2) AC/DC
The only problem I see is that it only charges at either 1.5, 3, or 5 amps.
So now I am on the fence again as to what to purchase. I know I could get two thunder chargers the 680's and still come out ahead......but I really don't want to go cheap on a charger, I know they have served people well, but I own a home and have a 3yr old which takes precedence over el cheapo.

But I don't want to spend a small fortune either (Hyperion) although I have looked at them in the past and really like them, just a lot of $. I only run my stuff at home so I dont want to have an external power supply, Still kind of leaning towards the duratrax.......so if anyone has the 245 and would like to add anything please do.......or anyone else who wants to chime in. I know this has been covered before, but there is a lot more on the market right now.....Thanks

Cheers,
Wade

First things first...what are you willing to spend?

[losikid]

I would look at the hitec (or their skyrc counterpart) chargers. I don't have them, but they are on my list to consider when i upgrade to a new charger

Dual charger
Hitec X2 Ultima Dual 200 Watt Multi-Charger

SKYRC B6 ULTIMATE 200W X2




Or for a AC/DC charger
Hitec X1 Touch 55-Watt, AC/DC, Multi-Chemistry, Touch Screen, Battery Charger

SkyRC T6755 CHARGER




This is also a really neat charger, you can use your phone to check the status of your batteries while they're charging

SKYRC 6X80+ BLUE VERSION CHARGER

[Wade]

hpiguy--I believe you are correct, 10 amps would probably be best for me

johnnysplits--not really sure lol. most likely under $300

losikid--you've made my head explode now I have more choices. the skyrc's look good

So far * 10amp, duel battery, AC/DC or DC doesn't matter now that I think about it. And the more I think about it, I would prefer a metal case over plastic (not necessary) why you may ask, well just because lol. I guess I want it all.......Is the skyrc a clone of hitec? or more like a toyota/lexus type marriage?

Cheers,
Wade

[Wade]

BTW all the chargers recommended are very nice, thank you all for your input.
I was checking out prices on some of the suggestions, and the DC versions all come pretty close to each other when factoring in the power supply. Most of the AC/DC chargers, I have noticed with the (duel's) at least top out at around 8 amps. I believe I am looking for 10amps, even though I may not charge at that rate, it's still nice to have available if I so choose.

I might be leaning more towards the Venom Medion---10amps, metal enclosure, 600 watts for $267 direct from Venom. But I know me, and that doesn't mean that's what I'll get.

If I do go that route I am hoping it is a quality product.

Cheers,
Wade

[losikid]

Originally Posted by Wade

Is the skyrc a clone of hitec? or more like a toyota/lexus type marriage?

I'm not sure, but i think hitec just rebadges skyrc chargers

Originally Posted by Wade

BTW all the chargers recommended are very nice, thank you all for your input.
I was checking out prices on some of the suggestions, and the DC versions all come pretty close to each other when factoring in the power supply. Most of the AC/DC chargers, I have noticed with the (duel's) at least top out at around 8 amps. I believe I am looking for 10amps, even though I may not charge at that rate, it's still nice to have available if I so choose.

I might be leaning more towards the Venom Medion---10amps, metal enclosure, 600 watts for $267 direct from Venom. But I know me, and that doesn't mean that's what I'll get.

If I do go that route I am hoping it is a quality product.

Cheers,
Wade

I bought a venom charger when i first got into crawling...i had a $20 no-name charger and it balances better and charges better than the $120 venom charger I bought. IMO, they are overpriced chinese clones.

Here you go, dual charger, metal case, 400watts each battery (20 amps each), for less than 200 bucks

SKYRC B6 ULTIMATE 800W


I've been watching the charger market for awhile...skyrc is one of the few that develop new chargers. ALOT of the other charges you find are clones of the skyrc chargers. If hitec will put their name on the charger, then its gotta be decent.

[Johnnysplits]

Originally Posted by Wade

johnnysplits--not really sure lol. most likely under $300

Ahh, now you're talking! Take a look at my setup...you will never need another system and would be hard pressed to outgrow it. Cellpro powerlab 6, eFuel power distribution box, 24 volt, 1150 watt, 47 amp power supply. I know you wanted an ac/dc unit, but there's only one that I know of that has decent power, but only charges one at a time. Anyway, this is my second Cellpro and it's just an amazing charger compared to all the rest I've had. $330...