Worth the risk? -Non Duralite Charger

[Aviation addict]

Hello All,

I'll shortly be using a Duralite in my heli for the first time and have been trying to decide whether or not to purchase a Duralite Charger. I currently have a Prodigy II which I think is capable of charging the battery safely but I also know that using a different charger will invalidate the warranty so what do you do?

I assume you have to give the serial number of your Duralite Charger when making a warranty claim to prove you own one.

Is it worth the risk using the Prodigy or would you recommend just taking the plunge and purchasing a Duralite charger? Its a real dilemma.

[DavidH]

John,
OK there is a disclaimer with this. I am not saying this will work and you do so at your own risk.

I know of people that have used the Triton charger that is distributed by Great Planes here in the USA. They have charged there Duralites with no problems. Also there is people that have used it and have destroyed the Safe Charge circuitry. If you do some reading here in the Duralite section. You will see some of the problems that Shannon Davis had using the Triton charger.
Your not going to damage the batteries using an aftermarket charger. The part you will damage if it happens, is the SAFE CHARGE circuit. That is what it is there for is to protect the batteries during the charging process.

The Duralite charger is plug and play. I just plug my batteries to the Duralite charger when I come in from flying. I don't worry about them, they will charge fully and the charger will go into trickle charge mode. Takes about 5-6 hours to recharge with the Duralite charger.

David

[Aviation addict]

Thanks David,

I think I'll use the Duralite charger and protect the 'safe charge' circuit then.

[BarracudaHockey]

Its much easier and they have excellent customer support of there's a problem.