What field charger to get?

[OzarkCopterBum]

I need a field charger as there always seems to be daylight left once my stock futaba rx battery gets low. I've been looking at the MRC Super Brain 969 and the Hobbico Accu-Cycle Elite. For the time being I just need it to charge my 12v field battery and then top off the rx/tx batteries.

Down the road I'll probably get an electric so I want to be able to do lipolys but basic features I want are as follows.

Ac/Dc
Dual Charge
Fast Charge
Battery Cycle
Lipos

I'm leaning towards the MRC for price but dont want to miss any cool features as I'm still a newb. Also any other brand in the $100 ballpark I should get a look at?


Thanks!

[bighands3d]

I use the hobbico quick field charger for my Tx and my RX in my planes, and my lipos for my foamies. works great for $49. I don't think you can charge two lipos on the brain. Not sure of it any way. But the elite is nice if you want to spend a bit more and it is very nice AC/DC inputs.

[DebianDog]

If money is no object I always thought I this one would be cool. Both AC/DC and cool neon light :cool:
http://www.zaprcproducts.com/

[pilotError]

A Triton Charger is a good Average Charger for all types of batteries. Just don't leave it on Auto Mode. Will Charge Nicd, Nimh, Lead Acid and Lipo for about $100.

If your looking for a good Fast Charger that you don't have to worry about for your tx/rx batteries, then something like the serius pro charger is great. Plug it in and wait until it stops blinking. It won't charge you Lead Acid battery though.

There's a bunch of them out there, I haven't heard very good things about the MRC charger, but I think that's mostly related to lipo's.

Mike...

[OzarkCopterBum]

Well, I went with the Triton. I read into the accucycle a little and found that it was primarily for charging TX and RX and did lipos but was limited in that respect. I really wanted an AC power supply but I can add one later after my CC recovers a bit.

Anyone have any experience using computer power supplies as an AC source? I got a pile of those around.

[secondchildhood]

http://www.marcee.org/Articles/PCPowerSupply.htm

located on www.rcbatteryclinic.com

Try this link. Should have all the info you need to convert pc ps for your triton.

Dwight

[OzarkCopterBum]

Thanks Dwight!

[bigrcr]

The best all around charger I have ever used is the Schulze Chameleon isl 6-330. It will do just about any battery you own and will charge and discharge your batteries with the best management system I have used. No matter what battery type you select, the charger has a program for that type to analyze and condition as it charges and gives error messages of potential issues or problems.

Best electronic money I ever spent!

I get the chargers at http://www.ecsvr.com/RC-Direct/default.asp as they are the US Distributor for these fine German built chargers.

Hope this helps!

[WillJames]

JetCatUSA.com has the Schulze chargers in stock, looks like RCDirect is out. Just bought one last week. Ordered on Tuesday, here on Thursday. Gotta LOVE great service from people who did what they told me on teh phone when I ordered. Thanks JetCatUSA!

[OzarkCopterBum]

Man that was a good investment. Instead of the normal 3 tanks after work yesterday I got in 6! Probably could have squeezed in one more but I was beat.

Oh, and just for fun I got a new 2400mah nimh battery on the way too!