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Everything the Intellipeak comes with.


Close up of the charger.


Close up of the two cooling fans on the back of the charger.
 

Duratrax Intellipeak Digital Pulse Charger
(reviewed by Darkseid)


Product:
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URL for Product Info:
  Intellipeak Digital Pulse Charger
AC/DC Digital Peak Charger
Street Price: $99.99
Duratrax
http://www.duratrax.com/caraccys/dtxp4100.html



Introduction

The Intellipeak chargers are a line of units that I think has definitely been flying under the radar, and at the front of that line sits the Intellipeak Digital Pulse Charger. This charger shares many features with higher priced and more hyped chargers, but brings them to us at a lower cost without sacrificing quality or performance. Lets take a look.


Specifications
  • Input Voltage: 11-15V DC
  • Output: 4-7 cells DC or 4-8 cells with AC power supply
  • NiCd Fast Charge: 0.5-6.5A
  • NiMH Fast Charge: 0.5-6.5A
  • Trickle Charge: 100mA
  • Discharge Rate: 10A or 2A (user selectable)
  • Discharge Cutoff Voltage: 2.60V fixed
  • Battery Type: NiCD & NiMH
  • LCD: 1.2" tall seven segment digits
  • Case size: 5.38" x 2.25" x 4.0"
  • Weight: 16.6 oz (without power supply)
  • Warranty: 1 year (US & Canada only)

Features
  • Negative DeltaV Peak Detection technology for NiCDs
  • Advanced Zero DeltaV Peak Detection technology for NiMHs
  • Adjustable Fast charge w/cycling function
  • 2A or 10A discharge feature
  • Multi function LCD display
  • AC/DC operation
  • Detachable AC power supply
  • Dual fans for cooling and efficient charging

Performance

I first tested my Intellipeak DPC (Digital Pulse Charger) at home, starting with an old 2000mAh unmatched practice pack. I attached some wire leads with alligator clips to the charger and then I set it to cycle the pack once by discharging it @ 10A down to 2.6V, then Peak charge the pack. I set the Peak charge rate to 5A. The charger quickly discharged the pack down to 2.6V (.43V per cell) and then the charger switched to Peak charging the pack. The charger quickly finished the 2000 pack, while keeping the pack much cooler than my old charger. The charger then switched to a 100mA trickle charge after completing the Peak Charge. The LCD showed the capacity in mAh that were delivered during the charge, Charger Amp setting (user selected with the dial), or the voltage level of the pack (this was the most useful screen to me).

The next test came on my matched 2400 packs, one of which had started to false peak last season. The Intellipeak DPC cycled all my 2400 packs with no false peaking, and again kept the packs cooler than my old charger.

My next test was to charge all my packs up one after another without a break between. With the charger doing one after another, this would really test the ability of the Dual Cooling Fans. This would also be the first test of its NiMH compatibility. Since the Sanyo 3000HV packs were brand new, I decided to cycle them before their first use. It took longer to discharge then charge the 3000HV packs then any of my other packs. This of course makes sense, since they have the highest capacity and were nearly fully charged right out of the package. These packs were my first step into 3000 NiMH batteries, so I was concerned about false peaking and over heating, but no false peaks or any other snafus to speak of. The packs got pretty warm being charged at 5.5 amps, but not too hot to hold in my hand. It was the same upon completing the full cycle or upon completing the Peak charge alone. The charger was very cool. Just be sure to keep those fans in back unblocked. The charger passed the test of charging all my packs back to back, and gave all packs a good charge with no false peaks.


The Verdict

My conclusions are that this charger is just the kind of product I like: one that works exactly as it is supposed to. I would recommend this charger to anyone. It has many features that more expensive chargers lack. Combine the small size, quiet operation, and long feature list, and this has to be the best charger most people never pay any attention to. It helps to keep those new packs performing like new, while giving those old packs a little more life. The few complaints I have are mainly minor ones and definitely not enough to deter anyone from choosing this charger.


Likes
  • Great Price
  • Small Size
  • One-Year Warranty
  • Jam-Packed Feature list
  • Stick-on Functions Chart
Dislikes
  • Power supply gets hot
    (even with internal fan)
  • Power supply fan is loud
  • Instructions are not very detailed
  • Not many shops stock the
    Duratrax line of chargers
Darkseid's Rating


Quality:

Performance:

Manual:

Value:

Overall: 		 







  10

10

7.5

10

9.5

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