Will a more expensive charger make a difference?
 

Hi All,

This has probably been asked before, but I'd still like to ask the question of "will a more expensive charger make a difference?"

At the moment I'm using a Turnigy Accucel charger to charge 2 cell Nano Tech batteries to be used in F1, 13.5 touring car, and 21.5 touring car.
Will I notice a performance difference in the above classes if I use a more expensive charger, one that can charge at a higher rate of 1C, or would I be better off sticking with what I have now and use the money for other "upgrades" etc?

I'd like to hear about others experiences and/or opinions about the above before I buy anything.

Thanks,
Rob.

Nope.

I have an older Eagle CDC Version 7 (their first charger to do LiPo), which was a top of the line unit. I also have an Imax B6 LiPro Balance charger, which is a cheaper unit.

The CDC consistently puts move capacity into the batteries. When the Imax finishes charging the pack I sometimes top it up with the CDC, and it will usually put in another 200 mAh, without being over voltage. The CDC also charges the batteries quicker, the current stays higher for longer, again even with the chargers programmed the same way. The performance difference can be exaggerated too if the pack is older and no longer performing at its peak. I've also had the Imax false peak without me noticing.

If I take 200 mAh out of a pack just charged with the CDC then there is no difference in how the batteries perform on track.

That is something I could believe as the 200mAh would just help to give a longer run time, which may be crucial for a 12th scale, and with the higher capacity 2 cell batteries voltage drop isn't a big problem in the classes I mentioned.

Cheers
Rob.

Yes, this is more noticeable with 1S packs. Though it might just be my imagination.

Sounds like your ibmax is faulty.

I have 3 lipo chargers including a Turnigy Accucel and all charge the pack 100% within 1mv per cell of each other.

All produce the same run time, capacity and average voltage when tested on the same 30 amp discharger.

Nope. I've charged packs on other similar chargers with similar results.

I forgot to mention that I also have an Imax B6 copy version, but it seems that my cars go faster when charged on that charger. I'm a little hesitant to use the Imax though as I'm not sure if it will harm my batteries being a copy version.

There's a couple of chargers that also can test motors & servo's which I am interested in, and one which has a colour touch screen, but that just seems as added "bling" over the basic lcd screen version. Is having the testing ability something that's worth the higher price too or is it just a gimmick to promote sales?

Cheers
Rob.

The only required feature is an adjustable voltage cut off.
All Imax / Sky RC chargers are set to stop at well under 8.40v.

The only required feature is an adjustable voltage cut off.
All Imax / Sky RC chargers are set to stop at well under 8.40v.

I recently moved from two chargers running the generic B6 charge program (an imax and a skyrc) to a junsi icharger 308duo and the latter's charging program is a fair bit different in terms of the switchover from CC to CV mode. The icharger holds CC a lot longer and overall puts more Wh into all of my packs.

Also got an orion avantage one 406 which has a very different charge program again - and puts more in compared to the b6 programs.

The main reason I got the junsi was for the IR readouts. Handy to estimate cell wear. It also has a better balancing program (as in it's faster) than the B6 type and it's nice to charge my 7200 packs at 2S.

Rob try my Nosram charger next Friday back to back on one of the races and tell me if you notice the difference to your chargers, that will tell you if you need to spend the $ or not.
I haven’t used the motor checker on mine, nor have i bothered to change the voltage cutoff past the factory calibration, (not that i have ever been battery checked at a major event) . And yep the resistance readouts are handy.

Thats odd, sounds like the ibmax is using the li-ion charge profile and only charging to 4.1V per cell.

Either way the Turnigy Accucel does charge correctly to 4.2V per cell.

Thanks Beth, I got a new Turnigy battery this week so that'll be ideal to test it with.
If it gives me noticeably better performance then I'll spend the $ on a better one, but to be honest I'd probably be better off to improve my driving & car setup rather than relying on any performance increase from a charger. :D

Cheers
Rob.

I suspect you will be right, you tend to do the little things right, like making sure all the drivetrain is as free as possible etc, so a few extra mah/fractions of a volt wouldnt make any difference to your lap times.

(my extra turnigys and tyre balancer is still in the post somewhere :( )