derekride

I am new(again) to RC and plan to race my xxxt-cr this summer. I ordered a few Orion 3600 lipos. WHich charger would be good to get and not too complicated? Is there any advantage to getting one that is only DC? I have search a bit but not found what I am looking for. I see that the Hyperion is highly recommended but not sure if it works easily with the Orion BAtt.s What about the Core RC charger? One with a built in balancer would be appreciated.

beez

iTrader: (4)

If you go with one that has the AC/DC built in, if you decide to run multiple chargers later, you'll have to buy another one. If you get less expensive and smaller DC-only (Like the orion avionics) and a power supply capable of running multiple chargers, it would make that much easier.

Other than that, no advantage that I know of.

I just recently went through this same process of deciding what to buy and at the end of the day, any of the major brands will make you happy.

anomaly

iTrader: (5)

I have an Orion 4800 pack and originally bought the Losi (blue/eflite clone) Lipo Charger/Balancer combo. That Losi charger did fine on 1350 mah 3s 11.1v for my rc18b but when I tried to charge at 4.8 amps the Orion pack, the Losi showed a little stream of smoke and died.

Horizon's had that charger for over a month now and still hasn't replaced it.

In the interim I bought a Triton Jr.

http://www.electrifly.com/chargers/gpmm3152.html
and while it doesn't do balancing, I love it's charging features and it's been awesome especially for the price.

This seperate balancer -- http://www.electrifly.com/chargers/gpmm3160.html
works well, is cheap and has a good supply of useful connections.

Be sure to check out Team Orion's site for instructions on adapting a wire rig for balancing with the equinox (and avionics) balancer.
I strongly recommend you stay away from the Losi Charger/balancer, though. My local hobby shop has been pushing those and I don't think it's worth the money. Some people have had plenty of luck with them but my experience was bad. The ICE is real nice, too

nutz4rcyktw

iTrader: (67)

I have three Ice chargers. I use them for two Orion 4800s and one Orion 3200 After a full season no battery is out of balance by more than .01 volt.

Interesting that you bought some Lipos. You only need one per car. I have never pulled enough current out of one to not be able to be charged for the next heat race. I have run in carpet oval as well as dirt off road. It is also possible that you are running several vehicles.

derekride

I bought two so I wouldn't have to worry about charging as much. And I could have them charged when I show up to drive and have plenty of driving time before I worry about charging again. Probably overkill. thanks for the input.

olydemon

iTrader: (1)

I have 2 of the orion 4800 batts and charge with a 10w dc ps and the orion avionics lipo charger. I have an orion advantage for my nimh also. Im glad i didnt first go with a charger with the integrated PS since i can run 2 chargers if I'm drawing less than 10 amps.

after a few months of charging with no balancer my cells are still perfectly OK. we checked on a trakpower balancer.

I'm considering getting 2 3600's to use for racing and using the 4800's for my basher car..... even though the new orion 3 cell graphite edition looks pretty sick.

Jason Pelletier

iTrader: (33)

I would get a cheap simple lipo charger. The thunderpower's seem good too. So many different chargers popping up these days of lipo/brushless.

I use 2 pulsar 3's very simple but i don't use nimh/brushed motors anymore so it has alot of useless features.

SpeedKills25

I would highly recommend the Hyperion EOS5i with the built in ac/dc. This so far has been very reliable. Just taking it out of the box and feeling the charger in your hands, you can tell that it is a true quality piece of work. So yeah to anyone out there looking for a charger and can't decide because there are too many to choose from, the Hyperion line of chargers is the way to go in my opinion.

Jason Pelletier

iTrader: (33)

+1

derekride

Are the Hyperion Chargers "plug and play" with the Orion Batteries as to the balancing plug or do I have to rig one up?

Donovan

You got to rig one up unfortunately.