Best charger of all time?!
05-13-2003, 08:40 AM
#1
Best charger of all time?!
I am in for a new charger.
Post your comments.
Wat I think so far is:
Competition Electronics Turbo 35 GFX:
The good:
-Great quality.
-Will hold its value.
-Precise.
-Upgradeble.
The bad:
-Too many features.
Grafh curves: You can not use that on such a small screen.
Charge rate up to 20 amps: Go more than 10A and you are nuts.
Motor run-in and discharger: You can't do two things at the same time so you need an other charger.
-Too big.
-Ugly.
Competition Electronics Pitbull:
Probably as good as the GFX with none of the stupid features.
Eagle Racing/Eagle 16X5v6:
The good:
-Lots of usefull features.
-Upgradeble.
-Looks profesional
The bad:
-I heard it has bad quality.
Reedy quaisar:
Same make as the Eagle but more expensive, less features, same bad quality.
LRP Pulsar:
The good:
-Quality.
The bad:
-You can't use motor run in and charging at the same time.
-Ugly.
-Useless 10A discharge.
Novak millenium:
The good:
-Quality.
-Looks.
The bad:
-Nothing special.
-Charge rate.
-Useless interface for outdated cyclone esc.
KO Propo:
The good:
-Great quality.
-Looks.
The bad.
-Not enough features.
-Charge rate.
Victor IQ 3000:
The good:
-Probably one of the best chargers ever made.
-Looks.
The bad:
-They are broke.
-Useless features.
Protrak:
The good:
-Looks like to have a lot of the Victor features.
The bad:
-Too big.
-Only 10 amp discharge.
So in fact I am in for a charger with the size of the Eagle, features of the Eagle and quality of the KO Propo.
Any more comments/sugestions?
Post your comments.
Wat I think so far is:
Competition Electronics Turbo 35 GFX:
The good:
-Great quality.
-Will hold its value.
-Precise.
-Upgradeble.
The bad:
-Too many features.
Grafh curves: You can not use that on such a small screen.
Charge rate up to 20 amps: Go more than 10A and you are nuts.
Motor run-in and discharger: You can't do two things at the same time so you need an other charger.
-Too big.
-Ugly.
Competition Electronics Pitbull:
Probably as good as the GFX with none of the stupid features.
Eagle Racing/Eagle 16X5v6:
The good:
-Lots of usefull features.
-Upgradeble.
-Looks profesional
The bad:
-I heard it has bad quality.
Reedy quaisar:
Same make as the Eagle but more expensive, less features, same bad quality.
LRP Pulsar:
The good:
-Quality.
The bad:
-You can't use motor run in and charging at the same time.
-Ugly.
-Useless 10A discharge.
Novak millenium:
The good:
-Quality.
-Looks.
The bad:
-Nothing special.
-Charge rate.
-Useless interface for outdated cyclone esc.
KO Propo:
The good:
-Great quality.
-Looks.
The bad.
-Not enough features.
-Charge rate.
Victor IQ 3000:
The good:
-Probably one of the best chargers ever made.
-Looks.
The bad:
-They are broke.
-Useless features.
Protrak:
The good:
-Looks like to have a lot of the Victor features.
The bad:
-Too big.
-Only 10 amp discharge.
So in fact I am in for a charger with the size of the Eagle, features of the Eagle and quality of the KO Propo.
Any more comments/sugestions?
05-13-2003, 08:49 AM
#3
I've got a 16x9(very happy with it, quality is fine), it's not in the league of the GFX but then again nearly no other charger out there is. 
05-13-2003, 08:57 AM
#4
I think the CE GFX is a darn nice looking charger. It's still pretty rare in the pits (right now atleast) so you'll see a lot of heads turn when people see it, and just think of the intimidation factor....best charger out there, he's gotta be a hardcore and excelent driver! If I wasn't saving up for a new nitro car at the moment I would purchase it. I own the reedy quasar pro for my primary charger and think that's a darn nice charger also... It does what I need. 
05-13-2003, 09:18 AM
#5
Tech Apprentice
WOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Look at this Yokomo prototype:
Look at this Yokomo prototype:
05-13-2003, 10:22 AM
#6
That Yokomo looks a beast, who's going to bother carrying all that to the track
First you better check your details Barry White, the current ProTrak discharges upto 20amps, thats the defualt at the moment.
I just got a ProTrak myself and think it's great.
Cheaper than a GFX, especially if you live in the UK
You can get attachments like a temperature tray which has four probes to measure temps across the pack, this can be used to peak your cells at a certain temperature rather than delta, although you still set a safety delta. There is also a motor run in stand which lets you run motors in with a pulsed rate aswell as linear.
It's the only charger I know of that has leads for individual cells which you can use if you want to check for dud cells whilst the pack is still built. you can also hook it up to your pc and get charge/discharge grapgs for the whole pack and each cell. The individual leads also mean the charger will peak if just one cell reaches the delta so no cell is overcharged.
It's the most regularly upgraded charger and there have been no massive upgrades that require a new charger to be bought instead, although some very early versions are more costly to upgrade. Not that you need every new version, there are just lots of little things tweaked that once in a while, say once a year, you may want to go up to a newer version.
Ok it looks "industrial" but now it comes with nice purple or blue anodized heatsinks aswell as black
and some more colourful front panels, you can even create your own front panel.
Yet another plus is that it's British made, no worries about build quality
Just my slightly biased opinion
First you better check your details Barry White, the current ProTrak discharges upto 20amps, thats the defualt at the moment.
I just got a ProTrak myself and think it's great.
Cheaper than a GFX, especially if you live in the UK
You can get attachments like a temperature tray which has four probes to measure temps across the pack, this can be used to peak your cells at a certain temperature rather than delta, although you still set a safety delta. There is also a motor run in stand which lets you run motors in with a pulsed rate aswell as linear.
It's the only charger I know of that has leads for individual cells which you can use if you want to check for dud cells whilst the pack is still built. you can also hook it up to your pc and get charge/discharge grapgs for the whole pack and each cell. The individual leads also mean the charger will peak if just one cell reaches the delta so no cell is overcharged.
It's the most regularly upgraded charger and there have been no massive upgrades that require a new charger to be bought instead, although some very early versions are more costly to upgrade. Not that you need every new version, there are just lots of little things tweaked that once in a while, say once a year, you may want to go up to a newer version.
Ok it looks "industrial" but now it comes with nice purple or blue anodized heatsinks aswell as black
and some more colourful front panels, you can even create your own front panel.Yet another plus is that it's British made, no worries about build quality
Just my slightly biased opinion
05-13-2003, 10:44 AM
#7
Barry White; Under the 35GFX, you say: Go more than 10A and you are nuts. Under some of the other chargers, you say 10 amps are too little 
Personally, I dont care about the motor run in feature: 3 cells from an old pack will do the job !
Anyway, here's my favorite charger, with 3-phase charging technique:
From Robitronics site:
In Phase 1 the battery is charged with a very high current (8-9 Amps) which will lead to an increased voltage during discharge.
In Phase 2 the charge rate is like any Pro charger using a current
setting of 5-6 Amps.
In Phase 3 the charge current is reduced to 3-4 Amps which will result in a siginficantly higher capacity.
These 3 different phases of charging using optimized charge rates instead of a fixed charge rate over the complete charging cycle are leading to increased voltage during discharge and higher overall capacity.
Experts may use these advantages to gain more speed and longer run times without changing the gear ratio.
and much more !
www.robitronic.com
Personally, I dont care about the motor run in feature: 3 cells from an old pack will do the job !
Anyway, here's my favorite charger, with 3-phase charging technique:
From Robitronics site:
In Phase 1 the battery is charged with a very high current (8-9 Amps) which will lead to an increased voltage during discharge.
In Phase 2 the charge rate is like any Pro charger using a current
setting of 5-6 Amps.
In Phase 3 the charge current is reduced to 3-4 Amps which will result in a siginficantly higher capacity.
These 3 different phases of charging using optimized charge rates instead of a fixed charge rate over the complete charging cycle are leading to increased voltage during discharge and higher overall capacity.
Experts may use these advantages to gain more speed and longer run times without changing the gear ratio.
and much more !
www.robitronic.com
Last edited by Cole Trickle; 05-13-2003 at 10:56 AM.
05-13-2003, 11:01 AM
#8
I think this is the best! Click the picture for a bigger picture
babel translation for the charger SPEC.
CDR 5000
Charge is possible to 36 cells.
Charge 10A.
Discharge 40A.
When the air warm, humidity sensor it is attached and - the terminal harness of selling separately (the line where the alligator oral clip is attached) it attaches,
information every of cell can be managed.
Data memory 10 is possible.
The various data the graph 6 it can indicate? Liquid crystal monitor attachment about in 7 centimeter angle.
It is connected to the computer.
babel translation for the charger SPEC.
CDR 5000
Charge is possible to 36 cells.
Charge 10A.
Discharge 40A.
When the air warm, humidity sensor it is attached and - the terminal harness of selling separately (the line where the alligator oral clip is attached) it attaches,
information every of cell can be managed.
Data memory 10 is possible.
The various data the graph 6 it can indicate? Liquid crystal monitor attachment about in 7 centimeter angle.
It is connected to the computer.
Last edited by Eddie M; 05-13-2003 at 11:15 AM.
05-13-2003, 11:07 AM
#9
Tech Fanatic
Pro-Trak is the best charger there is. For what started as a small English company they are now sold all over the world and i am sure you noticed them in the hobby shops while we were in Japan Sideshow Bob? O and they discharge at 20 amps now. Rick
05-13-2003, 12:24 PM
#10
Originally posted by Rick Draper
Pro-Trak is the best charger there is. For what started as a small English company they are now sold all over the world and i am sure you noticed them in the hobby shops while we were in Japan Sideshow Bob? O and they discharge at 20 amps now. Rick
Pro-Trak is the best charger there is. For what started as a small English company they are now sold all over the world and i am sure you noticed them in the hobby shops while we were in Japan Sideshow Bob? O and they discharge at 20 amps now. Rick
05-13-2003, 12:28 PM
#11
Hi Rick, The Pro Track seems to be great and I do remember lots of Tamiya team drivers using it.
Black Adder, forgot to mention this one .Looks killer. When would it come out?
Eddie M, any links?
Black Adder, forgot to mention this one
.Looks killer. When would it come out?Eddie M, any links?
05-13-2003, 01:15 PM
#13
The pro-trak can be bought direct from the manufactuer (Phil) http://www.pro-trak.co.uk email for details
05-13-2003, 01:18 PM
#14
Regional Moderator
anyone have the website where this ProTrak charger is?
That Futaba likes good as well.
I'm steering towards the Quasar Pro myself.
That Futaba likes good as well.
I'm steering towards the Quasar Pro myself.
05-13-2003, 01:30 PM
#15
Mike F, if you like the reedy then take the Integy one. Same quality but a lot more features and cheaper!