Victor Super2, worth upgrading to IQ3000?
 

I have an old Victor Engineering Super2 charger. I found a place in Australlia that will update the charger for like $40US I think to the last Maxtech version. Has anyone else done this or should I just forget the charger?

I'd like to get some use out of it, and I really like the motor breakin feature, since it variates the break in between 3 and 5 volts.

Any comments or help is appreciated!

Thanks

I have two of them. I think they are a great charger still. They don't have as many of the new features, even with the latest upgrades, but still a very good charger.

Scott

Gmintimidator
Does your Victor have the IQ Zapper software?

If it does there really isn't much difference between what you have now and the IQ 3000 chip.

Check this website: http://www3.telus.net/super_iq/index.htm

There are some interesting projects on the site.

Steve

I had Sam Capri (Canada) upgrade two Victors.
HI IQ Sr. was upgrade to IQ 3000
Super IQ2 was upgraded with a three way switch to access IQ2 software, IQ3000 software and matching software. I also had him install a green backlight screen.
You can get a hold of Sam through http://www.modelland.com/
Ask them for a price sheet [email protected]

I had both. Honestly are were not much different. One thing that bugs me about the iq2 was that there was the 3000mah limit. If you charge batteries that are greater than 3000mah you had to physically cancel the limit. I'd forget all the time to cancel it and at times my batteries never really got a full charge. The selling point of the iq3000 was that it had an nimh mode. In reality this mode is the same as the "voltage pull" charge mode on the iq2 where you can set the voltage drop. Other differences include a higher discharge rate but I believe this is more a physical mod than a simple chip swap. At any rate i've had problems with my iq3000. my iq2 has been rock solid for many years.

What Little Zen said... Actually we both race at the places.
The only other draw back to the charger is cooling. You need a fan blowing on them if you do any serious discharging or if you charge at high rates when it's a hot day. I need to rig some fans on my chargers or build that discharger listed at http://www3.telus.net/super_iq/iq_booster.htm :nod: :nod: :nod: :nod:

I've been using my SHIQ2 (silver with red printing case) with GP3300's and 3700's with good results. It doesn't get the batteries too hot, and there's no mah limit in "C" cell mode. There is a mah limit in "AA" mode......

I don't see a need to "upgrade" my 14 year old charger.... :cool:

They were good chargers when the ability to get them repaired was easy! I still own mine, but am having problems with it locking up on power up. The screen comes on but shows no letters it's just blank and you can't shut it off, when it does this you have to unhook the power cables. Once it freezes up, the only way to get it to function again is by removing the faceplate and unscrewing the key pad. then I have to use a jumper wire on the larger of the two IC's and run it across the pins on both sides. It did this along time ago and the tech at Victor told me to do this. It works but unfortunately It is a certain pin on each side you need to do this on. I think it is pin 7 on the left side and pin 14 or 20 on the right side, can't remember what he told me. Now the problem is that it seems to be doing this on a regular basis and taking the faceplate off and unscrewing the keypad is really getting to be a major pain in the AZZ. I am not exactly sure what causes this, but the tech was aware of the problem and said something about a residual charge in the chip. I haven't ever seen anyone else complain about this so maybe I am the only one still having problems with this. When it happened the first time it was a very long time before it happened again, years to be exact, but now it seems to do it everytime I go to the track and sometimes I have to do it 3 or four times in one day. Annoying as hell to say the least. In my opinion $40 is not bad if that also includes shipping. I can tell you that now I regret having mine upgraded from a Super2 to a 3000 with backlite and extra discharge fets. I spent decent money on this and it is just such a hassle to find someone to take a look at it. Sam Capris does good work but I'm not aware if he is still working on these! It's just a hassle to ship it form the US for the extra shipping and wait time to get it back. At this point I would just rather get the Spintec I.C.C. when it comes out or a Turbo 35 GFX. With no support for the Victors any more it is just too much hassle, unless you have knowledge yourself on how to repair it.

I wish I still had my Victor.It was way ahead of it's time.It was also more reliable than my T35.

These guys are right, you don't really need to upgrade to the IQ3000 if you have a Super2. Basically, the IQ3000 eprom raises the charge rate from 15A to 16A, and renames the Voltage Pull charge as a NiMH Peak charge, and it replaces the Revival/Shocker option with the Viq-Zapper option (which is no use to you unless you have the optional battery zapper or build one like on Sam's site. I think the only real benefit is the maximum mah peak level is raised from 3400mah to 3600mah (unless you manually cancel it). The only thing you really need to do is add a 60mm fan to the outside of the heatsink, which is pretty easy to do. When charging/discharging these newer high-capacity cells, heat is the #1 enemy to these chargers. If you need pictures let me know. I've got a few of these chargers, and they work great. They are easy to use, and very accurate at what they do. I prefer them over my Duratrax Ice and my Turbo 30.

I checked mine tonight and its a Super2 FCC. It has the revival deal. I also always ran a fan on the heat sink to keep the temperature down. It was handy to just turn it on the motor after a race and then put it back when I started wrenching and cleaning.

I love my Victor and I do believe as stated above that it was way ahead of it's time. I just can't justify putting faith in this to be my main charger and have it crap out... The keys are starting to stick and I can see that being an expensive fix... Mine's been sitting now for a couple of years, so I am unsure how that's treated the charger as well.

Is there a way to permanently cancel the mah limit on the Super2 then? My charger still has the old faceplate. At the time they were out of plates and gave me a credit.... I don't imagine anyone would have a spare :D

outlandr, what don't you like about your T35?

I just had a GFX show up on my door this morning to be my main charger till I figure out what to do with my Victor.....

I think if you have VE Super IQ2 and you wan to upgrade to IQ3000, I see no benefits, unless you are VE fanatics.

I have Super IQ2 ( 1995 ) and I don't use it anymore. I know it's good charger, but the cost to modify is not justify. I don't know who can fix it if you broke the charger. Must be expensive to repair.

Where is Mr. Victor Kmosek, the VE founder ? I met him in 1995.

Sam Capri's price list from 2002
 

Upgrades

From any Super IQ or Super IQ 2 to IQ 3000......$30.00 U.S.
This includes custom personalizing of the display, but no new face plate

From any older IQ's or IQ Senior's to IQ 3000.....$100.00 U.S.
This includes custom personalizing of the display, but no new face plate
The cost of this upgrade is due to major PCB rework.

Back lit displays on any model of IQ (includes variable contrast control)
This feature was never offered by Maxtec........$60.00 U.S.
Includes custom personalizing of the display.

Optional Power Jacks installed on top panel.......$15.00 U.S.

Optional Extra Discharge FET'S..........................$75.00 U.S.

Optional Triple Software Upgrade.......................$75.00 U.S.
This includes Super IQ 2, IQ 3000, and Promatch high speed
battery grading software ( for multiplexer use only )

No offense ok ?

If I want to upgrade my Super IQ2 full option will be how much ? Let's say I want to charge / discharge IB4200 NIMH in safely manner.

Here is my calculation :

From any older IQ's or IQ Senior's to IQ 3000.....$100.00 U.S.
This includes custom personalizing of the display, but no new face plate
The cost of this upgrade is due to major PCB rework.

Back lit displays on any model of IQ (includes variable contrast control)
This feature was never offered by Maxtec........$60.00 U.S.
Includes custom personalizing of the display

Optional Power Jacks installed on top panel.......$15.00 U.S.

Optional Extra Discharge FET'S..........................$75.00 U.S.

Optional Triple Software Upgrade.......................$75.00 U.S.
This includes Super IQ 2, IQ 3000, and Promatch high speed
battery grading software ( for multiplexer use only )

Total Cost : $325 is not cheap for upgrading 1995 charger.