straightaway

iTrader: (52)

DELTRAN BATTERY TENDER PLUS, you can get them for $43 shipped on net or get them from Pepboys for $65+.

I have 5 starter boxes + two stand alone 12v gell for tire truer. I used:
12v charger for my real car battery, hobbico 12v charger, 969 charger. I still had two batteries that went out on me. That's $45+ down the drain. So I got one of these becasue my RC flying friend told me that's the one they use.

I keep the charger/tender on all the time and I rotate the charger on my starter boxes each day or whenever I remember. Once battery is fully charged, it goes to maint. mode so you will not overcharge them. My starter boxes are always 95% charged or I can charge it fully in 20 mins. I think the charger/tender will pay for itself.

impdog

iTrader: (10)

How would 2 6 cell packs made up with 3300s ,with like a tamyia plug setup work? I have lots of good older batteries? Thanks

Artificial-I

iTrader: (17)

Awesome , thatll save me some money. So it looks like we all come to the same conclusion , battery tender plus it is. Ill be buying mine tonight!!!!

Thanks guys , your the best!

devious17

iTrader: (1)

Am I right to say that a pro charger that charges NiCd/NiMh from 1 to 12 cells can be used to charge sealed lead battery? I too have a sealed batteries which does not give much info on how long to charge except "charge over night" The charger that came along with it does not have any indication of how well it is charging the battery. I use my hands to feel the battery after 8 hours or so and if it's warm enough then it's good.

GrandeGixxer

iTrader: (21)

No, you cannot use that charger unless it says 1 cell 12v lead acid or lead calcium. A charger will not charge a 12 volt battery when it thinks it is charging a 1.2 volt battery. Go back and read the whole thread if you dont understand it.

devious17

iTrader: (1)

that was exactly what I did, I read through and still want sure hence my question.

A pro charger auto senses the voltage it needs to charge and adjust accordingly so 1.2V x 12 yields 14.4V, lead acid is at 12V , theoratically it should sence 12v is required to charge it, unless I am wrong.

Thanks GrandeGixxer

XingXing

here is a run down of the advantages/disadvantages of stick packs Vs 12v Gell Cell.

Stick Pack

Advantages
* Lighter
* Most chargers can charge these batteries
* has 14.4volts vs 12volts

Disadvantage
* Will have less life than a gell cell
* Has less run time (only 4200mah)
* decent 3000mah stick packs will cost more than a gell cell


12v Gell Cell

Advantages
* Cheaper
* will last for many many years so long as it never drops below 11volts.
* Has more run time 7000mah
* I beleive even though it only has 12v, its the CCA (cold cranking amps) that is important, and the 12v gell gives more CCA than 2 stick packs
* Wall Chargers can be bought for about $15

Disadvantages

* If you dont have a 12v charger at the track, then may not be able to charge it at the track
* Heavier

Artificial-I

iTrader: (17)

Hay guys I found another one. Its the battery tender junior.

It does the same stuff sort of and its a wall charger based unit.

What you think.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-B...33934397QQrdZ1

Artificial-I

iTrader: (17)

Heres one more , the person selling it is saying its superior to the battery tender.

Its called the supercharger.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Batte...34765505QQrdZ1

Looks like it has a pretty different approach. Im not an expert on this kinda stuff so if anyone who knows whats up check it out and let us know.

onnetz

this thread is great info..... especially since I just switched from stik paks to a 12v gel cell.... carrying a little bit of extra weight is nothing.. running out of battery is a pain in the box.....
and now I only have one battery to maintain instead of two....

Solara

iTrader: (17)

I am not 100% sure what charger you have, but if your charger is designed to charge Nicd/Nimh....and does not say it can charge lead-acod/lead calcium 12V gel cell sealed battery....then I don't think you should use that to charge your Gel cell....all batteries are measured by amps, volts and watts....but does not mean they are all the same. Like you really don't want to use your Nimh charger to charge Li-po batteries....

I think Lead Acid /Calcium is not the same as the Nicd/Nimh....2 different electron...(or whatever that electrical term..)

Solara

iTrader: (17)

I too saw this so called Supercharger....however, I have more then 3 friends that owns RV, Skidoo, snowmobile, bike, lawntracker and other automotive machinary that required auto batteries and small batteries, they are all using the Battery Tender Plus (brand) for their batteries.....so I think for a little bit more $$$$, I would trust their opinoin more....not to mention, they are the ONLY ONE (so far) is listing their charger can charge "lead calcium" sealed gel cell type batteries.............the rest, only mention Lead Acid batteries.

devious17

iTrader: (1)

Thanks Rookie Solara, many guys around our tracks are charging their lead acid batteries using pulsar2, T25 and the likes without any problem which prompted me to raise this question. Just trying to see the possibilities,that's all.

au_Nightmare

devious17,
Pulsar2 charges pb (lead acid) batteries, not sure bout the others..

Different types of batteries act differently on discharge *AND CHARGE* so you need the correct charger.

On charge NICD will "peak" in voltage (voltage drops) when fully charged
NIMH the drop in voltage is smaller, hence the reason we should not use NICD only chargers on NIMH or you will overcharge battery.

Lead Acid is charged in a totally different way and is fully charged when its not accepting any more current at around 13.9V. If you use a NIMH/NICD charger it would keep pumping current in at higher and higher voltages (= damage to battery) looking for a "peak" thats just not going to happen. Cheap wall chargers canl also go in to overvoltage and damage battery (see 2nd link below)

You can see how different the charge curves are here:
http://www.cell-con.com/productsheets/mpc-r.html

And a good read:
http://www.powerstream.com/SLA.htm

regg151

I charge my 3 12v gelcells with the battery tender JR. found it at pepboys for around 20$ I've had it for about a year now with no complaints does it's job and does it well over this past winter I'd hook up the batteries to it one at a time for a few days each month just to ensure that they didn't go flat on me. so far all the batts are in great shape including one that I salvaged from an old broken down golf cart type vehicle 12v 50+ amp hours = 25-30 pounds of battery, it managed to charge it back up and now I use it to run my chargers and other 12v goodies, I leave it home since it's just a royal pain to haul it to the track but it gives much cleaner power then any power supply i've ever used. but back to the point the battery tender JR is so far the best thing i've seen for charging and maintaining 12 Sealed Lead Acid Batteries and for around 20$ not much can beat it.