i need a charger that won't break the bank . i'm building a b44 and going to run lipo , have a rc18 also going to run lipo . i also have other cars that i run stick batteries . is there an all around charger out there . also do i need a balancer ? thanks

Yes, you need a balancer. Heres an AC/DC charger that will balance charge lipo and also charges NiMh, NiCd and PB if you ever need to -

http://www.hobbypartz.com/thac6smbachw.html


Its had good feedback here. Hobbypartz has a few other chargers to offer, so look around and see what you like.

thanx for the reply . anyone else have other opinions on other chargers

all you need is a charger that charges 1-2 lipo cells from .1a- like 6a charge rate. what he said is fine, it does more than you need for only 55$, alot of people use the duratrax ice charger, but you need a separate power supply. you dont really need a balancer if you buy quality cells. if you buy from epic/trinity,smc,orion,thunder power, ect you dont really need a balancer because the cells rarely come out of balance, like my orion cells get balanced like every 2 months. most people just borrow mine because instead of spending 30-40$ on something theyre going to use very litte, it makes sense just to use mine. if you have access to another, its nice.

You do not need a charger with a balancer to charge lipo batteries, just make sure the charger you get is capable of charging lithium ion/polymer batteries. Great Planes Triton chargers have had the capability of charging lipos for years without a balancer:

http://www.electrifly.com/chargers/gpmm3153.html

Vas

The downside of this is with no balancer, you won't have good results with any of the less expensive lipos like Turnigy's or Zippys from HobbyCity. You'll have to buy one of the premuim brands like mentioned. It doesn't hurt a lipo to balance it and it takes no additional charging time either. All it takes is connecting a 2nd set of wires. Some of the chargers mentioned are DC only and will need a separate power supply.

I took your "won't break the bank" literally. What do you want to spend on a charger? What do you intend to charge, there's a big diff in charging 2S and charging 4S lipos as far as charger is concerned. And btw, chargers that are lipo only are usually for airplanes and not really a good choice for surface RC use.

I have the Thunder AC6 and this:

http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...(USA_Warehouse)

Both work well for my needs because none of my batteries need to be charged at a rate higher than 5 amps. The Accucel-6 does not come with a power supply so will need to purchase one seperately in order to charge from an electrical outlet. There are a couple of inexpensive ones on their website as well.

If you get into larger batteries you will want a more powerful charger.

i have been looking into the triton eq anyone have any feedback on this charger ?

One of the racers at one of the tracks where I run got the Triton. He found that he paid more than was necessary for a charger that didn't do any more than the Thunder. I think the Triton was over 2 times the amount of the Thunder. One of our guys has the Thunder and loves it.

The Dynamite Passport Ultra is same price, but has twice the charger output power.


http://www.dynamiterc.com/Products/D...ProdID=DYN4064