Originally Posted by
Wildcat1971
so what is it about the 4010 that I would need over the 106b+ for club race charging? I run 1 class and my kid runs novice. So I only need to charge 2 packs per hour. The 106b+ is known to be one of the most accurate chargers for balancing. It does IR, 10amps and its extremely easy to get new balance leads if needed. The ONLY downside to the 106b+ is the button that eventually starts being stubborn. The most trouble free charger I have owned is the tp610. It does not do IR, but charges and balances just as fast as the 106b and i have verified that its balances very accurately. I know guys that use the 4010 to the most of its abilities, but I am not willing to do the 40amp charge discharge stuff anymore. It was killing packs. I disliked getting my packs to 118 deg and watching the swell. And puffed packs dont fit in my b5 very good at all with a CF battery strap. I know I am down grading. And if I ever need the features of the 4010 again, I will probably just get a 406 since its smaller.
What makes the 4010 better? A couple of reasons:
1. Only dual charger that can do high amperage on
both channels (assuming you get a powerful enough power supply)
2. Updates. The charger is continuously refined/updated. Check RCgroups.com forum for the latest.
3. Batteries are not going down in overall Mah. You won't have to keep buying chargers as batteries expand to 10,000mah+ (someday, hopefully (?) in the future)
4. Running more than one class is much easier to do with two channels.
I don't even know why you attempted such high charging rates, a 2-3c charge rates are sufficient for most racing. Others may disagree, but that's been my experience. You might as well run mod if you're looking for that extra punch.
I'm not sure how long you have been in RC, but I look at the 4010/PL8 as being like the old Competition Electronics Turbo 35 series chargers. You certainly don't need the power, but isn't it nice to have when you need it? Kind of like having a 4wd truck, you may not need 4wd all the time, but the one time your on the trail and you need it....
For those reasons, I think your doing yourself a disservice by buying a less powerful charger. That's IMHO, nothing more.
But do what you want man, it's a free country.
FWIW, If you ever want to discharge any Lipo, just buy the RMS Dumper. I have been testing it over the last few months, and it is very good for what it does. I hope to have a review on it in the near future.