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Old 2016.01.25, 03:53 PM   #1
jevs
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Charging single batteries vs. putting them in a pack? & Charger Recommendation

I just bought a couple Mini-z's and I am wondering about charging the batteries. I have a good charger that I use for everything else RC. It is an AC/DC Hitec X4 charger.

My question is if I should just get a battery holder that holds 4 AAA batteries and use this charger, charge each cell on each channel (pain), or buy a dedicated "round' battery charger.

I do have a couple chargers for round batteries, but I don't trust them enough for RC car batteries to do the best job.

If it is recommended to get another charger, I am looking at these:
SkyRC MC3000
SkyRC NC2500
Orion IQ-4X
PowerEx (Maha) MH-C9000

Anyone know of anything better, or which of these is the best?
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Old 2016.01.25, 05:40 PM   #2
cowboysir
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I have both the Maha and the Hitec X4-AC.

because I have a lot of aaa cells I use both for specific reasons:

I use the Maha to get a base mA reading of the cell and match them all closest together in mA totals.

Once I have all my sets organized I use the Hitec with some inline 4xaaa cell holders to charge many sets at a time.

The Maha (or any of the single type chargers) will give you the maximum for each cell but when charging inline 4xaaa you will only get the charge total of the cell with the minimum mA total. (for example if you have 3 cells at 1000mA and one cell at 985mA the Hitec will stop charging at 985mA)

If you only are trying to organize a few sets or don't want to shell out $60 for a Maha you'd be perfectly fine using the Hitec and some sort of holder (I know guys that use old MR02 chassis as holders so you don't really need to go out and spend much on inline holders)
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Old 2016.01.25, 05:44 PM   #3
lfisminiz
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If you decide to go with a dedicated AAA/AA charger, the Sky R.C. chargers are very good.
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Old 2016.01.25, 06:05 PM   #4
Mike Keely
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The SkyRC NC2500 and the Maha MH-C9000 are both good chargers. You can get the Maha's for $52 shipper on Flea Bay. I have a Maha that has been used every week for years with no problems.
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Old 2016.01.26, 01:51 PM   #5
RussF
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I use the Hitec X4 and 4 PN charging trays. Makes charging up 12 sets about a 1.5 - 2 hour job. I also have the PN discharger trays and they work great. I actually have 2 Hitec X4's, one with the ac built in for traveling and one DC version for home use. One bit of advise on charging with a separate tray for the cells is to make sure you use good wire leads from the charger to the tray. I had some crappy leads and they did all sorts of strange things to the batteries.
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Old 2016.01.28, 10:13 AM   #6
littlebuddha
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I had been pondering the same thing - and ended up getting a nimh charger as it is difficult to charge individual cells using the most standard rc multi-chargers- as there is no balance function like for lipo charges so even making a custom battery holder would not work (theoretically).

After quite a bit of research - I ended up getting the Opus BT-C700 - for less than $20 it has all the functions I need (charge/discharge/refresh/test) and is very small. And since I'll only be using it to charge aaa batteries for my minis - it fits the bill perfectly for me. I'm glad I did as I already found an undercharged cell that was causing my radio to flash low voltage.
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Old 2016.01.28, 10:30 AM   #7
jevs
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I ended up ordering the SkyRC MC3000 yesterday for $88 total with expedited shipping from China I guess. I found a coupon code. They also gave me a Cree LED flashlight.
I ordered 16 of the latest Eneloop Pro batteries using my Amazon Prime to get me started.
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Old 2016.03.09, 09:33 PM   #8
jevs
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I tried it on a few batteries just using the simple mode to test it and it worked fine. I have not had time to do any RC since I got it though or spend any time really using it. It seems nice so far.

The flashlight I got for free works really well too! It is super bright and nice and has a nice white light. I was surprised for a free one. Blows those harbor freight ones away. It is blindingly bright if you shine it on someones face!
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