On Mon, Dec 27, 2004 at 10:13:26PM -0500, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
| I think Hydrides will keep me happy in the short term, and I can't
| bear to get rid of the existing NiCads as long as they are good.
No reason to.
| So, both the Triton and the LN-2010 seem like they would work fine,
| I'm not likely to ever move up to larger than 8 cells in
| NiCads/hydrides and 3 packs in lipos.
8 cells isn't that much. 10 cell packs aren't unusual for when you
want a little extra `oomph' in a plane that used to have 8 cells.
Oh, and don't be too afraid of the LiPoly cells. Yes, there are
concerns, but they're not as bad as some people make them sound.
Treat them right, and you won't have any more problems with them than
you do with NiCd/NiMH cells. But yes, they can be expensive ...
...
| The price on the Triton is about 40 bucks more than the
| Multiplex... is there a compelling reason to prefer it? Any user
| stories?
The Triton is a great charger -- I've got two. It'll also do cycling,
and has a display to let you know how much charging or discharging was
done. It'll do pretty much any battery, and can charge at up to 5
amps (or 2.5 A for LiPoly and Pb batteries.) It can do 1-4 cell
Lipoly packs, or 18 cell NiCd/NiMN packs.
I've never seen this LN-2010, but looking at it online --
http://www.hobby-warehouse.com/mulnmulinini.html
it looks like it's only a charger (no cycling features), only goes up
to 2 A and doesn't even have a display to tell you how much charging
it did.
On the other hand, Multiplex is certainly a good name, known for high
end equipment. Though I've never used any chargers made by them, and
the specifications on this aren't that impressive.
Personally, I'd suggest the Triton. If you're serious about the
hobby, you really do want at least one cycler that can be used to
measure the capacity of your packs occasionally. And it's very nice
to know exactly how much charge was put into a battery.
Now, if you start getting into the larger LiPoly models, where 2.5 A
isn't fast enough, or you need to charge more than 4 LiPoly cells (why
did Great Planes add these arbitrary limitations? Seems like the
Triton's hardware ought to be able to do 6 cell LiPo packs, at up to
5A) you may find even the Trtiton limiting. But it sounds perfect for
your needs.
--
Doug McLaren, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Which is worse: Ignorance or Apathy? Who knows? Who cares?
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