New charger help, Thunder AC6 vs. Turnigy Accucell 6

[zeek_RC]

Alright everyone, I'm looking for some help/advice on a new charger. I currently have the Duratrax Piranaha Digital Peak Charger. I really like it because it seems to charge my batteries pretty well. I was looking at getting into Li-Po for my Rustler MM5700 and my Mini-T. So I was looking at something that can charge Ni-Cd, Ni-Mh, and Li-Po batteries.

I have kind of narrowed it down to two different chargers, the Thunder AC6 and the Turnigy Accucell 6. From what I have read and seen they are both great chargers and inexpensive. But I don't know much about chargers so my opinions/thoughts about these could be way off. One of my biggest concerns is the price. Every other charger that I've seen that can charge Li-Po all seem to be around the $100 range. So I'm concerned about wasting money on a charger that won't charge Li-Po or Ni-Mh to its fullest capacity, possibly ruin batteries altogether because they don't have the right functions, or just be cheap quality.

From what I can tell they are both essentially the same charger, but they are some obvious differences between the two. Do these chargers have all the functions needed for Li-Po batteries such as discharge and balancing? I'm a noob when it comes to Li-Po so please keep the explanations simple.

So I was wondering if anyone has had any personal experience with either of these chargers?

Also, is there anything else needed to to operate either of these chargers, like a power source or do they come with everything needed to start charging? Of course, I would need to change the plugs to Deans, to match my trucks.

One last thing, if anyone has any other suggestions for a charger that can charge Li-Po and Ni-Mh, feel free to let me know. But please keep in mind that I don't want to spend a lot of money on a charger, because I still have to buy the batteries.

Thanks,
Zach

[drummin89]

I was in the same situation as you a few weeks ago. I asked on here for opinions and was pointed towards the turnigy accucell 6. I got the charger but now Im waiting on my power supply to come in the mail. So yes this charger does require you to purchase a external power adapter (11-17v 5 amp), which runs around $7-15. This charger has a built in lipo balancer, all the differnet size plugs are on the side. It says it can do up to 6 cell lipo batteries. Another nice feature is it comes with quite a bit of output plugs, even comes with a deans plug. It comes with a glow ignitor plug, receiver battery pack plugs, the deans plug, and a few others.

I was using one of those cheap venom balancing chargers for a while. Though I liked it and it worked great for what I needed, I was getting a collection of chargers and decided to get 1 that can do it all.

http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=7028&Product_Name=Turnigy_Accucel-6_50W_5A_Balancer/Charger

[byron555]

I have the accucel 8, and it's great, but I also have this charger

http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=2055&Product_Name=hexTronik_Balancer/Charger_Dual_Charge_Capable

This charger works great too, really cheap, and super simple. I tend to charge my lipo's on this charger more than my accucel due to it's super simple operation. It also can charge 2 2s batteries at once.

It will not charge as fast as an accucel, but that is not always a big deal.

[ducati777]

Hey byron, I've got an 8 on the way too. How has the accucell 8 been treating you?

[byron555]

It's not bad at all. It's a real powerhouse of a charger, provided you have a power source with good output, because it can draw a lot of power. It's pretty easy to use, and the nice part is it can charge pretty much any type of battery.

I have not set it up entirely yet, I hope to have it set up to quick charge 2 2s batteries at once soon.

The cheaper Hextronic charger I mention in the previous post is what I've been using the most to charge my lipo's, it's just so darn simple to use! It charges via the balance taps at a max amp current of 2, so it's really safe, but a bit slow.

[zeek_RC]

After doing some other research I decided to go with the Accucell 6, a power supply from hobbycity.com, and two Turnigy 5000mah 2s lipo batteries. I'm glad it comes with deans plugs because thats what I'm using and now I won't have to change the charger plugs. And seeing how I'm just getting into Li-Po its seemed really simple to operate.

byron, I dont know to much about Li-Po chargers but from what I can see it doesn't have a screen. And I would rather and prefer to have a charger with a display so I can see whats happening.

Now if they could only hurry up and get here...

[drummin89]

talk about slow.....the venom charger I was just recently using to charge my lipo's charged at .75amps. Charging a 5000mah 7.4v pack took a bit over 5 hours, but because I had 3 packs I didn't much mind the waiting. Probably makes the packs lifespan longer I would think. When I start charging with the accucell charger I will probably only charge up to 2.5amps.

I won the accucell 6 and two turnigy 2 cell 5000mah lipo packs on ebay and then had to buy the power adapter. I bought one on ebay for $7, its a 12v 5amp unit. Unfortunately it seems I could only find one that would ship from hong kong. So far its been 3 weeks and no sign of it. If it doesn't get here soon Im going to be ordering one from hobbycity in hopes that it would be faster.

[byron555]

After doing some other research I decided to go with the Accucell 6, a power supply from hobbycity.com, and two Turnigy 5000mah 2s lipo batteries. I'm glad it comes with deans plugs because thats what I'm using and now I won't have to change the charger plugs. And seeing how I'm just getting into Li-Po its seemed really simple to operate.

byron, I dont know to much about Li-Po chargers but from what I can see it doesn't have a screen. And I would rather and prefer to have a charger with a display so I can see whats happening.

Now if they could only hurry up and get here...

I agree to a point, but I found that the cheap hextronic charges just as well as the accucel. It actually charges each cell individually through the balance plug. I bought the accucel 8 before the hextronic, I decided to get the heextronic for one main reason, I don't get a lot of time to monkey with battery charging at home. So the hextronic allows me to just plug in the battery and leave it, no setting it.

[drummin89]

finally, just after I posted this, my power adapter was delivered. Didn't get time to try it because I didn't have time to babysit the charging process.

[zeek_RC]

ya im in patient when I know I have new toys on the way.

but how exactly does the balancing plug work.

[ducati777]

I've been living with the AC8 for a while now. I find the menus are easy enough to navigate. However charging lipo is still more complicated than it needs to be. I had some intial trouble finding a good power source.

My only power source right now is my GTO, which means i have to plug a second charger into it, so it turns into a big brain of wires right now.

But I do love charging at 7 amps. Previous setup was a 2 amp charger, so its a huge drop in charging time for me. I can pretty much run continuously since charge time and run time are almost equal now.

I'm quite happy with the 8, and I thought about going with the 6, but the 6 is limited to 50 watts output. Thats roughly 5 amp charge on a 3 cell lipo, a touch less if you do the math.

That would have been a 1C charge rate, but batteries keep getting better, so I wanted a charger that could handle faster charge rates in the future.

The AC8 is a 150 watt charger, while I've only used about half that capacity so far, its nice knowing I could step up to a faster charging setup with future batteries.