Best charger to get to replace stock HZ charger.

[Britpilot]

I need to replace my stock HZ LP Super Cub charger. I know I could wade through all the posts here and find the one that most of you recommend but I am being lazy. I am just using the stock size LIPOs and only need to charge one battery at a time.
1. What charger do you guys recommend that is good value for money and a step up from the stock HZ one.
2. What would be a upgrade from that one that will allow will me to charge bigger and smaller LIPOs a bit later when my piggy bank has enough in it to buy more aeroplanes?

[Legot]

I say to get the DC6. Many will say the AC6, but they do the exact same thing and I mean the EXACT same thing. The one single only difference is that the AC6 can plug directly into a wall outlet, while the DC6 reqires an external AC to DC power adapter. so if you have an AC to DC adapter or power supply, I say get the DC6. If you don't, find one while it's shipping.
www.hobbypartz.com/60p-dyc-1004.html

That's just my opinion,
~Legot~

[Dillzio]

I would suggest that the DC6, AC6, the Imax, the Mystery, the Accucel-6 and the polimax chargers are the same, they're all just clones of each other. Some of them come with an inbuilt DC adapter so you don't need a power pack for it, but other than that they're all the same.

I think they're all reasonable choices for your first proper Lipo charger.

[flydiver]

Has the Imax been straightened out? I haven't followed it.
For a good while there were a lot of reports of Imax (and now another) poor balancing-quite poor. There is a whole thread on RCGroups on replacing some internal components to fix the issue. This is exactly why I posted in the other thread to do some homework.

[majormonogram]

I have a Core-RC udc-20

and a Protek DC Power supply


I really like this setup for my truck and I think it will be just as good for my cubby when it finally gets here. Speaking of which the winds this afternoon were 3mph! Supposed to be 11mph the night my plane gets here.

[flydiver]

Which is yet ANOTHER clone.

[Dillzio]

There's a new Accucel-6 being sold by HobbyKing, that apparently charges at up to 6 amps. Could be very handy for those of us that charge multiple LiPos at the same time in parallel.

The following disclaimer is found at the bottom of the page. Strange since Turnigy copied the design (from the bantam I think) in the first place:

ATTENTION.
There are several chargers now entering the China market that look similar to the Accucel. These chargers are produced with cheaper FETs and are unfortunately much less accurate and very unsafe. There has been reports of the copied chargers over-charging packs and not balancing correctly.
The Accucel-6 is the first charger in the market with this PCB layout Circuit design. Any charger with the same circuit diagram is most definitely a copy. We have tested the copied chargers ourselves, their componentry is of a very low quality and the manufacturing company that has produced the copy has used a process of duplicating our CPU(MCU)s hex file and flashed a similar chip(MCU) to produce a similar product. This means they do not have the original code and therefore cannot bug-test(QC) or update the charger at any point.
Our chargers have CE and RoHS certification, proving their safety.
Plus, thousands of customers the world over have used our chargers with excellent results.
Your batteries are expensive. We understand this and thats why we will not carry low-quality charging devices.
Trust only in TURNIGY® quality charging devices.


If you're after a powerpack, I'd recommend one of these from ebay. A universal laptop power pack:

[belem]

Have the Thunder T6 and it's done a fine job for me for the past year. Easy to use, consistent charges, light on the pocketbook.

[Britpilot]

Thanks for all the info guys.

[Dillzio]

If I was getting another charger, it would be the new Accucel-6 from HobbyKing. The last one was said to be one of the best of the generic 'clone' chargers, and the new version is an upgrade on the last. www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=7028

It's cheaper than my Polimax charger was, and it comes with decent instructions, an inbuilt cooling fan (will probably allow for higher discharge rate), and is more powerful.