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Post by jasonk1987 on May 30, 2013 23:08:56 GMT 1
ETRONIX POWERPAL 80W AC/DC My local hs has got theese in at at the price range i wanted to spend. Anyone shed any light on quality/reliability and weather it is worth getting...Thanks Jason
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Post by flydiver on May 30, 2013 23:42:05 GMT 1
Worth it depends entirely on the price and whether it's worth it to you. There are over a dozen of these 4-button chargers. The WAY they work is pretty much all the same. The internals for many if not most are the same. SOME are made better than others (iCharger, Bantam), and some are fraught with problems (the really cheap ones; IMAX B6, HK ECO 6). But people buy all of them, and all of them 'mostly' work and sometimes they don't or croak. The cheapest ones seem to have the most problems, but that group also draws a different buyer than the people going after top end. Do NOT buy an IMAX B6 unless you can be SURE it's 'real'. There are some cheap fakes going around (I know, I know, a fake of a copy of a counterfeit.... :  and some of them work poorly, as in don't charge and balance right. Here's a partial list: IMPORTANT note-the ETRONIX is an 80W charger and has 2A discharge putting it a notch above the following common chargers in performance. The rest of my statements are generally true) Turnigy Accucel-6 Loong Max E6 iMax B6 GT power A-6 iCharger iC6 Bantam BC6 Sky Charger B6 Battman B6 Venom Pro Charger Dynam Supermate DC6 The major difference is whether they have the ac-dc converter built in, and if they have a fan. The AC/DC ones simply have a 5A laptop power supply in the top (yours would have probably a 7A). IMO you are better off with a 'bare' one and the power supply separate, but that's not a biggie. A HUGE advantage is SUPPORT. Your hobby shop 'may' make a big difference here. Cheap and Chinese = no support. Note-I have the Accucel-6 (and 2 x FMA Cellpro 4S). The Cellpro is FAR easier and generally safer but is limited to lipo. The AC-6 charger works fine and I generally like it. The fan is cheap and needs regular oiling and the supplied adapter cables are brittle copper that break and need fixing once in awhile if you bend them a lot. But it does what it claims to be able to do and does it well. If you see charging batteries larger than 5S and 6000mA in your future do NOT get any of these. They are too puny. The discharge function (storage) on ALL of them is limited to 1A, pretty lackluster and slow. MANY folks figure THAT out too late. Some people find the programming/use pretty easy. If computers give you grief you may not like it. Instructions on ALL of them is pretty awful. Find a manual and read it. Doesn't much matter which one. |
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Post by jasonk1987 on May 31, 2013 0:03:00 GMT 1
Thanks fly.... its £50 but my lhs owner says it is a good bit of kit being 80w , it does have warranty and can be charged off mains(charger supplyed) or by 12v also supplyed. I beleive it has a pretty big fan built in and has temp shut off. fast/storage charge options also.
It seemed ok but ive not really heard of the make..but my hs is fair priced and for its price not dirt cheap i figured it may be worth investing.
Any more thoughts given this info?
Was going to get a turnigy acu 6 but thats cheaper here,so again this makes me think it wont be half bad! thanks Jason
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Post by flydiver on May 31, 2013 0:18:03 GMT 1
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Post by jasonk1987 on May 31, 2013 0:36:27 GMT 1
Agreed it does have a suspect likeness doesnt it!, the figures are similar also hmm... Im going to pick it up tuesday ive decided. Its got to be a step up from charging my 2200 lipo at 0.6 c ,with my standard issue hz 1.3a charger that takes neaerly 2 hours !...
At least i could knock it down to 1 hour at 1c. Althogh my lipo is rated at 5c max charge better safe than sorry.
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jklong03
Squadron leader
Utah, USA (Yes, it is a state!)
Posts: 226
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Post by jklong03 on May 31, 2013 7:18:19 GMT 1
Flydriver, Is the supplied charger that comes with the SuperCub LP+ a decent enough charger for the 1100 lipos that come with the plane. It says it is a balanced charger, is that really true? If I go with with a 450 or 460 outrunner brushless upgrade, will it be able to handle the larger packs for those?
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Post by flydiver on May 31, 2013 15:29:01 GMT 1
Bluntly....it sux at the same level as the rest of the Cub electronics. Functional but no great shake. Back when I used those RTF Horizon chargers I had 3 out of 5 die with no provocation. Yes, it's a balancing charger (only) and it'll charge larger packs (slowly) but think about this: 1. The supplied battery is lame and can barely feed the current stock power plant. 2. A new 450/480 will require (ask for) a lot more battery output. You don't HAVE to use the extra power, but if you don't, what's the point? 3. Over taxed batteries will have a short life. You need to bump up to at least 1100mA and 25-30C to supply more powerful motors. A larger battery would be better. Sounds like you are going that way. most folks do. 4. Most battery specs are marketing BS. The Chinese found you can put 'nano' and 45C on a battery that is neither and people will buy it like crazy. They don't have the tools (see below) or the sense to figure out if it's decent or not anyway. Most fliers don't. You can't learn anything about a battery from an RTF charger besides it's charged. Sometimes you can't even trust that. Do you have a voltmeter to check? 5. You haven't got a clue what that charger is actually doing. I consider that very important. I've said it before - A GOOD TX and charger are the BACKBONE of a fleet. Those are INVESTMENTS. Planes are disposable. Read this and bookmark it: sites.google.com/site/tjinguytech/charging-how-tos/the-variable-cThen go back and do appropriate selected readings in this section. sites.google.com/site/tjinguytech/charging-how-tos/Flying is easy, the electrics are hard. |
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Post by toff on Jun 1, 2013 2:36:10 GMT 1
Fritz: Merci, Domo Arigato, Gracia', Danke, spassiba, Thank you, 'The electrics are hard.'.....nah, the electrics are easy because of people like you...  |
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Post by Crazy Horse on Jun 1, 2013 8:24:48 GMT 1
Agreed,
Without fly's knowledge and advice, (together with his patience with FAQ's) so freely shared on this forum, a lot of us may have given up long ago. Thanks fly.
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Post by jasonk1987 on Jun 1, 2013 9:44:18 GMT 1
Have to agree Fly certainly knows his stuff. "a wealth of knowlage is worth more than a wealth of gold" A good bloke to have on your side.
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Post by flydiver on Jun 2, 2013 20:30:07 GMT 1
Aw, shucks!
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and some of them work poorly, as in don't charge and balance right. 
