new battery charger question

[madmudder]

HI, I just joined. I'm looking to buy a new charger and I would like it to charge two batteries at the same time. I want it to charge lipos to. Does anyone have an opinion on the Mega Brain 977?

[JK Racing]

MRC charger...dont buy it. Spend your money on a good single battery charger and be patient.

I personally use 2 Orion Advantage Chargers, one for Lipo, one "old" version that doesnt do Lipo. Get lucky on eBay and picked up both for under a $100 combined. I almost spend more than that getting a good power supply though.

If you are serious about charging multiple battery packs at one time, I think Integy/Eagle makes some multi pack chargers, I would feel more comfortable recommending those than the MRC.

[Halgar]

Ditto! MRC chargers are junk! They are prone to false peaking, which means your batteries are not getting fully charged. For whatever reason, MRC has never been able to overcome this problem. I've got an older 809SB and it's always false peaked. I use it now as a second charger to get things started, then top my batteries off with my Tekin b112c. It's nice having two chargers (even if one is a POS ). The major problem with the MRC is that they don't dissipate heat well, causing the false peak problem. Some folks have installed computer fans over the tops of them, but this voids the warranty. I know when I use mine, I set a fan in front of it to minimize the problem and get more charges out of it before the false peaks begin, which is usually by the end of the second battery, and I'm only charging 1500mah NiCads with it.

Novak has some budget chargers that are good and Novak's service is top notch, at least in my experience. If you want to stick with budget chargers, get two Novaks and be done with it. For convenience, make sure that they're AC/DC so you can charge whether you're in the shop or out in the field.

[JK Racing]

I didnt want to admit...but I used to be a MRC/Academy team driver. Hence, I was "required" to use their charger. I had the 977, heavily modified to keep cool, rewired the whole thing with Deans Wet Noodle wires, 2 computer fans (set up in a push/pull config). It kept cool while charging 2 batteries, but the controls were horrid, and at a 5 amp charge rate maximum, I was at a disadvantage to the other chargers. Oh, their power supply was "rate" at 10 amps, but I was lucky to get 7~8 out of it. I used an aftermarket power supply (20 amps) to make the charger happy enough to charge 2 packs @ 5 amps.

Most the time I "hid" an LRP Pulsar in my pits and ramped up my batteries @ 6 amps for the main.

Does the charge rate make a real difference? Maybe, maybe not, but in my mind, it was huge.

[junkman]

I have a duratrax ice, and it has been a great charger. I used to always use tekins, I was out of the hobby for a while and when I got back in, I had to buy new packs and a charger. There were several people at the local track using the ice so I though I'd give it a try. I hadn't really ever considered duratrax to be a race worthy product, but honestly I couldn't be happier with it. It was a bonus that it charged lipo's, as that is pretty much all I use now. You will need a power supply though.

[Halgar]

Duratrax products seem to be pretty hit and miss. Some folks rave about them, others, well, let's just say that they don't care much for the brand and leave it at that.

[PBR Allstar]

I have the MRC 989 and I have nothing bad to say about it.. although I haven't really beat on it.

[cmain]

several local racers use this type charger at our local track very good reviews.
this is the duo version with built in power supply http://www.maxamps.com/EOS0610i-DUO.htm

[civilguy]

A couple local racers use the Hyperion gear here too-- they have decent lipos too if you're looking to get into that. And no complaints that I know of.

I also have the MRC 989 and have had good luck with it. I don't 'push' it to extremes for charging, but use it for lipos (at 4amps), nimhs & nicds (at 3.5amps), powering my lathe and breaking in motors. I even charged my 150mah Micro-T battery for the first time on it yesterday.
To have all that in one package for less than $150 (with a ps) works for me!

[badhoopty]

i have a hyperion 1210i charger, its very nice.

[call-911]

I have a duratrax ice, and it has been a great charger. I used to always use tekins, I was out of the hobby for a while and when I got back in, I had to buy new packs and a charger. There were several people at the local track using the ice so I though I'd give it a try. I hadn't really ever considered duratrax to be a race worthy product, but honestly I couldn't be happier with it. It was a bonus that it charged lipo's, as that is pretty much all I use now. You will need a power supply though.

Ditto!! Checkpoint rebadged it and sell it as their own for a reason. It's a great charger and can be attained used for $75.

[madmudder]

Thanks everyone for the input! Has anyone seen the new duratrax chargers? I'm interested in the Onyx 230. Thanks again.