The response to my first questions was very pleasing and I thank all those that responded. One kind modeller even phoned me. So I will ask for more.

Has the lithium battery technology advanced to the point where the batteries can be fast charged?

Does the latest version Triton charger fast charge? if not, what is the charger of choice. I will not go as far as to say money is no object but I would prefer more than a little black box with a red flashing light. I would like something that tells me what is happening, or what is supposed to happen. I figure that will help my learning curve.

Maybe I could not navigate it properly. It seemed to me that the Great Hobbies website did not list Hacker motors. What is the source of supply for Hacker motors?

Thanks in advance.

Ed S

[ronm]

Ed, Lithium batteries on a normal charge, charge in a bit more than an hour. The Triton will do this.
Do you need faster than that?
From what I understand, they can be charged faster, but it is not recommended by the manufacturers.

[hillmanr2]

Most Manufacturers recommend a max charge rate of 1c. I charge at 2c or twice capacity. There are those that routinely charge at higher rates using a balancer. Charging at a higher could lead to a higher likelihood of a thermal event especially if proper charging equipment is not used.
The downside could also be a shorter life expectancy say 500 cycles instead of 750+. For me, given the fact I do not expect my lipos to last more than 2 years due to shelf life and abuse I prefer to charge at a higher rate. I am primarily using Thunder Power 480mah and 730mah batteries that do not come with a balance option.

Thunder Power makes one of the best lipo chargers on the market. Astro also makes a very top of the line charger in it's 109 model. The Triton and Hobbico Elite are decent. Chargers such as the polyquest 4 and Hobbico MKII work adequately for small cell applications

Horizon Hobby is the distributer for Hacker as far as I know.

My 2cents

[just_lkn]

If you want to charge really fast (15 to 20 minutes) take a look at the A123 cells or search ebay for Dewalt 36 volt lithium battery pack. The cell a good for 30C and can be charged at 3C with no appearent ill affects.

Lots of chargers now support the A123 cell, I believe thunderpro has one . FMA also have a couple of chargers or the Astro 109 can do it with a minor mod.

[rcpilot]

I use TP1010C charger, an excellent charger for Lipos. New firmware also has the option of charging A123 cells.

Some of the smaller TP packs have been safely tested by Charlie Wang TP, to be charged at upto 3C without any loss of cycle life, however, don't take what I read as an advise to do it, make your own decision, I am just letting you and others know what I saw posted by Charlie Wang.

[hillmanr2]

Hopefully Chad will chime in. I know he charges at a high c rate

[Guest]

Basically all Thunder Power Prolite and Extreme packs with balancing leads can be charged at up to 3C, provided you use the Thunder Power balancer and charger (1010C) and follow the correct procedures.

You get the best time reduction going from 1C to 2C, 2C to 3C is only worth about 10 minutes, 2C will reduce times by 20-25 minutes from a 1C charge.

I have charged some bigger packs (5000 mAh) at 2C since they were new and notice no difference in pack behaviour vs. the packs that have only ever been charged at 1C.

[Ken W]

Do you guys take them out to charge? You hear these horror stories, or is this basically improper charging.
KenW

[rcpilot]

Ken,
Most of it is user mishandling. Wrong cell count selected is the most common cause of problems. If proper procedures are followed, no worries.

[Daren71]

I've got a Duratrax intellipeak Ice. You can program temp cut-off, set voltage and cell count, and amount of charge. When you start to program it, the charger gives you the amounts, and you can modify them. I've set the temp low, and the percentage of charge a bit lower, and so far no temp at all, other than ambient. Daren