by kaptain_zero » Mon Nov 14, 2011 2:09 am
I have 2 Accucel 6 chargers and 2 iCharger 106B+ chargers. The 2 Accucel chargers have seen much less use since I got my iChargers. The reason was mostly that I do a fair amount of single cell charging of NiMH batteries and the iCharger never has a problem detecting a full charge on these somewhat oddball situations... I have found the Accucel 6 to be not as reliable in this regard, but normal 2 or more cell packs are not a problem with it, so those packs are still charged with the Accucel units OR the iChargers.... whichever is closer and not in use.
I do not have a Cellpro charger but I can say that if I were in the market for a replacement for any of the chargers I have now, it would be another iCharger. The Accucel 6 is a great $23 charger and the iCharger 106B+ is a great $80 charger. That said, the Accucel 6 is NOT an $80 iCharger being sold for $23. I don't regret buying the Accucel 6's, they were all I could afford at the time, but the quirks showing up in my *other* hobby related charging caused me to scrimp and save for an iCharger and once I got the first one, I knew I had to have a second one.
As for speed and accuracy of balancing lipo packs, they both do very well... no significant difference at least. I stick with 1C charge rates to be kinder to my packs, even if they claim it's safe to charge at 5C or more. If I were to find I was waiting for charging too long at the field I would buy more batteries instead of a larger, slightly faster charger. Charging at 5C vs 1C will not fully charge a pack in 1/5th the time but rather might save 20 minutes or so, but at the cost of a shorter battery life. The time savings I quoted is only a guesstimate based on the fact that half the charging time of a lipo pack is during the CV portion where the *Lipo pack* determines the charge current, and the charger will claim a full pack and shut down when that charge rate reaches 1/10th of the starting charge rate. If you start the charge at 10A, the charger will shut down at when the lipo accepts no more than 1A. On the other hand, if the same pack is charged at 1A to start, the charger will shut down when the charge rate drops to 0.1A which is much closer to a full charge on that pack.
I'd let my wallet be my guide and as for the Cellpro chargers... Well, they are supposed to be good, but I have no idea, and a quick look at the website didn't make me wish I'd bought those instead of my iChargers.... Who knows, I might try one some day, but in the mean time, my two year old Accucells and my 1 year old iChargers are all still going strong.
Good luck with whatever you decide to get.
Regards
Christian
"I'd like to live as a poor man with lots of money."
-- Pablo Picasso