Pros and Cons

[GorillaMaxx360]

I was looking at buying a super brain 977 and i wanted to know your guys experience with it. I was going to get an ice but this charges 2 batteries at once and seems more economical for my 2 pack applications (Emaxx). with the brain i would cut charging time in half on some 2packs of lipos. does this charge max amps batts well? how easy is it to use? how many cells (lipo and nimah)can it charge at one time (per single battery plug, meaning for example if you where charging two batts up to how many cells could you charge on each lead). Any thing i should know and how does this compare to an ice because i can get it about one hundred bucks cheaper because i don't need a power supply.

[Serum]

If you can swing it, i would go for the 989.

[GorillaMaxx360]

how much is it and have you had any experience with it.

[hemicuda11]

It charges up to 3 cell lipo and 9 cell nimh on each channel. It has a lot of capability for the money and is easy to use, set the # of cells the threshold and start your done. However it does tend to false peak I have to set the threshold high to get a full charge which really isn't a problem. Great charger for the money if you don't plan on going over 3 cell lipo.

[MetalMan]

hemi, Rene said 989, not 977 :).

http://www.rc-monster.com/proddetail.php?prod=MRC_989
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXLCJ6&P=ML

[Serum]

http://www.rc-monster.com/proddetail.php?prod=MRC_989

Few bucks for great service.. :)

[MetalMan]

Yes, you are right.

[miniGranis]

FYI The 977 can only do 2.5 amps on each channel in LiPo "mode" :-(

[hemicuda11]

Originally Posted by MetalMan

hemi, Rene said 989, not 977 :).

http://www.rc-monster.com/proddetail.php?prod=MRC_989
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXLCJ6&P=ML

I was referring to the OP, he asked about the 977. Guess I should use quote more often.

[GorillaMaxx360]

Originally Posted by miniGranis

FYI The 977 can only do 2.5 amps on each channel in LiPo "mode" :-(

is this true guys because that would take for ever to charge two lipos.

[miniGranis]

Trust me, my 8000mAh LiPos have been on the charger for 2++ hours now as I write this...

[Serum]

There are weaker chargers available though, for those who want to wait..

[jhautz]

Originally Posted by GorillaMaxx360

is this true guys because that would take for ever to charge two lipos.

Yes its true. The 977 is a great charger for smaller packs, but it does top out at 2.5amps on a 3s lipo and 3 Amps on a 2s. Not exactly ideal for an 8000mah battery.

IMO the 989 is a much better chioce. Make yourself a y harness and charge your packs in series up to 4s or 5s or 6s in series. It even still has a limit of 7.1amps on 4s and 5.7amps on 5s.

You need to start getting into a much higher end charger to charge faster on large pack configuration like that though. The 989 is a great do it all charger. It will charge any battery you have (except a123).

I also really like the Extrema charger ($190-$200). But you need a separate power supply for the that. But it will do 5s at 7.5A if you have a 25A power supply or car battery to hook it up to.

Check out Brians Charger tool. It show you what you can expect from a charger. http://scriptasylum.com/rc_speed/_charger.html

[wallot]

989 is great value more money but I expected bit more max charging power. 120W is not much

I am starting to be a big fan of TEMA SCD300 - fully manual charger (with some automatic modes) with 300W of charging power

http://www.telink.cz/en/katalog/charger_scd300.htm

but the price is bit high (around $350)

[BrianG]

Yeah, 120w is not much, but it can charge 4s at over 8A, so it's not all that bad.

That charger is not much to look at, but the specs seem ok. Price is a bit steep though. I'd almost rather get two smaller but high current chargers. Funny how they don't list a Li cell count, only "49v". That equates to approx 11s. With a 300W limit, the outputs look like this:

Cell  Amps   Limited By 
1s   10.0A   Current Rating   
2s   10.0A   Current Rating   
3s   10.0A   Current Rating   
4s   10.0A   Current Rating   
5s   10.0A   Current Rating   
6s   10.0A   Current Rating   
7s   10.0A   Current Rating   
8s   8.9A    Power Rating   
9s   7.9A    Power Rating   
10s  7.1A    Power Rating   
11s  6.5A    Power Rating

Needs a solid 40A @ 12v to run that thing to full capacity though. :eek: