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Battery Cycler recommendations

Good Evening, All, I am looking for a good battery cycler that I can use at the house. Doesn't need to be field portable, so an AC source is preferred. I presently have NiCd, but am planning on upgrading to MiMH next year (after I get back to work). I would love to find something with a PC interface that would allow me to dump voltage versus time data to the PC and then suck in to Excel. Lastly, I don;t want to spend a fortune either (OK, call me a cheapskate, my wife is the driving force here).

Any ideas? I seem to remember a good unit that could be purchased as a kit from about 12 years ago, but I can not remember the brand to save my life.

Any and all suggestions would be appreciated.

Later, Dale Neidhammer

Reply to
Dale
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I doubt that anything 12 years ago charged NIMH, and anything that has a PC interface is going to cost you around 180 dollars and won't have the ability to run on AC current.

Some very good chargers right now are the Triton, Orbit 6.2, and Schulze

330-d. I have an Orbit 6.2 on order, because it has a few more features than the rest of them. They all run on DC current so I modified a PC powersupply to power it.
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scroll down, I'm Xoltri). These chargers vary in price from about 130 to about 180 dollars.

The Orbit and Schulze both have the ability to communicate with your PC. I am pretty sure the triton doesn't. They all have the ability to charge lithium packs, which is good if you fly electric like me.

If you are looking for a cheap charger that runs on AC, I currently have one that is about 50 dollars. It only charges 3-8 cells from .5-4.5 amps (selectable in .5 amp jumps). It is called the MRC Superbrain 959 and is ok, but is very limited and needs about 14v to charge off of direct current (it doesn't have any form of voltage boosting circuit).

Reply to
Anthony R

What I have done, that seems to work quite well, is to use an FMA Einstein battery cycler. I then bought a digital volt meter from Radio Shack for $50 (it was on sale) that has an RS232 output. The voltmeter came with software which would save the voltage readings in a text file, which could be imported into Excel. I think FMA no longer makes that particular battery cycler, which is too bad, because it is a very nice unit, so you'll have to find another battery cycler. Greg

Reply to
Greg

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