nikg

I have looked through several threads and have come to the conclusion that an MRC 977 might be what I'm looking for in a charger. I don't race, but I'd like a charger that can
1. charge two batteries at a time (I have an E-Savage, might get a Rustler or something in the future.)
2. tell me how much capacity the batteries have (or how much charge they are accepting i guess? not sure how it works)
3. charge nimh, nicd, lipo (might go lipo in the future)
4. slow charge/form charge down to .3 or .5 amps. Higher rate of at least 4A
5. peak charge consistently without false peaking
6. last a long time/durable
7. run off a 12v or plug into my househld outlet

Any other chargers of merit out there in the same price range? I am looking at used models, and the 977's seem to go for about $75-$85 shipped.
I know the newer 989(?) is better with lots of other features, but they are more expensive and I don't think I need all of what it can offer. Seems to be more for racers. People like the ICE, but only does one battery at a time, same with digital pirahna.
Any input is welcome. Thanks

Smiff 24

A friend of mine has one and really likes it.
You might find more on it in the batteries & charger section .

nikg

Yeah, I've looked there but that forum doesn't seem to have the volume of traffic that this one does. I figured we have many experts here that know about this charger or have one and may not visit the battery/charger forum.

Can anybody tell me about the true capacity readings? Like when people say "my batteries got up to 3870mah" how do they know this? Is it the charger? How does the charger know? I'm assuming it has some kind of complicated electronics and not just a timer reading. For instance, if I charge some 3000mah batts for 1 hour at 3 amps then they should be full assuming they were at zero, but some of that energy is lost to heat and other factors I'm sure. So again, how do people/chargers know the true capacity of the batteries?

Any other comments about the 977?

mschilling

The charger measures the time and current and records that, giving you a total. You know how much the battery has consumed in total mAh but the amount it takes depends on the rate of charge. It is a good guide as to the health of your battery. I've got that charger and it does an ok job, but I find that it tends to overcharge/overheat my batteries. I've got an Ezilla and the dual charger that comes with it works very well and has no controls, unlike the 977. I tend to use the zilla charger more. You can use a computer power supply with it for AC use.

guver

My Feedback: (325)

That's right, it uses time and current to count up and is'nt real accurate at times. The time is always right, but the capacity may not be 100% accurate. It probably will not do 4. slow charge. All in all it's a great dual nickel charger.

Vic Nyce

if your willing to spend $85 on a used charger, i strongly advise you to save up another $11 bucks and get the charger brand new @ Tower Hobbies . for $95.99 you get the charger AND a power supply that puts out 10 amps at about 12-13V thats useful for powering any other DC appliances you may have. considering that it can charge TWO batteries simultaneously, its pretty tough to beat. i had the piranha digital that everyone above recommends and while it was a good charger, the MRC 977 dominates it. i use it to charge my SC 3000,3300,3700. AA 2500 TX pack, and even my 2s and 3s LiPos. worthy of mention. LiPo function works flawlessly albeit slow. at 3A max in LiPo mode it takes a little over 1 hour to charge up my 3s 3200mah pack. still an EXCELLENT charger for the money.

nikg

Vic--I was considering charger/power supply/shipping when mentioning prices. If that Tower price includes shipping, then it makes more sense to go new.

I might just hold off for now. My stock e-savage charger works, I guess it just doesn't seem like a great charger because it has no readout of anything and I can only adjust to three charge rates. It seems very crude as it blinks and then just turns off after a while. My batteries seem charged, but then again I don't know if it is doing a good job or not. I wouldn't know any different or if I could be getting more out of them.
Is the sensitivity an important thing? What's with all the .05mv delta peak stuff people talk about? (not even sure if I'm saying it right) Does this basically tell the charger when to stop or to slightly overcharge or undercharge? I think the 977 has this adjustability, I just don't know what it is.

Vic Nyce

from what i understand, delta peak is the point when a charging battery's voltage starts to decrease. when you charge a depleted battery. the voltage goes up. when it has reached the peak, the voltage will start to decrease. this is important because if you continue to charge a battery thats already filled to capacity, you WILL eventually damage it. 5mV [not 0.05mV because that is an incredible small value] is the amount of voltage change the charger will tolerate before stopping the charge.

the 977 has adjustable delta peak. i believe NiMH cells are 5mV and NiCd is like 7mV to 10mV. just multiply it by the number of cells you are charging. example, for a 6 cell NiMh pack my 977 would automatically set the delta to 30mV.

if you are just charging one type of battery, honestly i would just keep the charger you are already using. i got my 977 because i charge things from AA to subC to 3SLiPo and even my digicams battery.