Battery & Charger Question

Hi Guys

I will be ordering a RTR Axial SCX10 Honcho from Tower Hobby. As a total newbie to this, I would really appreciate input from the knowledgable guys here on whether the Charger and Battery that I am also thinking of ordering from Tower Hobbies together with the SCX 10, are ok ?

Charger:
http://manuals.hobbico.com/dtx/dtxp4235-manual.pdf

The Tech Specs of the Charger show it has an "AC input: 110V AC 60Hz – 240V 50Hz, detachable cord, 50W". I read the specs to mean that it supports power input from 110V to 240V, and as far as I know Singapore uses 240V. So I believe it should work in Singapore, but I don't want to assume anything. Would this Charger work in Singapore ?

For the Battery, I was thinking of getting 2 sets of the following :

Battery:
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&P=9&I=LXACFV#tech

Has anyone ordered a full SCX10 set from Tower Hobbies with Charger and Battery that they are happy with ? If so, could you share the details of the Charger and Battery that you got ?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts

Cheers

MANoj

Hi MANoj,

the spec of the Charger is basically OK, but it is quite expensive for an ordinary 5A charger. The same spec of charger (well, minus USB charging port...) is available at HobbyKing for half the price:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__6478__IMAX_B6_AC_Charger_Discharger_1_6_Cells_GENUINE_.html
If you have an old laptop power brick than you can even get DC-only charger like this: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__7028__Turnigy_Accucel_6_50W_6A_Balancer_Charger_w_accessories.html

The battery, while cheap, is not enough for trailing. You need at least 3300 mAh to last a single trail, preferably 4500 or more. Given where we are with today's battery technology I recommend to skip NiMH and rather directly go for a 2S LiPo.
For example something like this:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__21005__Turnigy_5000mAh_2S1P_7_4v_30C_hardcase_pack_ROAR_APPROVED_.html
Note that you need to get the right plug/adapter cable for battery. If possible go for XT60 connectors or "Deans", the old Tamiya are not very good in the long run -- especially when you later also get other, faster cars that require more power.

hope this helps, Werner

Thanks very much for your input Werner, it's really very much appreciated

With regards the Deans connector, from the "Googling" I have done, it appears that while Batteries are available with the Deans connection (please do correct me if I'm wrong), the connector on the SCX 10 is the Tamiya one. So this would need to be modified....and that would need soldering to be done ?

Cheers

MANoj

laneboysrc wrote:Hi MANoj,

the spec of the Charger is basically OK, but it is quite expensive for an ordinary 5A charger. The same spec of charger (well, minus USB charging port...) is available at HobbyKing for half the price:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__6478__IMAX_B6_AC_Charger_Discharger_1_6_Cells_GENUINE_.html
If you have an old laptop power brick than you can even get DC-only charger like this: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__7028__Turnigy_Accucel_6_50W_6A_Balancer_Charger_w_accessories.html

The battery, while cheap, is not enough for trailing. You need at least 3300 mAh to last a single trail, preferably 4500 or more. Given where we are with today's battery technology I recommend to skip NiMH and rather directly go for a 2S LiPo.
For example something like this:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__21005__Turnigy_5000mAh_2S1P_7_4v_30C_hardcase_pack_ROAR_APPROVED_.html
Note that you need to get the right plug/adapter cable for battery. If possible go for XT60 connectors or "Deans", the old Tamiya are not very good in the long run -- especially when you later also get other, faster cars that require more power.

hope this helps, Werner