Review of the GT Power A8 Battery Charger

In the realm of intelligent battery chargers, there are far too many choices. Prices range from about $50USD to some in the $300 range and come with a whole variety of features. The problem is that the new emerging market is for cheap products that don’t perform, or don’t have the durability and quality expected for a complex device.

Most new intelligent battery chargers can charge, discharge, and cycle Pb, NiCd, NiMH, Li-ion, LiPo, and more recently LiFePO4. These chargers feature control over charging/discharging current. Contrast this to your ‘dumb’ chargers that are essentially trickle charge wall warts that push in around 0.5C that can overcharge NiCd/NiMH, or slow LiPo balance trickle chargers that come with RC helis sometimes.

The GT Power A8 charger sells for about $80USD + S&H, I got mine from HobbyCity.com.

Alternator Motor Update

So my last post about an alternator to brushless motor conversion seemed to draw some interest, but people were asking some details so I drew up a quick diagram in inkscape last night.

Using a car alternator as a ‘brushless’ motor

So I’ve been tinkering with the idea of using a car alternator as a motor, and got it to work yesterday. Here is the result:

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Review of the Xantrex XPower PowerPack 400 Plus / Motomaster Eliminator 600 PowerBox

So I promised a review of this little bad boy, and here it is! Essentially the two products are the same, minus the labelling as Canadian Tire has a deal to rebrand a few Xantrex products including smaller and larger power packs.

In a nutshell, its main features are:

1. 12V, 20Ah sealed lead acid battery
2. 400W AC inverter (square wave)
3. Air compressor with short hose and fittings
4. Separate jumper cable for boosting low car batteries