Can anyone recommend a fast charger for my Excalibur....

[WJW]

I am looking for a faster charger than the factory one. I also would like a charge indicator letting me know when it is charging and when it is charged. Thank you in advance for your help.
Bill

 

[Critterhunter]

There are a few who use one from Fleabay that somebody sells (it already has the right connector on it) that I think charges in an hour or so and has a charge indicator if I remember right. You might want to surf there for "Excalibur Charger" or something like that if nobody chimes in about it.

 

[BigCatDaddy]

http://www.maxxpacks.com/index.php?cPath=175&osCsid=22b57a608cf2427f50e59c720d4dce71


Go to the link above. I have the 5-10 cell model, charges in about 2-3 hrs. You need an adapter with it to fit the Excal battery. I'll check when I get home and see what it is. They now have a second model, the 7-10 cell that looks like it's ready to go, no adapter needed I'm thinking, but I have no experience with it. I have also bought the battery packs to rebuild my Excal pods with, had one bad one out of 10 or so.

 

[Rick(ND)]

n/t

 

[kneedet]

what is the average time with the stock charger and battery?

 

[Atlas]

I'm gona check out that link cause I've burned up two of the original minelab chargers. I have and older Excal and ordered a replacement charger from my dealer. It worked for a while then quit. I did have the battery pack rebuilt here at the local battery store. Anyway I need a replacement and a fast charger with a light would be great.

 

[Critterhunter]

The way to figure out charge time is look on the charger (or the wall transformer in the case of the Excal or Sov) and see what the output amps are. From memory on my GT's I think it's 100ma. The stock pack is 1000 (or is it 1100?) MA on my GT, so a completely dead pack would take the capacity of the pack (say 1000ma) divided by the output current of the "charger", which in this case is 100ma I think, so that'd be 10 hours to charge if that's the case. I'm not sure of the exact numbers so check your wall charger (or transformer as the Minelab one is just a transformer) and your battery capacity and divide the output MA of the charger into the battery capacity. If you were using a charger that put out say 2 amps that would take 1/2 hour for a dead 1000ma pack. I don't recommend charging that fast. Even an hour charge rate is pushing nimhs or nicads but it's OK so long as the pack isn't getting hot. Still, a longer charge rate of say 2 hours or more is healthier for the pack. 1 hour time times (1C they call it, meaning 1 amp for a 1000ma pack for instance) is a bit hard on a pack and will shorten it's run time and life span over time, especially if it's getting hot. That's about the limit I'd push any detector nimh or nicad pack. For sure feel the pack about halfway or more through the charge. If it's hot then you are for sure killing the pack with every charge. Put a fan on it or some will lay it on an ice pack while charging in RC to keep it cool at high charge rates.

The GT's rechargeable pack has a charging circuit inside it that the wall transformer plugs into.

Anyway, I think the Excal or Sovereign from memory draw around 50ma of current, so you can kind of do the math in your head of how many hours used versus how many hours of charge time based on the wall transformer's output. But, charging is not very efficient, so I'd add another 1 to maybe 3 hours to any computed charge time to be sure. Of course it's easier with just a good charger that tells you when the pack is charged. With the GT if you use an aftermarket charger you have to hitch it up via alligator clips to the two main battery leads on the pack as you can't charge through the charging plug due to the circuit in there that will confuse an aftermarket charger.