Do I really need to upgrade?

[Tc3basher]

I was looking into getting some gp3300 for a brushless set up. The current charger I have is Vision Peak 2 which can charge at a max rate of 4 amps. Gp33300 should be charged at minimum of 5 amps I think. So can I get away with successfully charging them at 4amps even though it may take longer or do I need to get a better charger?

[rcguy2477]

4 amps is fine, it will just take a little longer

[Tc3basher]

ok...thanks.

[redheat8]

5 amps would be the very max I personally keep it under 4amps with my Gold Peak 3300mah cells, RED

[AlexV2024]

no 5a is the limit of getting a lot more punch w/o much life loss. at 6a you loose a little more life then 4-5a and gain punch 7-8 souldn't be used unless you dont care about the packs life, like if they are about to be tossed. if your just sport running 1-5a is fine, and shouldn't really affect cell life in that range. though i personaly would use at least 4.5a just to cut down on charge time. use 4-6a if your racing.

~Alex

[highroller]

It really doesn't matter what amperage rate you use if charger limits was only 3.5 that too is okay. The only thing you would encounter is longer time for the battery to charge and punch (how fast) would be as good as charging at higher rates. The more stress (charging and discharing) you put on cells the shorter cycles you'll get. For bashing 4.50 to 5 is fine, 6amp for normal use while some use higher rates for competitive racing - here the prospect is on performance and not life of the cell.

Follow a good routine to increase the life of your battery packs. Even for bashing by using some of the products available for discharging and equalizing cells can aid in obtaining consistant performance from your packs.

[losiguy1090]

most guys only use 5 amps on nimh packs.

[Cain]

I personally do 6 amps on my GP3300s for racing. But you should be fine with what your charger will do.