Are Apex, Integy and Duratrax Chargers the same?

[teach]

I did a search on the Apex Sigma Plus charger on this board and read that the 3 chargers are the same but with different faces. Is this true? If it is true, how do you explain all the praises for the Apex Sigma Plus and all the negative false peaks for the Duratrax Intellipeak? If they were same they would have the same problems, right?
How well do they discharge? They have a low discharge rate (2 and 10) and I thought higher is better (Deans 20amps). Do I need a different discharger?
Last question, are these chargers necessary for my Trinity Maxx Paxx? I plan on racing but more bashing. I just don't want to have to buy another charger/discharger for a long time and the prices are about the same if I were to buy a peak charger and discharger separately.
Thanks!!!

[tadium54]

A discharger is a good choice. It is used to take out the last little bit of energy from a pack after you race or just drive. The help prevent "memory". Memory is kind of like an imune system. Say you run your pack for 10 out of a possible 15 minutes, and you don't discharge it. The next morning you use it(the pack) after its been charging overnight. You then notice it only runs for 7 minutes. That extra time that was missing is really there, you just can't use it because your pack thinks it can only accept a certin amount of energy.

A discharger wipes you pack clean of any extra enrgy it has, so you get the most fun out of it.

Again, you don't need one, but it helps.

[ 07-12-2001: Message edited by: tadium54 ]

[Gutter Ball]

Umm, hard to say what the REAL difference is. But if you put the whole line of Apex, Duratrax and Integy chargers side by side, compare functions/features, you'd have to admit they are essentially identical! I have 2 Sigma Pluses and was looking to get a 3rd, but I found the Intellipeak for $70 so I bought one. It's on the way! I'll let you know how it turns out. My Apex's do false peak once in awhile, especially on unmatched stick packs. My one and only matched pack charges right to the end no probs. One of the power supply fans (which I was warned about) is starting to make funny noises as well. I discharge with the chargers at the moment, but to save some wear and tear, I'm probably going to build the bulb discharger. I use 10 amp discharge for my battery packs and 2 amp when I'm discharging controller/receiver packs. Don't use 10 amp's on your controller/receiver packs!!! They'll melt :) Ask me how I know :) You can't go wrong with any of those chargers. Digital readout is a must have.

[IR]

I bought an Intellipeak mini charger when they first came out. I am totally happy with it. I think that I have had 1 false peak out of it the whole time. It does discharge at a low rate( 1 amp I think) but I don't use it for discharging. The Intellipeak was 69.00 and it charges NiCads and Nimh as well something to think about if you ever plan on getting NiMh batts.

[teach]

But are they manufactured by the same company? Should I be concerned about the fan noise on the Apex? Why do you have so many chargers Gutter Ball?

[bryceanator]

you dont want a charger that cost the same as a discharger its junk i own the apex sigma + the fans burnt out so i bought a new 2 dollar fans problem solved i never get false peaks unless i dead short then i do but thats normal its good its worh your money just use the discharger then buy a new one later or make one

[Gutter Ball]

Hey teach! :) Well, I'm essentially the "pit boss" for 2 other racers as well as myself. So after each race, I gotta get my but back to the pit, start to discharge my battery, my friend's battery and my godkid's battery, then haul a$$ back to the track to marshall :) So I need at least 3 chargers. I'll check my Duratrax when I get it...I don't think they'd have the same manufacturer listed though. Apex, I think is Advanced Avionics LTD and distributed by Magma International.

[teach]

Your a good man Gutter Ball. Does anyone know what kind of warranty/customer service these companies have? They all seem like great chargers (the same). Now I'm trying to see which way to go as far as quality, price, service, and reliability. I need something to push me to one or the other.

[NTRacinGuy87]

lol my dad is a pit boss too and he has to do the same thing, except i race 3 classes. oh yeah and the intelli peak is a pretty good charger if your wondering.

[teach]

update:leaning towards these two
Apex Sigma Plus Indi 16x3 pro
+ $89 -$129
-no website +website w/board
+ discharge 2a & 10a - discharge 4a
+ in stock -/+ out of stock
everyone wants it?
If you have anything to add let me know. Thanks

[teach]

Sorry, It didn't come out the way I typed it.
Key: + positive / - negative comments
Information on the left is about the Apex and info on the right is about the Indi.

[Gutter Ball]

Okay, I got my Duratrax today! Plugged it in and the power supply fan didn't come on, so I thought it was broken :) I started to charge a battery, read instructions and about 3 minutes later...the dual turbo fans sped up and the power supply fan came on! Woohoo! That's a big plus for me! These two Apexes, holy cow the fans are LOUD! The fans are on all the time. So that's one plus for the Duratrax. To get to the various charging modes is identical. Fast charge is 1 quick press, discharge is press and hold for 2 seconds. I still believe they are made by the same manufacturer. The packaging they came in and the boxes were identical. All 3 are made in Hong Kong. I think the Integy one is slightly different. The one we have, you just press the button X number of times to cycle through the different functions. I think you press it 3 times to discharge...oh, and you saw that the discharge rate is only 4 :/ All 3 chargers have a 1 year warranty. Whichever one you choose will get the job done. Good luck!!

[teach]

Hey Gutter Ball, I read on Apex's site that all Apex chargers have a lifetime warranty. Is that true and are you able to connect to the Apex distributor in Canada magmarc.com. I can't connect. Where and how much for your Intellipeak? Do you have the digital one? Keep me updated on your chargers. Thanks again.

[Gutter Ball]

Apexhk.com says that there is a 1 year warranty on chargers, 90 days on ESC's. Magmarc.com is the repair centre and that's located in Markham, Ontario Canada. The Magmarc goes down a lot, I've only connected to the actual page twice out of say 100 times :/ The Duratrax is working great! However, just like the Apex, 3000nimh batteries get really really warm, charging at 5amps. I was gonna get my Duratrax from Tower ($99), but to ship to Canada costs $16.99 and then I'd have to pay duty for sure, so it would have cost me $215CAN (approx $145US). I found a guy selling them dutch on Ebay and picked it up for $82 shipped, no duties incurred!

[teach]

That's strange, because the FAQ section of the site says all chargers have a life-time warranty but the order now section says it has a 12 month warranty. I e-mailed them to confirm which is correct but I'm sure it will take a while. Gutter Ball do you know if you have to ship it to Hong Kong for repair, or can they be fixed locally (Canada/USA)?

[Obi112]

Time to add my thoughts:

I don't know how the Intellipeak chargers are getting all of this flak. I've had the digital one for over a month now and have yet to have a false peak. The fans are awesome. Sometimes I charge my five packs in a row, but the charger is still cool as a cucumber. The fans don't kick on until you need them, which is a plus. I personally think it's an awesome charger, and I am glad I bought it. This should be my last charger (unless a decide to move up to a Competition Electrics :D ).

I am assuming you will be racing in the stock class. Your 1900's will great for that application. Some die-hards will try to tell you that you can't win in the stock class without matched packs. Don't listen to them. The 1900's will last for years, until your a consistent A-main qualifier who needs the added punch of matched cells.

Because you will only be using stick packs for a two to three years, here is my advice to you: Don't buy a $100 charger. Start with an inexpensive peak charger. Look at the Duratrax Piranha, the Super Brain, the Dynamite Vision Peak and Mega Peak. Buy one of those (around $30-40). Then, make a lightbulb discharger and buy a cut-off device for it ($10-15 in supplies for the discharger, plus $20-30 for the cut-off device). This discharger will last the rest of your racing career. Then, when your ready for a new charger, that's all you'll need to buy, because you'll already have an awesome discharger.

Hope this helps,
Dan C.

PS: Instead of building a discharger, you could probably just buy one instead (such as Integy's box). I've seen some for around $40, and I think they automatically stop the discharge when the pack reaches the ideal voltage).