MB Models Leeds sent us this thorough review of the new HPI Reactor 500 charger, which has been available to racers for a while now. Check out this fully detailed review of the Reactor 500!
With today's racing seemingly becoming more and more varied each year, technology moves on and we have seen over the years NiCad, NiMH and more recently LiPo and LiFe cells being used everyday by hobbyists - this can be a nightmare trying to keep track of what charger to use for what battery type! HPI have realised this and released a brand new charger that will charge any of the above and can be used away from home on 12v and at home on the mains 240v supply: one charger to do it all! The charger caters for the casual user who just wants a straight forward push of a button charge, right thru to the hardcore racer who wants to tweak the settings to get the most out of their cells. There is a concise colour manual with an easy to use flowchart that explains what each setting does for each battery type, and boy does it charge everything! It will charge NiCad, NiMH, LiPo, LiFe, Li-Ion and Pb (lead acid) as well as balance charging and discharging and will also charge glow starters with the numerous supplied leads. It has a storage mode for LiPo batteries, which is great when you're not racing for a few weeks, keeping your expensive LiPos at the correct voltage. Opening the Box The first thing you notice when holding the charger is that it is reassuringly solid, consisting of all-metal construction. It's not too heavy, but it's also not light enough to get knocked about on the pit table - sounds ideal for my clumsy hands! There are a huge amount of different leads supplied in the box that should cover just about every type of connector, and you even get a blank lead to solder on a different connector if you so wished. OK, so let's see what this charger can do shall we? The charger was plugged into the 240v supply and the chargers nice electric blue backlit screen displayed the main title screen then switched to the charging screen after a few seconds. LiPo Mode I elected to charge my helicopter 3 cell 2250 11.1v LiPo for the first test. I selected the appropriate LiPo menu (you have normal fast charge LiPo balance, LiPo discharge and LiPo storage charge) then hooked up the LiPo to the charger using the main LiPo power lead and the JST-XH balance cable. Press the green start button and the charger checks the battery, then asks if you're sure to start charging, then you press the green button again and the charging begins. At this point you can either just leave the main screen alone in which case it displays pack voltage, the charging current and the mAh put into the cell or press a button and this displays the individual cell voltage of the pack being charged in balance mode...pretty cool, eh! So now you can see how bad your pack was out of balance. Having a good cell balance is critical in LiPos but with this charger that won't be a problem you will have to worry about when using balance charging, and you will be able to see if you're constantly getting 1 cell out of balance which would indicate the cell is slowly dying or faulty, which is a great feature to have on the charger. The pack charged nicely and the best bit is the charger was totally silent. I mean nothing, not even a whisper, from it, and this was at a 2 amp charge current. The pack finished charging with all 3 cells showing 4.2v and pack voltage of 12.60 volts, this was then tested with a voltmeter with the same readings, a good start. Lead-Acid (Pb) Mode Next up let's try a lead acid battery in my starter box, this is a 12v 7 amp sealed lead acid. We select the Pb profile, set the battery voltage to 12v (it will charge 2v to 20v lead acid or Pb), charge at 1 amp and away we go with the charging process. The battery charged nice and cool and terminated at the correct voltage. Pb's do not like to be charged fast or overcharged, it destroys them so this is very important but the charger was right on the mark for voltage termination. Glow Starter mode There's nothing worse than having your glow starter go flat on the day so its nice to be able to fast charge them trackside and quickly. Connect the supplied glow charge lead, select NiMH or NiCad if it' an old starter. Choose the correct charge rate of 1c and press the start button; the charger auto detects the cell count and starts charging. The charger did its job perfectly and 1 hour later at a conservative charge rate the glow supply was all charged up and the charger was nice and cool. Most chargers get quite hot doing single cells but the HPI HPI Reactor 500 kept its cool. When charging NiCad or NiMH you can also select the peak mv or delta settings to determine how sensitive the charger is to the cell's charge termination. The lower the delta number, the more sensitive the charger and the faster it will detect when the battery is charged, something that should please the pro guys out there in electric racing! So, the verdict?
- It does exactly as it should, its silent mode is a nice touch as is the ability to charge anywhere there is a 12v or 240v supply
- It can charge ANY of the batteries we hobbyists use.
- It has everything you need in 1 box, no running around buying extra leads.
- Timed charge lockout is a great safety feature.
- It looks cool!
