Venom Pro Charger/Balancer ($150)

[coffinsnail]

Below is first impression, after two days of screwing around, i now have it figured out and plan to edit this post soon, as well as add a how to with videos.

This is a big POS... i read how great and easy it is, and all that stuff. Figured id help my local shop by buying a charger/balancer from them. He told me it works great. Thought hey it has connectors for everyhing you can imagine and its not only a 12v charger with a power supply added for 120v charging, but it can save your setting for later reuse and it has a usb connection to check your batterys out.

anyways here is my rating...

Product 0
Manual -5
Price 0

When i purchase something i expect it to work the first time i use it, but this thing after setting it up with 3 diffrent batterys gave me the same issue. Connection Break, which in their book says the connection was broken during charge, but its not starting at all.

So after all the rave reviews i hate to say it but based on the price, the fact the product did not work, and the manual sucks big time. Not to mention the poor quality workmanship in the outside of it, they gave me a temp probe that will not plug in cause the case is not cut properly. I have to give this whole item a

big fat -5.......

here is the charger pic.



btw after some research it turns out this is a cheap chinese made one that sells for 40 bucks, venom seems to have purchased them put about 10 bucks into recoloring them and cranked their price up by 3-4 x their original cost.

[akphill]

I bought one of these at the beginning of summer when i first started to use it I had to go to rcdicussed to get info on how to use it once i did that then i had to figure out what battery and what voltage to use or it would break charge untill you got it right since then it has been a dream to use and it balance charges my bats without hesitations now but yeah local shop wanted a lot for it too but i had to support them a little bit sorry you had that much trouble

[coffinsnail]

well its a 3cell 11.1v 1000mah 20c battery, i had the charge discharge set at 1amp and 11.1v which is by their directions...

after looking at it closer i noticed the discharge pack has a screw missing so im wondering if it was a returned one that was screwed up already. either way when you follow the directions and the product doesnt work then its not a good product in my opinion.

[akphill]

I agree with you on that if the product doesnt work right out of the box it aint worth a bean pole i was just saying the one i have treats me good you must be having my luck usually all bad

[Solitaire]

coffin

Not to ask a dumb question, but were you trying to balance charge and not have the balance leads as well as the charge leads connected?

Also, did you use a power supply or were you using a 12V battery to supply power? If the latter, check what the setting is for low power input. It may be set too high. If the former, check the power supply output.

Just a couple of thoughts.

[coffinsnail]

i had it connected to 120, and as far as i know i was tring to balance charge, and with this one i only see one cable that will connect to the battery which is the balancer block made for up to 6cell batteries ....

[Solitaire]

Hmmm, that may be your problem.

On the end of that charger is a port for the balance leads AND an "output" connection marked + and -
You'll need the charge leads hooked up...usually heavy guage with banana connectors. Red and Black leads and should have been included with the charger.

[coffinsnail]

where do i connect them cause these directions suck bad..... i got connectors for everything you can think of including j connectors ect...

can you post a pic of a battery hooked up properly to the block ect?

[Solitaire]

Here's a pic of my charger with a 11.1v LiPo attached. Don't let the charge cable with all the different ends confuse you. I'm simply using the Deans that matches the LiPo. The rest are part of an all-in-one harness to charge different batteries. You'll see the banana connectors plugged into the output terminals of the charger as well as the balance lead connected to the appropriate balance port.

[akphill]

I had to go see the thunder chargers directions when i got mine cause the instructions really suck with the venom charger the venom has a plug in adaptor the balance charge instead of plugging into the charger like thunder charger and the it has a plug adaptor that plugs into charger and you change ends to match your battery from there.

if i guy would go to discuss and watch thunder charger vids it is exactly the same as that one just the buttons are different style

[coffinsnail]

Thanks for the picture im balancing now. anyways once i see how it goes with the next two batteries ill review my review and edit it accordingly then make a howto write up with pics, and if i can find my charger or my webcam ill make a video.

[Solitaire]

OK, if you find it's actually working alright, then I'll delete my posts to maintain the integrity of the review. Your "how to" entry will cover all I have inserted anyway.

[coffinsnail]

one last question do you balance before or after you charge?

[Solitaire]

If the balance lead is also connected during the charging process, most balance chargers do it simultaneously. They charge one cell, then the next and switch back and forth until the LiPo is fully charged and consequently balanced.