ElectriFlyTRITON PRODUCT REVIEW
BY Red Scholefield – Red’s R/C Battery Clinic
Great
Planes raises the anti in the $100-$200 charger range with their
introduction of the Triton.Behind the distinctive red plastic bezel the
extruded aluminum case contains some innovative features. As the hobby
standard
Ni-Cds are being challenged by newer technology offered by Ni-MH and
now
Lithium-Ion/polymer systems, the Triton presents a battery maintenance
system that
addresses these new offerings.
Purpose – Battery
Maintenance System
Manufacturer – Great Planes
Suggested Retail Price – $129.99
Warranty – One year
Input Power -10-15V
DC
Charge Range – 1- 24 Ni-Cd or Ni-MH, 1-4 Lithium
Ion/polymer, 3-12 Pb (lead acid)
Fast Charge Rate
– 100 mA to 5A - 90 watts
max (2.5A max. for Li-Ion/polymer)
Trickle Charge Rate – 30 to 250 mA –
automatic (n/a for Li-Ion and Pb)
Discharge Current
- 100 mA to 3A - 20 watts
max (2.5A max. for Li-Ion)
Discharge Cut-Off
- 0.5-1.16V/cell NiCd
& NiMH, Li-Ion/polymer 2.8V/cell, Pb 1.8V/cell
Cycle Count
- One to ten cycles
(n/a for Li-Ion/polymer and Pb)
Battery Memories
- 10
Dimensions – 6.2 x 4.0 x 2.0 in (157 x 102 x 51mm)
Weight - 16.4 oz (466g)
Instructions –19 6 X 8 ½ pages – plus 5 program
flow charts.
Tested On – Ni-Cd, Ni-MH, Pb (lead acid), Lithium
Ion/Polymer
Lithium charge rates based on very conservative
protocol may
not fully charge lithium packs.
For a preview of the details of how this unit
works, the
instruction manual may be downloaded from:
For reasons known only to the instruction book
authors,
charger purveyors feel bound to comment on the “Nickel Cadmium memory
problem”
and what their unit does to address it and well as perpetuating other
popular
battery myths. The Triton instruction manual is no exception. Just
ignore it in
that regard, you won’t buy the Triton for the literary value of the
instruction
book, but rather to maintain your battery packs. This is accomplished
quite
nicely with the aid of the five programming flow charts that were
thoughtfully
included with the product.Once you have the basics down these
programming
charts are all you need for future reference.
Instruction book states that the Triton will shut
down if
internal temperatures exceed 100°
F. This is in error and should read 100°
C.
1. During discharge once needed.
2. During charge:
a. if the temp of the charger exceeds 50 degrees centigrade
b. if the charge output power is over 30W
c. if the charge current is over 2.5A
d. if charging 1cell, or packs containing 2 or 3
cells
3. During charge or discharge, if the temp of the
charger
itself exceeds 100 degrees C the charger will stop all charge or
discharge
functions unitl the temp of the charger becomes below than 70 degrees
C. The
fan should continue to run unitl the temp of the charger drops below 45
degrees
C. (We cover this in the manual)
In addition, once the fan turns on it should work
until the
charge or discharge function is finished. If the temp of the charger
still
exceeds 45 degrees C after a function is completed the fan should
continue to
work until the temp drops below 45 degrees C."
Testing
We ran the usual performance tests on
this unit
using a digital multimeter with an RS232 port connecting to a laptop.
Old as
well as new packs ranging from single cells to the maximum of 24 were
tested.
Dozens of charge/discharge curves covering all the settings were
accumulated.
Charge and discharge curves (Figure 1) obtained from a well used 7 cell
Cs
electric flight pack are typical.
Figure 1.
The people at Great Planes tried to cover all the bases and did a pretty good job.
If the buzzer annoys you it can be turned off – or set to any of 10 different melodies.
But they considered some serious
things
also. Two backups are provided in case the charge termination scheme
doesn’t do
its job. You can set a Safety Timer
and the Max Charge Input
(in Ni-MH
mode). If you are still timid, a Thermal Sensor is available as an accessory, which
allows you to
program the Temperature at which you would like the charge to
terminate. This
reflects an understanding of the real world of batteries rather than
distrust
of the system’s ability to terminate charge. To address the problem of
early or
premature peak shut down they give you a programmable Peak
Delay as well as the ability to set
the Peak
Sensitivity. If you can’t get enough
flying in
to wear out your batteries the Triton lets you cycle them up to10 times
automatically and keeps the capacity in/out readings for each cycle.
You have
the option of Charge then Discharge
or Discharge then Charge.
Many
peak detector chargers don’t provide the needed trickle or topping
charge
needed to balance out the pack after it peaks. The Triton has taken
care of
this with a default Trickle Charge
based on the charge rate selected and for Ni-MH, 20 minutes of
programmable Topping Charge. There
are 10 Battery Memories
available
to store your favorite set up. And for those that don’t have a clue
there is
an Auto function for
most settings
that has the Triton making all the decisions – and quite conservative
ones. Per
the instructions, auto mode is not recommended for smaller capacity
packs. I
don’t recommend the auto mode for any packs. With all the programming
functions
at your disposal why let the charger have all the fun making decisions?
When
used, the auto charge was very conservative and did not set up charge
rates that
would be satisfactory for electric flight (or your transmitter/receiver
packs)
field charging where a fast turn around is required.
The first thing that strikes you on this unit is
that it has
two buttons and a combination rotary dial/push button, unlike the 4/6
button
arrangements seen on competitive units.I would have to temper the
marketing
hype, “amazingly easy programming in almost no time”, to “it took me
about as
long to get comfortable programming this unit as it did others I have
tested”.
Thanks to another modeler, Darral Teeples <hdthc@juno.com> that
was also
working his way through the amazingly easy programming, we
collaborated,
comparing notes on the Triton’s operation secrets – when our notes did
not agree
we isolated the problem to a slow switch (unit immediately replaced by
Great
Planes) or in another instance to a low battery in a DVM (that’s what
that
little flashing battery symbol means).
Once you get use to it, the Triton is easier to
program and
is certainly faster with the rotary dial feature to scan back and forth
in the
various display screens.
While they tell you some of the features are
available in
the Ni-MH mode only, you can cheat a little. Just set up for Ni-MH (set
the
peak sensitivity for 10 mv) and then connect your Ni-Cd battery and
start the
process. The Triton, smart as it is, cannot tell it is charging a Ni-Cd
and
will allow you to use all the Ni-MH features.
Both input and output have reverse polarity
protection and
in the case of the output connection gives you an error reading to
inform you
of your sin. It also features an internal thermal protection that shuts
the
unit down with an Overheating display if the unit internal
temperature
exceeds a 100 degrees F. I didn’t check this out but heard one user
complained
that where he flew it frequently got over 100 degrees – maybe Triton
had the
good sense to warn the user as well as protect itself.
red@rcbatteryclinic.com
12-14-02
Rev 12-21-02