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Author Topic: FMA Direct - What am I missing?  (Read 1859 times)

Offline Ward Van Duzer

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FMA Direct - What am I missing?
« on: April 15, 2011, 08:16:17 AM »
At the suggestion of Cousin Dean-o and Uncle Bubba I decided to order an FMA 4S Gold charger from the FMA Direct web site. I got all the way through the ordering process and up pops a shipping button that requests I select a $32.00, or $38.00 shipping option! Are you for real?  ~^ This is a $70.00 product with the accessories. It seems they ship them one at a time from Hong Kong.

What am I missing? Is there some other source for these?

W.  ???
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Offline John Cralley

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Re: FMA Direct - What am I missing?
« Reply #1 on: April 15, 2011, 08:49:55 AM »
Ward,

WOW, I don't know were you are shopping but you can get a refurbished (with new warranty) for $32.95!!! (in stock as of now)

http://www.fmadirect.com/products.htm?cat=89&nid=72

Shipping is $8.99 US Priority Mail!!!!

You likely will need to also get an adapter for your particular batteries' balancing plug.

John
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Offline Ward Van Duzer

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Re: FMA Direct - What am I missing?
« Reply #2 on: April 15, 2011, 10:17:42 AM »
Wow John,

Thanks for the heads up on that one! However, since I had the moths scared out of my wallet I've been looking around. The 4S seems rather restricted, although suitable for me right now. The Thunder Power 610 has a strong following and considerably more features and power built in for $30.00 more. I don't know if I'll ever need them, but if I do, they are ready and waiting.

Thanks again.

W.  H^^
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Offline John Rist

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Re: FMA Direct - What am I missing?
« Reply #3 on: April 15, 2011, 11:27:34 AM »
 ???   ???   ???

   ???  Whats wrong with a Hobby King charger?   ???

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=5548

They have some so cheep you can buy 2-3 for backup and charging multiple battries?
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Offline Dean Pappas

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Re: FMA Direct - What am I missing?
« Reply #4 on: April 15, 2011, 02:17:41 PM »
What's wrong with buying domestically designed and manufactured?
We are all "the other guy" to someone else.
Dean P.
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Offline William DeMauro

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Re: FMA Direct - What am I missing?
« Reply #5 on: April 15, 2011, 03:30:23 PM »
Ward,
 Buy your charger from progressive RC, http://www.progressiverc.com/index.php/battery-chargers.html They have the 4s cellpro gold and they are supposed to be great to deal with from what i have read. My biggest question to you is , why that one? Why not the cellpro 10s which allows you to charge 2 at a time or better yet a Powerlab 8. I have the Charger 206b and an Charger 306b which I love. I do fast charge my batteries but if that's not important to you then the one you are looking at is more than adequate for most things. E-mail me or pm me if you want some inexpensive but high end power supply solutions.
William
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Offline John Rist

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Re: FMA Direct - What am I missing?
« Reply #6 on: April 15, 2011, 10:35:05 PM »
Quote from: William DeMauro on April 15, 2011, 03:30:23 PM
Ward,
 Buy your charger from progressive RC, http://www.progressiverc.com/index.php/battery-chargers.html They have the 4s cellpro gold and they are supposed to be great to deal with from what i have read. My biggest question to you is , why that one? Why not the cellpro 10s which allows you to charge 2 at a time or better yet a Powerlab 8. I have the Charger 206b and an Charger 306b which I love. I do fast charge my batteries but if that's not important to you then the one you are looking at is more than adequate for most things. E-mail me or pm me if you want some inexpensive but high end power supply solutions.
William

Once again My question is whats wrong with the Hobby King charger at $25.00?  Cellpro 10S mentined above is $140.00. I can buy 5 of the Hobby King units and charge 5 batteries at once for that price.  I understand that there is a lot of good chargers out there at high to very high prices and they work well, however the Hobby King is $25.  The question is has anyone tried one and it didn't work? 
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Offline William DeMauro

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Re: FMA Direct - What am I missing?
« Reply #7 on: April 16, 2011, 06:12:42 AM »
John,
  There is nothing wrong with the Hobby King charger (which is an I-Maxx brand), IF YOU CAN GET ONE THAT CHARGES ACCURATLY!!!! I bought one without doing the research on them because like you I was attracted to the price. When my packs weren't even closely balanced after I charged them I started doing research on them on the RC boards and found I-Maxx chargers to have a terrible reputation. I sent mine back and will never touch another I-Maxx product ever!!!!. Another drawback to that and many other inexpensive chargers is that they are slow. Most are 50 watts which max out the charging rate on a 4 cell at  3.2 amps. If you want to take a shot at a Hobby king charger get the HobbyKing ECO6-10 200W 10A 6S Bal/Dis/Cyc Charger w/ acc.
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=12105 or the         Turnigy Accucel-8 150W 7A Balancer/Charger
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=7523
or this from the US warehouse HobbyKing ECO8 150W 7A 8S Bal/Dis/Cyc Charger w/ acc. (USA Warehouse)
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=15168
These all have mixed reviews but at least they have some power behind them. I have no personal experience with any of them. The Acucell line seems to have the best reputation in the Hobby king line and I am pretty sure that there are E- flyers out here using Acucells.
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Offline john vlna

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Re: FMA Direct - What am I missing?
« Reply #8 on: April 16, 2011, 07:25:58 AM »
John

I have this Hobby King charger http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=2055
It only does 4s but seems to be acccurate and reliable.

JV
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Offline Dan Bregar

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Re: FMA Direct - What am I missing?
« Reply #9 on: April 16, 2011, 10:05:06 AM »
Ward

You might consider the iCharger 106B+ on the Progressive RC web site. It is very capable, more than most, and more accurate then the IMAX chargers and if you buy it from Progressive any warranty issues are handled instead of having to send it back to China. :)
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Offline William DeMauro

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Re: FMA Direct - What am I missing?
« Reply #10 on: April 16, 2011, 10:55:30 AM »
My I-chargers came from EP Buddy.com http://epbuddy.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1&zenid=mtt7j5rfpv8n9r2g5jce109qg5. The only reason I recommended progressive is that they sell both the FMA line of chargers and the I-Charger line. I know that if you e-mail Dale at EP buddy he will send you a discount coupon for 5-10% off your purchase and if you ask him he will also calibrate your charger for you so that it is dead accurate. I bought Jose's and my I-Chargers from EP-Buddy so I can vouch for their service and reputation which was great!!! They to are USA based. Progressive has a great reputation too and I'm sure anybody that ordered from them would also be happy.
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Offline Ward Van Duzer

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Re: FMA Direct - What am I missing?
« Reply #11 on: April 16, 2011, 02:40:48 PM »
William,

Thanks for all your help to this electrical idiot. This post seems to have drawn some fire! But, to review my needs…

I am 72 going on 73 and looking for the easy way out! IC’s are work! However I do not wish to break the bank either. I only travel to the field 1 to 2 days per month, putting up 1 to, maybe 3 flights a day. I’ve ordered most everything I need to power my P’ Force. My flying field has provided handy AC outlets scattered about. Therefore I’d prefer an AC/DC charger for ease of use at home as well. Most economy chargers can handle 4S Lipos only. I don’t know if I’ll ever go over my current 4S 2500 mah, but it would be nice to know I could. I don’t expect I’ll ever have a barn full of batteries, two, maybe three should do me. Dean recommended the FMA 4S as a quality, economic way out. But add the FMA AC adaptor, and the balancerand you top $70.00. That was OK, but the postage killed it.

The Hobby Lobby TP 610C at $99.00 looks very popular and more flexible but is not AC/DC. ProgressiveRC’s  power units start at $70.00 and run to ARGHHHHH!

I guess if I could get the FMA 4S gold with their 20.00 AC/DC adaptor and balancer ($71.00) with reasonable postage I’d bite the bullet! Or, I pay the $32.00 postage…..

Hey, thanks for the E.P. Buddy site (The more you whine, the more info you get!) Do you have any knowledge of the G.T. Power Dual Power Chargers he sells?

What say you all?
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Offline William DeMauro

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Re: FMA Direct - What am I missing?
« Reply #12 on: April 16, 2011, 04:40:41 PM »
Ward,
 Now that I have more info and know you want the easy way out, let me keep it real simple for you. Buy the Thunder AC6 Smart 5-in-1 Balance Charger/Discharger w/ AC Adapter for 1-6 Cell Lipo/Lilo/LiFePo4 + 1-15 Cell Nimh/NiCD. from Hobbypartz.com.  
http://www.hobbypartz.com/thac6smbachw.html Its got the Power supply and balancer built in and it $42.70. It ships from California so shipping shouldn't be too bad. Infact the site says free shipping for purchases over $25, so even better. The reviews on this one are good, again I have no personal experience with it but I am familiar with the software on it and know its easy to use. I did notice that it doesn't come with a Deans connector. If you buy that one PM or E-mail me your address. I have an extra, I'll be happy to send it to you.
As for the GT chargers I'm sure they are fine too but they are out of stock at EP buddy. Hope this helps.
« Last Edit: April 16, 2011, 05:18:55 PM by William DeMauro »
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Offline JohnPrator

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Re: FMA Direct - What am I missing?
« Reply #13 on: April 16, 2011, 05:49:26 PM »
Ward,
I just bought a HiTech X4 today and I have a 1.5 month old Bantam BC6DXII charger that I guess I need to sell if you're interested. It's a great charger and one good thing is that it is AC or DC so you can plug that baby right into the wall socket if you don't have a power supply. It has a two different balancing boards, temp sensor and a few other cords, like new condition. I paid $150 plus shipping for it and I'd sell it to you for $100 shipped to you via USPS Priority, let me know if you're interested-it's a great charger and very easy to use.

http://www.ronlund.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=RHPS&Product_Code=BANBC6DXII&Category_Code=ELEC_BATC

Sincerely,
John

PS-If you are interested and you let me know what batteries you have I'll set it up the programming for you.
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Offline John Rist

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Re: FMA Direct - What am I missing?
« Reply #14 on: April 16, 2011, 08:53:05 PM »
Quote from: William DeMauro on April 16, 2011, 04:40:41 PM
Ward,
 Now that I have more info and know you want the easy way out, let me keep it real simple for you. Buy the Thunder AC6 Smart 5-in-1 Balance Charger/Discharger w/ AC Adapter for 1-6 Cell Lipo/Lilo/LiFePo4 + 1-15 Cell Nimh/NiCD. from Hobbypartz.com.  
http://www.hobbypartz.com/thac6smbachw.html Its got the Power supply and balancer built in and it $42.70. It ships from California so shipping shouldn't be too bad. Infact the site says free shipping for purchases over $25, so even better. The reviews on this one are good, again I have no personal experience with it but I am familiar with the software on it and know its easy to use. I did notice that it doesn't come with a Deans connector. If you buy that one PM or E-mail me your address. I have an extra, I'll be happy to send it to you.
As for the GT chargers I'm sure they are fine too but they are out of stock at EP buddy. Hope this helps.

Just went to the hobbypartz web sight and looked at the AC6 charger  It looks like a lot of charger for $50.  Looks like it is a 1C charger but for most of us 60 to 70 minutes of charge time is acceptable.  The one feature that looks cool is the ability to look at indivual cell voltage while charging.
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Offline Bill Hodges

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Re: FMA Direct - What am I missing?
« Reply #15 on: April 18, 2011, 07:21:04 AM »
Ward:

I have a TP610C AC/DC (yep, AC and DC) that I no longer need.  It is almost brand new, complete with balance board, still in the box and priced cheap.  I sent you an email with my cell number.  Call me if you are interested.

Bill Hodges
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Offline Ward Van Duzer

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Re: FMA Direct - What am I missing?
« Reply #16 on: April 18, 2011, 12:18:58 PM »
Bill,

I'll take it!  H^^

Check your email...


Ward-O
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Offline Ward Van Duzer

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Re: FMA Direct - What am I missing?
« Reply #17 on: April 25, 2011, 08:05:06 AM »
So, after all this fuss I get an email yesterday from FMA Direct informing me/us that they are opening a USA based wharehouse to relieve their customers of the burden of high postage.

What a concept! Their prices are up some over the China prices, but quite do-able.

For those interested...

http://www.usastore.revolectrix.com/

Ward-O
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