Duratrax Onyx 255 Charger Review
Living in an electric dominated hobby, a good battery charger isn’t a want, it is a need. The folks over at Duratrax have long been known for their affordable battery charger line-up and lately we’ve been using one of their Onyx 255 chargers to keep our cars going around the office. The 255 has two output ports so you can charge a pair of packs at one time, plus it can be powered off of AC or DC power. To find out what we thought of the Onyx 255 just scroll on down the page…
From: Duratrax
Direct Link: Onyx 255
Review By: Cubby
Pictures By: Tim
Specifications:
AC Input- 110V
DC input- 11 to 15 volts
Output Power- 60 watts X 2
Fan- Yes
Model Memories- 10 per output
Max Charge Current- 6.0 amps
Max Cell Count- 6S Lithium
Lithium Node Current- 300mA
Display- 2×16 backlit LCD
Size- 6.0 x 2.75 x 7.25″
Weight- 19.5 oz
Primary Competition: The Onyx 255 fits in with other dual port AC/DC balance chargers like the Hitec X2 AC Plus.
What’s In The Box: Inside the box you’ll find the charger, the owners manual, the AC power cord, a DC cord with alligator clips, a pair of balance boards with wiring, and battery wiring with Star, Traxxas, and Tamiya connectors.
Build Quality: After closely looking over the unit we could find no faults with its build quality. The charger looked well assembled and the connectors all looked well done.
Testers: Sam The Noob, Iron Mikeee, T-Mohr, and yours truly.
Set-up Notes: We used the 255 off of both AC and DC power. As far as batteries are concerned, we charged a huge variety of packs. From large 6S LiPos to small 5 cell NiMH receiver packs, we used the charger for around 3 months on just about any type/style of pack that we could get our hands on.
Ease of Use: We found the Onyx 255 to be easy to use. We never had to resort to using the manual, which is always a good sign that a charger is easy to use. Even our noob tester had no problem grabbing a pack and getting it charged with the 255.
Power: The 255 can do 6 amps per port on both DC or AC input power. That isn’t a huge amount of power compared to some of the higher end chargers on the market, but 6 amps works well in a typical basher environment. The 255 has enough power on tap that you can charge a pair of 6000mAh packs at 1C or 3000mAh packs at 2C.
On the Track: Packs charged on the 255 did just fine out on the track. Our cars seemed to have plenty of punch, top end, and runtime when running a pack that was charged on the Duratrax.
Misc Notes:
Most chargers seem to come with cables that are slightly too short, that is not the case with the 255. Both its AC and DC cords are extra long, thank you Duratrax.
The fan on the Duratax was a bit on the loud side. This might not be an issue for you in louder environments (like a track or busy bashing area), but if you like to charge in a quieter area then you will for sure notice when the fan kicks in.
Having two charge ports was a real blessing for our test crew. Because we normally drive with several people using multiple cars, we charge a lot of packs every day. The two ports made it a lot easier to keep up with the charging demands of our test crew than a normal single port model.
Final Verdict: The Onyx 255 sits at a very popular price point and did a solid job charging up our packs.
