SlamMan

I just put together my first battery pack. Pole Position matched 3800 cells. I've got a Duratrax Ice charger with temp probe and I have no idea what I'm doing with this stuff.

For starters I need to know the basics like how to charge my batteries. Why the charger has a discharge function? What is cycling batteries and why is it done?

Is there a battery basics guide somewhere?

Thanks

MadMikeB

http://www.surgeworldwide.com/faqs.html

http://www.harrisrc.com/batterycare.htm

http://www.feralbatteries.com.au/res....aspx?id=%2025

http://www.feralbatteries.com.au/res....aspx?id=%2029

XrayFK

iTrader: (1)

Charge at 6A, discharge depends on what you have. Cycling is something that is not done anymore, since every cycle on the battery counts. Equalize, but make sure each cell stays at a safe voltage. The CTX-D or DPD are good discharging trays.

pinggoy

iTrader: (24)

cycling is just used if the batteries has been stored for a long time and needs to be warmed up again..and also sometimes batteries are good the second time you charge them.

Faiz

go to smc website, lot of valuable info down there,

SlamMan

Thanks for the help guys.

Next questions.

How long does is take on average to charge a pack of 6?

XrayFD, When you say equalize does that mean discharge to 0.9 volts per cell?

Do I need to disassemble the pack to discharge the cells individually in the tray or can the tray do the discharging while the pack is still assembled?

ducati

It should take about 45 minutes.

Equalizing is discharging each cell individually so that no cell is wildly out of whack with the rest of the pack.

With all the trays I know of, no. I use the Tekin tray and like it alot.

XrayFK

iTrader: (1)

I figured I might as well explain instead of just answer.

Charge time is calculated like so: battery capacity/charge rate*60=time in minutes. 3800/6000*60=38 minutes

Equalize means each cell is ideally at the same level of charge left in it, so when you charge it again, each cell will stay as close as possible. This is because the cells are charged in a series (with the exception of the ICC). The cutoff voltage can be set to whatever you are comfortable with. It's safe to go lower than .9 if the rate is low and you have an accurate cutoff. No need to disassemle your pack.

Hyper1

I was using the Tekin tray also,but noticed over time (three or four months) that my packs were losing their match and also a good bit of runtime.Then I saw where Eric Anderson said that he noticed that the 3800's didn't like to be taken below .06 cutoff,which the Tekin tray cutoff is at .05.I'm not using the Tekin tray anymore,just the Much more CTX-D so that I can adjust my cutoff to .07 to equalize with.I highly recommend either the Much more CTX-D or the DPD for discharging and Equalizing.

SPC

Check out the Battery Care section on our website . If you have any questions don't hesitate to contact me directly.

DR VOODOO

CONGRATS ON THE NEW BATTS YOU MAY CANTACT ARE SITE AT WWW.VOODOOCELLS.COM FOR INFO OR EMAIL [email protected] good luck!