Go Back  R/C Tech Forums > General Forums > Electric On-Road
How to find the dead cell in a stick pack? >

How to find the dead cell in a stick pack?

Community
Wiki Posts
Search

How to find the dead cell in a stick pack?

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 03-04-2004, 04:56 PM
  #1  
Tech Champion
Thread Starter
iTrader: (3)
 
Nova F1 Racer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Peoples Republic of Northern Virginia
Posts: 5,682
Trader Rating: 3 (100%+)
How to find the dead cell in a stick pack?

One of my better stick packs ( 6 cell Integy 3300's ) will not take a charge. Everytime i start to charge it 2 minutes it's done and no charge.... I put a meter to each cell and 1.24 to 1.27 and a total 7.53 on the pack.

I have a CE Turbo 35 BL and have tried to chage it at 5 and 6 AMPS with no luck so I'm assuming it's a dead cell some where.
When I tried to cycle it on an Integy 16x3x2.5 charger nothing.....There are no loose connections and I was hoping to find a simple way of doing it.

The last thing I want to do is tear apart the stick pack and test each cell, I have the sinle cell holder but have not attempted to try it out yet ( have not had a need yet and need to find the instructions on how to do it also).

All help will be greeted with open arms as I do not want to throw this pack to the great battery discharger in the sky

Nova F1 Racer is offline  
Old 03-04-2004, 05:57 PM
  #2  
Tech Elite
iTrader: (1)
 
lee82gx's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Land Of peace , Malaysia
Posts: 2,304
Trader Rating: 1 (100%+)
Default

the problem you have sounds more like false peaking.
If there is a dead cell,it would easily show 0V.
also,even if 1 of the cells aren't taking charge,the whole pack(minus the dead cell) will still ccharge right up to 3300(or whatever the capacity).
lee82gx is offline  
Old 03-04-2004, 06:16 PM
  #3  
Tech Elite
 
popsracer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: "Hot, Sunny Southern California"
Posts: 3,120
Default How to find the dead cell in a stick pack?

Guys;

From past experience a pack with 1 bad cell:

1) Will usually end up with a substantially higher ending voltage.
This is because as the cell is ending it's life cycle, the I.R. is increasing inside.

2) Runtime (or Charge time) will be considerably lower that what you've seen in the past. The bad cell will cause the entiire pack to false peak. Raising the Delta or Amp rate only risks damaging the entire pack.

3) The voltage meter test is not sufficient to weed out any bad cells.
The only way to test for a bad cell is to disassemble the pack and cycle each one individually then record the numbers. The bad cell(s) will be obvious with much lower (time) numbers.

Unless you are using Matched cells in your packs, charging at more than 5 amps is asking for an early failure.

***I should comment that the 'Integy' cells are matched at 20 Amps instead of the normal 30 amps. This has a tendency to NOT weed out weaker cells as well as the 30 Amp cycling. (this is from experience) ***
popsracer is offline  
Old 03-04-2004, 06:28 PM
  #4  
Tech Champion
Thread Starter
iTrader: (3)
 
Nova F1 Racer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Peoples Republic of Northern Virginia
Posts: 5,682
Trader Rating: 3 (100%+)
Default

SO far very good info... These are matched batterys
Integy VECS
Labels: Runtime: 526
Zapped at 90VCD 3.8 KA
Avg. 1.19
Cutoff: 0.90V
CHR 5.0A Maximum
DIS 20 AMP

So my 30AMP Integy will not work... Right?????

So I guess I must charge them at 5.0 and discharge at 20 AMP....
I guess I'll try that next..... I thought there was a dead cell......
Nova F1 Racer is offline  
Old 03-04-2004, 06:35 PM
  #5  
Tech Elite
 
popsracer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: "Hot, Sunny Southern California"
Posts: 3,120
Default

Originally posted by Nova F1 Racer

So my 30AMP Integy will not work... Right?????

So I guess I must charge them at 5.0 and discharge at 20 AMP....
I guess I'll try that next..... I thought there was a dead cell......
The charger/discharger should not matter. What IS important, that EACH cell be cycled individually (at the same rate) to find a suspected bad cell in a pack.

If you find that it is time to replace the pack. Try Fukuyama batteries. Top quality cells at reasonable prices, you won't be disappointed.
popsracer is offline  
Old 03-04-2004, 10:08 PM
  #6  
Tech Regular
 
DT-Skyline's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: 24 Hour Fitness
Posts: 499
Default

I agree with popsracer. I hav Fukuyama batteries and i've conditioned and reconditioned each cell. All are the same. I've had them for around 5 months now and still running very strong. GET FUKUYAMA'S TO LIVE!!
DT-Skyline is offline  
Old 03-04-2004, 10:16 PM
  #7  
Tech Master
 
Speedie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1,844
Default

If you think you have a bad cell you have to disassemble it to fix it. I would take it apart to be safe. A bad cell can cause a mess if not found. Besides it doesnt work now anyhow.
Speedie is offline  
Old 03-05-2004, 02:53 AM
  #8  
Tech Addict
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 593
Default Its simple

You have to charge the pack to start with no matter what. If you can charge it even if its 2 minutes at a time, go for it. Just keep restarting the charger. Then when the pack is warm from charging, put a load on it with your turbo 35 or what ever you have. 20 amps would be great. Even a light bulb dishcarger will do the job. NOW test each cell with a voltmeter while they are discharging. Make sure you observe polarity of the cells because a bad one could show that is reversed. If the numbers of each cell are close to each other During Discharge, then the cells are OK. If your cells sat or have not been used for a few weeks they can false peak.

What are you using for a delta peak voltage? Charging at 5 amps is fine 6 is as high as I go.

David Root
David Root is offline  
Old 03-05-2004, 06:28 AM
  #9  
Tech Champion
Thread Starter
iTrader: (3)
 
Nova F1 Racer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Peoples Republic of Northern Virginia
Posts: 5,682
Trader Rating: 3 (100%+)
Default Re: Its simple

Originally posted by David Root
You have to charge the pack to start with no matter what. If you can charge it even if its 2 minutes at a time, go for it. Just keep restarting the charger. Then when the pack is warm from charging, put a load on it with your turbo 35 or what ever you have. 20 amps would be great. Even a light bulb dishcarger will do the job. NOW test each cell with a voltmeter while they are discharging. Make sure you observe polarity of the cells because a bad one could show that is reversed. If the numbers of each cell are close to each other During Discharge, then the cells are OK. If your cells sat or have not been used for a few weeks they can false peak.

What are you using for a delta peak voltage? Charging at 5 amps is fine 6 is as high as I go.

David Root
Charging at 5.9 .04 cutoff... Ran a low amp cycle last night and the pack heated up this time, going to check it out nonight...
And these packs have been sitting around for awhile...
Nova F1 Racer is offline  
Old 03-05-2004, 06:40 AM
  #10  
Registered User
 
ritchie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Posts: 2,044
Default

try charging the pack at 2-3 amps with a 30- 35 overall cutoff, but keep a eye on it to make sure it doen't get to hot
ritchie is offline  
Old 03-05-2004, 03:32 PM
  #11  
Tech Elite
 
PitCrew's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Seattle Indoor Raceway
Posts: 2,129
Default

Integy is BS as far as numbers on their packs go.

They take their average voltage at like 300 or 330 seconds. Also, at 20 amps avg volts always look better. 1.19....yeah right.

I am not dissing you or your pack, just that they match way different than the industry standard 30 amp discharge with 5000 run out. I think alot of people are thrown off by this.
PitCrew is offline  
Old 03-05-2004, 08:33 PM
  #12  
Tech Adept
 
Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 179
Default

On the T-35 use the long lockout feature under the charge menu. This will prevent false peaking. It forces the charger to ignore the delta settings for the first 10 minutes of a charge. Do not use this setting on packs that are already charged to prevent overcharging. This setting must be activated each time you want to use it and will not be saved when you save your charger settings (a safety precaution). To me this is one of the handiest features of the T-35BL.
calvin is offline  
Old 03-05-2004, 09:37 PM
  #13  
Tech Elite
 
fatdoggy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: MD USA
Posts: 3,642
Default

Why are you using stick packs?
fatdoggy is offline  

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are Off



Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.