revzalot

iTrader: (4)

Pretty new to electric and I'd like info how to store batteries pariticularly NIMHs for prolong life. I've read this article that's it's okay store batteries in the freezer or fridge for prolong life but I want to get some expert opinions on doing this. Storing batteries in the freezer

Team Duratrax

Nah you never want to put a battery in a freezer,i cant remember exactly what it does to them but i do know is it isnt good for them

GTTurbo

You are refering to Sub-c size battery right, is so then it's a bad idea....no good for your batteries plus it will rust.

According to the article, it say that if you wanted to store a fully charge battery for several months( not to prolong the life span) ie. It will hold the charge at 90% for months in a freezer and you don't want that well not for racing anyway.

There is a article on RCTech somewhere that tells you how to prolong the life a racing battery.

My procedure: To pro-long the life, I usually fully discharging it and then equalized after a run and let it cool down to room temperature before charging it up again. It 's a good practice to have more one batterys because you can have one discharging while you are using another one and via versa.

Hope this help...cheers

dakrat

fully discharging and then equalize? how is that possible?

RoNTC3

Discharge it to .9 volts per cell, or 5.4 volts for a 6 cell pack, usually @ 20 or 30 amps. Then put it on a discharge tray and it will discharge each cell individually down to 0 volts

dakrat

how is dead shorting cells going to prolong the life of the cells? it will give u better punch but will have less runtime and less cells life.

revzalot

iTrader: (4)

I've got a team orion active discharge equalizer tray that cuts off at .05 instead at .09 per cell. Is it safe to get it down to .05 prior to charging?

A-Ko

iTrader: (2)

I would try and stick with .9 a cell. There are many variables at work here, as well as many techniques. I never store mine with a full or 1/2 charge. I dump em at 20amp to .9 a cell and store them that way. If you are inactive racing I would cycle them every 1 to 1-1/2 months.

I think storing them at .5 would effect their longevity because you are storing them at a lesser charge. From my experience .9 seems the lowest you would want to go with NIMH for a storage state. For multiple charges in a day I take mine down to 0v with GP cells only. If you talking NiCads, I always store them at 0v per cell jumpered.

Jeff

revzalot

iTrader: (4)

Okay, I'll discharge the cells to 5.4v using my other discharger-an Integy Reactor 20. It cuts off at 5.4v but not sure if the cells will be equal to .09 since it's not an equalizer. Prior to racing, I'd like to stick the cells on the orion equalizer tray and get them down to .05 prior to charging and charge them at 5 amps. Good idea?

lee82gx

iTrader: (1)

Yes. You can also whip them out of the orion tray before it actually reaches 0.5V to get somewhere close to 0.9V.
From my experience there is not much difference between discharging to 0.9 or 0.5 if the discharge rate is low (somewhere 1A).

S-T-R-l-K-E-R

ASK 10 PEOPLE the same question and i assure you that you will get 15 diff. answers

here is my .02
first equalize your packs before charging
then charge at 5 amps
then enjoy playing till your car slows down. NEVER LET IT CRAWL !!! when it gets noticably slow stop running
if you have a discharger discharge to 6V or 5.4V (whatever you preffer).
lastly equalze again.

if you intend to re-charge wait for it to cool down then recharge

if you will store it for:
-a few days just keep
-a week place a bit of charge in it arnd 100mah
-2 weeks atleast half charge
-a month or more i would put a full charge in it!

revzalot

iTrader: (4)

Thanks for the info.

cr250

........

A-Ko

iTrader: (2)

How true.

It all depends on equipment you have available and what works on the track. There are some concepts within the 15 different answers that remain the same.

Jeff