Captjono

Hi,

I just purchaced a new charger...not the best in the world but a huge step up for me!

I am clear about charge currents but a little unsure about discharge settings.

Most info pages I've read recomened discharging at 20 Amps. My charger/discharger can be set to discharge between 0.1 and 1.0A

Am I missing something here or is that like 19A short of what is being recommended!!!??????

HELP!?

Quiet

Are you sure it's 1.0A or 10.A? what brand is it?

Jon Kerr

iTrader: (17)

For stock you want to discharge around 20 amps and modified around 30 amps. What charger is it you have? I suggest getting a charger that can do the 20-30 amp discharge or getting a stand alone discharger like a Indi Reactor 20. If you have good matched packs you'll also want to get a discharge tray like a Novak Smart tray so you can equalize the cells and have a voltage cut off so you don't over discharge the cells.

Qwiglee

What charger did you buy?

Maybe i'm wrong but I dont think there are any chargers that will discharge at 30 amps. You could probably get a standalone discharger from Integy or some other company that would do that high. Most chargers will discharge at 10 or 20amps. Even good chargers like the Pulsar and Quasar Pro will only discharge at 10amps. I know on my Pulsar it discharges at 10amps regardless...there is no adjustment for discharge current...only cutoff voltage.

Jon Kerr

iTrader: (17)

I use a GFX. It has a 30 amp discharge. The new Futaba can discharge up to 40 amps I believe. If you can't afford to go nuts and buy a $400+ charger, get one of the Indi stand alones and use that. I think the Equalizing tray is more important than having a high current discharger.

Jack2

iTrader: (1)

The integy 16x7v6 also dischargers from 0.1-30 amps
And the integy zero6 equalizing tray makes a sweet combo

Captjono

The Charger I got is not a high end charger/discharger but for me was a step up. It is called - Swallow Advance. (it is by SJ Electronics)

The Specs. say that it charges between 0.1 and 5A, and it says that it discharges between 0.1 and 1A.

It sounded strange to me but then again I'm fairly new to the world of RC so I didn't really know!

Jon Kerr

iTrader: (17)

It'll probably work for now but as soon as you can, I'd get a equalizing tray first then a little higher end charger with a discharge feature built in. LRP also has a good one. It only discharges at 10 amps but that's better than one like what you have.

Yokibear

A good cheap way to discharge is to do the majority of your discharge using a bulb discharger that you can make yourself.They will discharge at 20 amps.
Finish off on your swallow unit if it has a 0.9v cutoff.
I have a SJ Supernova charger that also only discharges at 1 amp so I finish on my Novak Smart Tray after using the bulbs.

Jon Kerr

iTrader: (17)

You need to be careful with a bulb discharger to make sure not to let it discharge too far unless you have a cutoff on it. Watch them closely and once they dim pull them off. It's better to not quite get it down to 5.4v and put it on a tray to get them the rest of the way down than to go too far and possibly damage the cells.