berger

iTrader: (1)

Myself and raving-monkey were having a discussion about this on msn, now i think the correct/accepted technique for this is to put the cells on a 30A discharge down to 0.9V and then tray the cells down to your personal preference after your race. Can someone confirm or deny this is the best way and reasons why. Thanks.

raving-monkey

Hey, i am looking at getting the novak smart tray..but i don't want to splash out £70 odd to find out its not the best in looking after your cells.



Any info would be greatly appreciated

Thanks
Matt

rocketron

iTrader: (16)

Novak's smart tray is very good and you see a LOT of them around. i use one and have tried many others and am very happy with it. a few packs of batteries that i thought were practice packs have come back to being race packs

picco007

iTrader: (99)

I know what many people are doing here where we race. Before we start charging a pack we discharge the pack on an equalizing tray (rayspeed in my case). One note to make, is that the weekend before after I finish racing I discharge my packs down to 5.40 volts per pack (6 cell of course). Then the next weekend, placing the pack on the tray really doesn't take long. After they are done on the tray, I start charging.

We have found that we can push more mah's into the pack when the pack has be equalized before charging.

Hope this helps, remember this is something we have be just doing here where we race and this by no means is the way your SUPPOSE to do it. It's just what we have been doing.

picco007

iTrader: (99)

Matt,

One of the guys bought the smart tray and although I agree it is expensive, it is a great way to care for the batteries at this time. I think it's well worth the money since it has a few features that other really don't have.

rough512

iTrader: (12)

Hi,

is a Rayspeed vs Novak equalizer tray comparo already been done yet? any links?

Jon Kerr

iTrader: (17)

I don't think there's been a comparison in a magazine but I know a few guys who have used both. They both perform just as well as they do the same thing. BUT, I think the Novak is easier to use. I have a Rayspeed and using the little screws can be a little hassle if you're tight on pit space i.e. at a big race, or if you're in a hurry. The Novak you just drop the pack in and hit the button. The adjustable cutoff is nice if you need it but I drop mine to .9 and that's where the Rayspeed is set anyways so it dosent matter. And the Novak just looks cool Performance wise though, I think they're equal.

rough512

iTrader: (12)

thanks....

A friend finds the novak clips a bit of a hassle with saddlepacks. If the wire is thick, the battery clips may not be able to hold the pack down enough. The thumbscrews on the Rayspeed solves this problem neatly....

I tend to like the rayspeed more in the looks department. It's more compact and looks way sturdier than the novak. You have beef with somebody, hit him in the face with that rayspeed block

TraceRacing

I used Nobby Stiles' Novak discharger during the KO GP over the weekend and was well impressed

However, the £75 price tag is a bit rich for me, so I'm getting this one instead:

http://www.modeltech.co.uk/catalog/i...arger_1485.pdf

Mike Smith has plenty in stock and thet are less then 2/3's of the price of the Novak.

Anyone used this one?

Dave

071crazy

iTrader: (8)

wow, that's hefty pricing over on that side of the pond. With the amount we spend on this hobby, maybe it would be worth it to take a trip to the US every 6 months and stock up... I dunno how customs would work though.

crimson eagle

I have been running tests recently on one of my better practice packs. I was never the best at traying my cells when I should but after my tests I'm going to have to get better at it. I've probably cycled these cells 20 times in the last week, every time the cells were equalised to 0v and recharged after 3 hours. Run time increased by 25 seconds, discharge capacity by 150 - 200mah average voltage by 0.02v Voltage after 5 mins by 0.02v and the match got closer, from 85% to 90%. I've been trying different charging methods to see if there is any difference, I'm currently alternating between linear and Multi Phasic Charging. I'm currently running multiphasic on 3 stages, all linear with 4A 1st stage, 7A 2nd stage and 4.5A last stage ( I think). As far as I can tell so far, there isn't that much difference.

raving-monkey

thanks for all the replies guys.

i can get a novak tray off ebay, or in a american shop brand new for $79.99 which is roughly £45 so i might get one....

about normal dischargers..

do people use like a 10/20/30a discharger before they put the cells on the equaliser?

just i want to keep my new 3600s in tip top condition you see..

raving-monkey

hi guys, just had a quick peep on integys site and came accross a few things which i was looking into buying

firstly was the reactor 30a discharger

http://integy.automated-shops.com/cg...06104569551.df


is it worth $46 (£25)..is it worth getting a discharger at all, or do a lot of people just run their batterires until the motor won't turn?

sencondly, i came accross the discharge tray (due to previous posts it doesn't seem nessecary to fork out the extra 30 dollars or what ever on the novak smart tray)

the one that caught my eye was the booster2 discharge tray

http://integy.automated-shops.com/cg...06104569551.df

but then i also saw zero-qualiser....is there a difference between the booster2 and the zero-equaliser except $30?

http://integy.automated-shops.com/cg...06104569551.df



i also came accross the octane2..it says it can discharge at 20a of something, would it be cheaper to get the octane 2 than a seperate discharger and equaliser?

sorry for all the Qs, but like i said before...i want to keep my batts in good condition

crimson eagle

It's one of the worst things you csn do to your cells is to run them all the way flat. There is no such thing as a perfectly matched set of cells, you will be reverse charging one or two of them. Discharger to 0.9v on a regular charger then tray them to whatever is your personal preference I use 0.1v. The tray should never reverse your cells.

raving-monkey

so i should go for the reactor30 and either the booster2 or the zero-equaliser?

so which do you recomend out of the booster2 and zero-qualiser?

i'm leaning towards the booster2 because it doesn't actually say the zero-qualiser will discharge to 0.9v so it may be a waste of money if i get it and it doesn't discharge that low..

after all £55 isn't bad for the 2..then maybe £20 for shipping..we'll see