AE Racer

I dont think I can wait a few hours for my cells to be equalized if Im equalizing them before charging, if the .7 volt cutoff is only reached after a few hours, then they're probably not equalizing if you only leave the pack on for a relatively short while.

Well heres what I think Im going to do:
after a race day discharge at 20A to .9volts/cell on my 16x5v6

before the first run put the pack in a smart tray, battery doctor, or wave tray, and charge immediately afterwards.

Since I race offroad, I dont think 20A is to far from what Im actually using.
Should I equalize a pack before the second run if I use it more than once in a day? Promatch says not to discharge if you use it more than once, so I dont think you should equalize either, correct?

I dont know which tray to get, and I would rather not have to buy a 0-30 in addition to an equalizing tray if possible. I would like the tray to be able to equalize a discharged pack in less than 15 minutes, so I have enough time to charge my packs between heats. Im not sure if the tekin can do this since it mentions a few hours to get to .7 volts. If that's the case, I guess its between the novak and the wave. Im not sure if keeping the cells at the cutoff voltage is important, but the wave does that and the novak doesnt. Although I think in the picture of the tekin, it says that it discharges at 2Amps although its hard to make out, and it shouldnt take hours then. If the tekin can discharge in a decent amount of time, then mabey thats the best choice because it does pretty much the same thing as the wave at half the price, although it doesnt lower the current in addition to maintaining the voltage, but again, Im not sure how important that is. Is there any way to know when the tekin tray is done equalizing? Does the tekin tray actually have a .7 volt cutoff or are they just saying that the cells will be around .7 volts after a few hours? I guess they're talking about fully charged packs. I cant see how they could have two cutoffs, one that kicks in normally and one that only kicks in on long term storage, unless it has some kind of built in timer or something.

Im would still like to know what the "official" promatch method and reccomend equipment is.

theisgroup- thanks for bearing with me for all those questions, I was just trying to figure out how everything works

edit-Will the tekin tray eventually bring the current of all cells to zero at .5 volts after they regenerate and discharge a certain number of times? This is what I thought the advantage of the wave tray was, and if the tekin does that too, then I guess theres really no advantage to the wave other than the adjustability and probably all cells reaching zero current at the set voltage quicker because it starts with a higher discharge rate.

Hyper1

The official pro-match recommendation is the Tekin tray,I've got one comin and will comment on it as soon as I get it cause I' m concerned about the time issue as well.Basically all you need to do is

1- equalize the pack on Tekin tray
2- charge at 6 amps, adjust your peak detect until the pack peaks at 125-135 degrees.
3- race
4- discharge at 30 amps to .09 per cell.
5- store

That's it! no fuss no muss.

jaysimpson

iTrader: (9)

Yeah the link I provided on the last page has info on the tekin tray and if you click the FAQ above Jeff has more info on care of the batteries. We don't mind helping you, we just want to help you get the most out your packs. Enjoy!

jaysimpson

iTrader: (9)

When I used a Comp 1 I used around 15mv cutoff and a 6 amp charge rate. Maybe someone else can add to this if they have had better luck with different settings. Good Luck!

rctoyguy

iTrader: (21)

That's what I use on my Competition 1's and have been happy with the way it works out.

The "system" I have used in the past is this...
2 days before the race, discharge on Deans light bar (20A, wish it were 30) with blackbox shut-off.
1 day before the race, put on Pro-Match tray (not avail any more, but I think the Tekin will do the same)
Day of race, charge with Pulsar Comp 1 - practice, discharge on Deans bar, recharge - race - be happy!

This is with 3700's - I think there are only about 1,000 ideas on this, and this is just the way I have done it without any problems, and the packs usually perform better than I do -

AE Racer

If you run a pack more than once in a day what do you do in between runs?

Does the tekin tray have lights or something to tell you when it has taken all cells to .5 volts? Can anybody who already has one tell me how long it takes it to take cells down to .5 volts from a discharge to .9 volts the week before?

Hyper1

yes! the tekin has lights to tell you when it's done,if you run a pack more than once a day,just let it sit until it's room temp before charging it again,probably at least an hour or so, you can always use a temp gun to check them,that's what I do.There's a pic of the Tekin tray on there website.

AE Racer

I think Im starting to understand what the tekin tray does. You'd think they could just write a decent description of it. They are trying to sell it. Apparently they make nice stuff, but their site is the worst Ive ever seen.

This is what I think it does. It equalizes the pack at .7 volts/cell meaning it stops discharging each cell at .7 volts and holds them there. And after a few hours the cutoff some how changes to .5 volts, and it starts discharging again. Is there a there a separate led for each of the cells or one for the whole pack to tell you that it is at .7 volts. If it actually cuts off at .7 volts does it hold the cells at .7 volts or does it shut off and allow the voltage to regenerate?

I think Im going to go with the tekin over the wave, if I can ever figure out what it does. The tekin seems to do the same thing with less adjustability, and a lower coolness factor.

Trixter

Your description is right on; except at the end. It does hold the cells each at .5 volts until you take the battery off.

If you get one, you will have made a wise choice and your batteries will love it.

AE Racer

So when it stops at .7 volts the circuit is broken and the voltage is allowed to rise? I am not planning to buy more than one so my batteries will probably never get down to the .5 volt stage.

rinkrat99

Hi all

Was looking at purchasing some new packs from PMR but I am having a hard time deciding on which cells to buy.

I have not ventured away from GP3300's yet

In general I am running Stock TC.

As far as I can tell there are four players right now; GP3300, GP3700, IB3600 and IB3800

GP is well known tried and true but I am concerned that IB is not going to hold up in the long run. For example, I last bought packs about 1 yr ago and have probably 50+ runs on the TC packs now. They still are good but not up to the voltage needs anymore.

IB3800 have a lot of information that state these cells are finiky on care. Are IB3600 the same way?

Can anyone point to specific information for IB3600's?

Thanks

Hebiki

iTrader: (26)

i had PMR GP3700s awhile back. i beat them up real good. they are very durable just like the GP3300s. i havent purchased packs in awhile.. so the others can chime in and add.

btw.. you have a tough decision on your hands.

Hyper1

[QUOTE=AE Racer]
This is what I think it does. It equalizes the pack at .7 volts/cell meaning it stops discharging each cell at .7 volts and holds them there. And after a few hours the cutoff some how changes to .5 volts, and it starts discharging again. Is there a there a separate led for each of the cells or one for the whole pack to tell you that it is at .7 volts. If it actually cuts off at .7 volts does it hold the cells at .7 volts or does it shut off and allow the voltage to regenerate?

Close but no cigar,the only thing the .07 is for the led's to be lit,it doesn't stop discharging at .07 just the led's go out,it continues until it gets to .05 THEN it breaks the circuit, stops and holds the cells, thus equalizing all the cells at .05.Yes it has separate leds for each cell.

BritRacer

Hyper1 is correct, it is a passive device.....there is no clock frequency, so any defined period of time is out, it will go to a pre-defined setting.

Heat could be used, but this would be waaaaayyy to variable.

XingXing

Hi. i got some old promatch GP3300's. they still charge to around 3000 to 3300mah.

well at the end of the charge cycle, charging at 6amp on my muchmore (5mv delta peak), i can hear sounds like asif water is dropping on a hot plate.

i can see there is some black gunk forming around a few of the terminals.

i have tried charging at a lower rate 5amps and also lower the delta peak 3mv and it still occurs.

whats going on with these packs?