Hyper1

Now, I like that idea!

Team Duratrax

Okay, so from all the previous posts. Discharging/equalizing only occurs during 0.0v and not 0.9v?

The Tekin Battery Doctor discharges @ 2.0A to 0.5v. Roughly how long would this discharging process take?

What do you guys think of the Trinity Absolute Zero?

koabich

Ummm...no. Discharging occures at any voltage as long as the cells internal amperage is being reduced.

Equalization occurs at any voltage as long as all the cells within that pack are at the same voltage.

The confusion comes in when people were saying that the Integy Tray 0-30 amp tray is an equalizing tray. In this case, your cells will only be equalized on this tray when the cells reach 0.0 volts. There is no other way to equalize cells with this tray than to let them discharge all the way down to 0.0 volts as there is not cut off on this tray and you cannot turn off the discharging of the cells when they reach a specific voltage. With this tray you are either discharging the cells or you are not.

The trinity Absolute Zero is ok. For the moeny I'd rather have the 0-30 as the Trinity is only a 5 amp discharge (could be 10 amp). The nice thing on this tray is you can "unplug" each cell individually when the current of that cell reaches 5.4 volts (or when the lights go out) making this a 100 times better of an equalizing tray.

Still I'd rather have 2 seperate dischargers:
1) one strictly for discharging
2) one strictly for equalizing

Ted Flack

OK, one more time. You need to discharge down to .90 volts per cell (or close to it) on a discharger such as CE GFX, T35 or T30 or something that takes the pack down at something close to thirty amps. Light bulbs would work if you have a shut off device on the lights. That would be 5.40 volts for a six cell pack or 3.60 for a four cell pack.

Then before you charge "Equalize" each cell on a tray that leaves each cell at .90. If the tray shuts off at .90 they are equalized at .90. As mentioned above many trays shut off at .90. The Trinity Absolute Zero takes the cell down to zero...hence the name. It is many peoples opinion that taking the IB3800's to zero is not a good idea. If you were going to dead short the pack then the Absolute Zero would be perfect.

Team Duratrax

Thanks, that was kind of what my question was based on. I see that a lot of trays can discharge to 0.9v, but can't stop at that particular voltage to EQ the pack. The Smart Tray and the 030 can only EQ @ 0.0v. I haven't seen any other tray that can hold the 0.9v and EQ from there.

Ted Flack

Novak does and I have a Pro-Match that holds at .90 as well.

koabich

Not true, the Smart Tray is an equalizing tray that discharges each cell individually to whatever voltage you want (well 5.4 volts and lower until 0.0 volts) and then stops! This is an equalizing tray!

There are alot of trays that stop at a set voltage and a few that allow you to even set the voltage the tray stops discharging at. But once the cells reach that voltage the tray shuts off. As already mentioned that after dischaging, a cells voltage will tend to rise slightly. It's just recently that the latest trays will hold the cells at that set voltage so when the cells voltage rise again, the tray turns back on and discharges the cells down again, but you have to leave the pack on the tray to reap the benefit of this. It's that same thing as using the Smart Tray and removing the pack when the lights go out, let the pack rest for 10 minutes and then put the pack back on the tray and doing that consistantly until the light no longer light up at all.

Team Duratrax

The Smart Tray shuts off @ 0.9v, but the voltage rises as you and other have mentioned, so that's where I was coming from. All this discharge/equalize propaganda is rather confusing for a rather simple minded person like me. I didn't think OUTSIDE the square as you did by stating that in order to EQ the cells using the Smart Tray properly you can take off the pack for 10 minutes, put the pack back on and repeat until you get consistant 0.9v readings on each cell.

Anyway, I think I may just go with the Absolute Zero. I don't like the idea of powering the Smart Tray externally or any other tray for that matter.

Ted Flack

Please,please be carefull that you don't leave the pack on too long, zero voltage is not recommended with these new batteries. I just read that the Tekin never takes a cell below .05 which is better than zero, I still think .90 is best (because Danny says so).

Danny/SMC

iTrader: (2)

Wow this is getting out of control. Yes trays that can be set to stop the discharge at .85-.90 will work well but they are pricey. By discharging the pack down to .90 per cell on a device that can pull 30/35 amps then placing them on a tray that has cutoff prior to charging will work well.

In my testing putting the packs on a resistor type tray such as the 0-30 for 1 minute prior to charging will give you good results and at a low cost. The theory of this may not be as good as the more expensive trays with cutoffs but in real life use it works as well.

Team Duratrax

I know, I know. The Absolute Zero has variable voltage cutoffs.

Individual cell light stop at .85V
Green side lights stop below 5.4V
Red light stop below 3.0V

JayBee

iTrader: (31)

Koabich (and others)-
I just want to clear this up without getting into it too much ...
It is this simple... as had been pointed out the Integy Zero30 is an 30 amp discharger/ 0Volt equalizer. The point of taking your packs to zero before you charge is that your packs takes in MORE CAPACITY. The more you put in the further back on the discharge curve you are. The further back on the discharge curve you are the 'stronger' or higher voltage draw is available for use during your run of 5min, 8min or whichever timeframe you race at. And I know it only matters what your cells discharge at but IR has a huge affect on this and lower volt equalization only benefits the equation. I've done the testing at .9V, .6V, .3V and 0volts with- AND LET ME BE CLEAR- GP3300's and 3700's. The results are much better with a 0Volt equalization than any other method and these packs have stayed stronger longer and are close to a year old. And they still take in close to 4000maH. They are just practice packs now. But I have fresh 3700's that take in on average 4500maH with my method. My ProTrak has an equalizing unit-The ICS- that to me (and to others that actually own and use it) is the best equalizer on the market at this time. It uses micro pulses to discharge that truly takes the cells down- to zero. I don't wanna have to explain it, but it's trick.
Now with the IB cells...I have 3 packs for my 12th scale and 1 for my sedan- and they truly DON'T LIKE THIS METHOD . You lose everything with this method with these cells, so Danny's advice is concrete- take them down to .9V per cell, store them and before you 'RACE' with them again put them on an equalizer for a few, then charge. Hopefully the IB's internal structure will improve even more to handle my type of 'care'

Hyper1

Guys you are making this wayyyyyy to hard,All you have to do is take the packs down to.09, store, then EQ before you charge,It's hard to dispute Danny but I think the Tekin is probably the better choice for the EQ process on the 38's,when the lights go out on it, each cell is at .05 and holds there vs with the 0-30 each cell is "Somewhere" inbetween "0" and .09 thus not EQ'ed,the 0-30 worked well with the 33's because they didn't mind "0" but the 38's don't like "0" therefore they aren't going to like being EQ'ed by the 0-30.HEY! Rodney aren't you supposed to be at work!LOL

RKeasler

iTrader: (5)

Just like you my body thinks so, can't sleep

JayBee

iTrader: (31)

Didn't I just say most of that?!