oh and one more thing.

The discharge time that the pro trak 20 estimates as the discharge time at 30 amps is within 3-4 seconds compared to my GFX. :eek:

That's NOTHING IMO.

Aantonis,

if you equalise to zero volts and leave it there for a good while you will get way more run time (as compared to not doing that). Equalising to 0.1v hellps a little bit but you really have to go all the way to get full effect. And make sure you get as much as you can out of the cells. The charge Mah should go through the roof too, I generally put 4000 to 4300 into my cells on charge.

Chris.

For equalizing I´m using the Robitronic equalizer boards. It doesn´t equalize to 0V and it´s not cutting off really. But it keeps the voltage at about 4.5V if you´re using the board long enough. Usually I´m equalizing overnight or at least for 3-5 hours. This way there is no energy left in the battery but it´s not at 0V which maybe not so good for lifetime.
This way I´m charging 4100-4300 into my Team Orion GP3300 with my Protrak.

And for all considering about the Protrak. This thing has all you want about a charger and more. No need for any other charger again. I think there is also no other charger with such a continous development in software. Phil is releasing new ROM´s all the time.
I don´t know any driver trading a Protrak for any other charger.

The Pro Trak ICS equaliser will get you all the way down to 0.0v and with the added bonus of being able to attach to the charger as well as use it sepperately (you need to make a cable for this). If you have good cells and are not getting 4000 Mah in then you probably need to equalise more.

Chris

Dear Crimson,

What's the chance that you will damage the cells in the longrun if you equalise to 0.0V?

I would do it all the time if it wasn't for the fear of cell reversal.

I use LRP discharge trays, which I think is alsmost the same as the Robitronics one, but I 'd love to use the ICS.

Ditto... I like my new 'stackable' Zero 6S discharge trays from Integy. It draws 6A from each cell, which is a medium discharge rate and with this type of discharger there is no chance for cell reversal. I'm enjoying the extra capacity I'm getting into the cells too ;)

- JB

Hey Crimson
I'll be getting in touch with you next week ;) :nod:

- JB

Hi Aantonis,

Firstly there is no chance for cell reversal. Discharging like this is not as drastic as deadshorting. I don't know of any long term studies on this but i don't think there is much difference in lifetime performance between equalising all the way or not at all, but individual sets of cells can do strange things. I am doing this with my new cells (only three cycles on them so far) I'll let you know how they work out over time.

Chris

Kiyano:

What kind of resistors did you use for your cell warmer?

Thanks
JC

Hi All,

On the CDR thread Mark Dawson felt that equalising did shorten the lifecycle of the cells. I am going to trak this information over time with one of my sets of cells and put the info on my website. I know I will be happy to eliminate all of this "I think this is what happens" stuff.

Chris.

Actually, equalizing to a dead short or 0 volts shortened the life of the cells. Equzlizing to .9 per cell was the better option. All that said, batteries dont live forever.

Hi Mark,

Yes, cells will deteriorate over time naturally anyway, I'm looking to see if I can quantify the difference. Lets say they will deteriorate 25% faster than only equalising to .9v, is the 30 seconds extra run time per run worth having to buy new cells sooner than you anticipate. Obviously which class of racing you do is important, anyone racing Mod will probably be ok with the reduced cell lifetime, people racing stock who don't need the run time may want to extend the life of thier cells depending on how much they are gaining but they also may want the extra run time to be further back on the discharge curve and have better voltage at the end of the run. If I can put an approximate number on it I think that will be helpful to people.

Chris

I used resistance called 0.75ohm 3W. I connected this resistance to 26-piece series. Therefore, the whole resistance is set to 19.5 ohms.

So Kiyano,

Do you think that the pro trak can also become a tire warmer controller?

Aantonis,

The Pro Trak already is a battery warmer controller, the only issue would be how to get the temp sensing in the right place to work with tires. I'm not sure if you could run 4 tire warmers simultaneously though.

Chris