wstuart

iTrader: (117)

I got a few ib3800's with a chasis i bought and i dont know anything about battery maintenance.
speciifically - what amp do i charge/discharge them at when cycling them.
what voltage should i discharge them.
how often and when do i cycle them.
how do i store them - full charge? 1/2 charge?

Any help would be appreciated.

oh - im working with a duratrax ice charger and a SHE 14A PS

oregonmud

Not much of a battery geek myself. But I know that if its NiCd you discharge it and store empty but if its NiMh you store it with 1/2 to a full charge. Not sure about Lipos htough. Havent ventured there yet because Im more of a nitro guy.

little man

the duratrax charger should let you cycle the battery,charge at4.5-5 amps this will make tha battery warm , have a look at your manual it suggest charge rates if not go to the battery manufacturer web site for charge and discharge rate racomendations

Halve

iTrader: (2)

I charge my packs at 6 amps. and discharge at 30 amps, because 30amps is about racing the pack will discharge at.

What will do, is get to the track, discharge and equal the pack and then charge and run the pack. If you are going to let your packs sit less than two weeks, after your last run, just put the packs away. If it is going to be going longer, put about 3/4 of a charge into the pack and put them away.

If you run your packs often, no need to cycle. One I have learned over the years. Whatever way you charge and discharge, etc. DO the samething everytime. It will be better for the batteries.

Hope this helps a little

deore

iTrader: (20)

and how about balance charge??

LOSI BOY-MF2

iTrader: (80)

If you are going to be racing and have expensive batts you can get an equalising tray, but thats really only if your seriouse about racing.


When I was running NIMH I used the battry doctor discharge tray and had good luck with it. Novak has one also but you have to plug it in the battery doctor you dont.

If your not racing I'd charge at 4.5 or 5 Amps. 6 amps will give you a little more punch but if you not racing you'll never notice the differance. 4 or 5 amp charge will give you longer run times and lengthen the life of you batts.

Joel78

Can I get in on this topic as well. I have 2 6 cell NiMH packs, one is 3000mAh the other is a 3800mAh. I just got the truck and batteries a few weeks ago and have only used them to bash around with. I charge the battery's at 3.5 amps (thats as high as my charger will go) then run them till there just about out of juice then use a discharger to drain the rest of the battery. The discharger i'm using is just a homemade one, wires hooked into a circuit board to power a LED. Is what i'm doing ok or should I be doing something else? Thanks.

edseb

What you are doing sounds fine especially if you are using the more inexpensive stick packs.

LOSI BOY-MF2

iTrader: (80)

Yeah thats fine.

Joel78

Thanks alot guys.

Joel Lagace

iTrader: (4)

Here is what i do, and i recomend you follow something similar if your using IB cells..

The key here is to always discharge each cell individually before charging to ensure they are all at .9v before hand. This will prevent over charging of cells that did not self discharge after long storage...


STORAGE:
After a race day charge my packs up to 1000mah(i set this in my ctx and bloody ice chargers)
storage charge should be good for 2weeks between races if anylong then 2 weeks i would tray them every 2 weeks and bring them back up to 1000mah

RACE DAY:
-Tray discharge each pack(dont use 20/30amp toaster because after a long storage period the 1000mah you put in the pack is not still there on all 6 cells. So tray the cells down to .9v you will see some hit .9 much faster then others
-Charge at 5 to 6amps. (set you charger to long lock out to prevent faulse peaking)
-Race your car
-if you plan to re-run the pack now you can hit it with 20/30amp dump box then tray then recharge(cooling if possible after discharge would be ideal)
-If you only run a pack once and you just finished the run through the pack on the charger for 1000mah. Sometimes i find that when running stock you have about that left in there and have stored them as is right after a 5minute stock run, if you run mod for sure hit htem with a 1000mah storage charge


As for cycling periodically with hi discharger rates ill do this from time to time to confirm my hot pack from the rest, as time goes on my packs do change and my number one pack may become my number 2.

CYCLING:
-Tray to .9v
-charge 6amps
-discharge 30 amps or 20 or 10 what ever you got
-record your data
-give pack 1000mah storage charge

IF you follow what i do above your delicate IB cells will be less likely to vent or expire