JeromeK99

iTrader: (3)

More like 2-3 hours to charge a 4600mah NiMh...

Don't worry too much about a higher rate if you are buying "race grade" cells... Charging at 5amps, discharging at 20amps and equalizing cells would give me about a year of competitive racing from each pack before they would be retired to "practice" pack status.

If you slow charge a pack, sure you might get a tiny bit more run time, but no other real performance gain. As long as you have the proper NiMh charger with the delta v set correctly, overheating should not be a problem. The peak detection will cut the charger off before doing damage to the cells if they are matched. That is why they we equalize them before charging. Heat is the result of a cell overcharging.. this happens when some cells are full while others are still charging up.. the voltage detection is waiting for the entire pack to "top off" and start going backwards. As soon as this happens, the charger shuts off.

Jerome

racer1812

iTrader: (31)

2-3 amps on a 4600 pack, yeah right. I charge at 5 amps and peak at 6 amps with good cells and have no problems.

JR007

I charge at, or just over, 1C on my cells. NiMh don't have the same charging principle as the old NiCd in that if you slam the current through you get more punch, it makes little to no difference to the performance except they will get warmer charging at a higher current, and probably won't live as long.
Although NiMh don't oficially have memory, they kind of do, and also if they aren't matched some will not fully discharge.
I use my LRP Battery Conditioner about every 6 charges or so, and always discharge after running, prior to recharging.
You also do need to let the battery cool right down before recharging.
In my mind, if you have spent $100's on cells, you may as well take a little more time to look after them, they are the heart of your car!

roadrashracing2

I never discharged my batteries and never had a problem in five years. I have had a few dischargers and just never used them.

Thirtybird

iTrader: (6)

I found that if I near-zero-volted each cell individually in my IB 4200 packs once a week that they would feel like they were delivering a better punch than if I didn't do it.