Chargers Need new Charger

[claytonbakerjr]

Well here it is....
Plugged it into a surge protector so that both psu's come on at same time.
The lights dim when this thing powers up...lol

 

[Tony]

Ah, you went with Dell PSU's and not the HP's huh? Nice. You should have no problem charging anything now. And why did you only get a 4 port paraboard? Or is that all they had on EC3's? Looks great though.

 

[claytonbakerjr]

Yea went dell.
As per paraboard this is the version 3 of it. Version 2 has 6 ports. V3 has fused connectors with micro fused that reset themselves if they pop.

 

[claytonbakerjr]

Ok checking math.
Example...3 1500 mah batteries
Lowest c rate is 4
4500 total mah
I'm coming up with 18 amp charge is that right?

 

[claytonbakerjr]

I was trying to charge the 3 at 5 amps and charger gave me a capacity over charge error?

 

[claytonbakerjr]

I know why I have the max charge set too low lol forgot I'm charging more than I set it for. What a dork

 

[Tony]

Yes, 18 amps is correct. And the capacity error is what I hit. You just need to go in and turn that warning off.

 

[claytonbakerjr]

Yea I had it at 2000 I bumped it up to 6000. I guess I could also disable it.

 

[claytonbakerjr]

Back to your answer...you can really crank it up that much? I guess I'm just not used to the parallel charging thing....yes I'm a NEWB lol

 

[Tony]

Yup, you are spreading the load between all of the packs. Makes it a lot faster to get into the air.

 

[claytonbakerjr]

But realistically does anyone really crank up the max c rating in those situations? I feel like in my case 4 batteries I may push 10 amps through and may experiment with 12 or 14.

 

[Tony]

I have pushed it to the max and never had an issue. But if you stick to a 1 or 2 c charge rate, you packs will last longer.

 

[claytonbakerjr]

BTW love the new charger...[emoji106]

 

[claytonbakerjr]

Tony I pulled out some old nicad batteries and want to see if they will hold a charge. I see several options for doing so on the iCharger but what is the best way to do this

 

[Tony]

If they are old, you are going to need to cycle the living crap out of them and hopefully break their memory. First thing you need to do is almost dead short those batteries. Hook them up to a light bulb from a turn signal (if a single cell, if a 6 cell, use 10 bulbs in series) and go down until it's just about to lose the glowing filament. Then, charge it. When I charged my batteries, they were 6 cells in series, and I charged at 5 amps. Your going to want to put a fan on them, or better yet, set the battery on top of the fan so it has direct air flow. These batteries get hot when charging at this amp rating.

Once it's charged, discharge it again as stated above. You can do the discharge with the charger, but you need to draw it WAY down and I don't think the charger will let you do it.

I raced rc cars for years running these batteries and this is how I charged them. My last charger that I got for them was a Reedy charger and was about $200.

 

[claytonbakerjr]

Ok.
Now why do my lipos get so hot in the car and is that normal? One of my 2s are now kind of puffy. Like a gas build up inside.
I was running a 1300 2s 25c lipo.
Should I get a bigger battery for it?

 

[Tony]

You may try going to a 40c battery. Sounds like your batteries can't handle the draw from the motor.

 

[claytonbakerjr]

Ya know I still have the original charger I purchased with it.
I may plug them into it just to see what happens.
When I plugged the batteries into the iCharger it showed them
having 6.5 volts left in them.

If they are old, you are going to need to cycle the living crap out of them and hopefully break their memory. First thing you need to do is almost dead short those batteries. Hook them up to a light bulb from a turn signal (if a single cell, if a 6 cell, use 10 bulbs in series) and go down until it's just about to lose the glowing filament. Then, charge it. When I charged my batteries, they were 6 cells in series, and I charged at 5 amps. Your going to want to put a fan on them, or better yet, set the battery on top of the fan so it has direct air flow. These batteries get hot when charging at this amp rating.

Once it's charged, discharge it again as stated above. You can do the discharge with the charger, but you need to draw it WAY down and I don't think the charger will let you do it.

I raced rc cars for years running these batteries and this is how I charged them. My last charger that I got for them was a Reedy charger and was about $200.