charging info? help!

well guys every time i charge my ib 4200 wce packs for my cyclone the charger only puts 2800 or lower into the pack, that strange part is that they drive like they have dumped

so, can u guys tell me EVERY thing for set up? discharge, and all that for a super brain 989, theres SOOO many settings and idk what to do, and i know u guys are the pros at this stuff lol, so plz help me out here

[BrianG]

Not sure about the specific settings for the 989, but NiMHs are pretty easy to charge.

Make sure you have the cell count right (if applicable), set the charge rate to about 1C (4.2A). Is there a time limit function on the charger? If so, set it to something like 2 hours so you KNOW you will get a full charge that isn't time-limited. What do you have your delta peak set to? Try increasing it a little. This setting is how much the battery voltage is allowed to drop before the charger thinks the pack is fully charged. You want the packs to be warm at the end of a charge. Hot means the delta peak is too high and could be overcharging; cold means they aren't charging fully.

Charger settings aside, have you ever run the packs until they are less than 0.9v/cell? Are they really hot (>130-140*F) after a run? Either case isn't good for NiMH, especially the heat. Do you maybe have a bad solder joint in one of the packs? One bad solder joint will affect the whole setup since they are in series.

yes its 6 cells, amps is at 5.5, es there is, and its at like 1 hour, there could be a prb there, delta peak is at 6, cut off is 1.2. trickle is .2

any thing wrong?

then i need discharge, whats the amps for that?

[BrianG]

What is "es"? One hour should give you more than enough time to charge a 4200 pack since you're charging at 5.5A (~1.3C). Delta peak is 6v? That must be for the whole pack. The chargers I've used rated this "per cell", not as a whole, and is usually a low number - like 0.05v.

Cut-off sounds like the discharge setting. Trickle is OK.

The discharge will probably be limited by the charger capability to something like 3A, so no worries there.

How hot is the pack after you are done charging? How hot after a run? Like I said, heat can damage NiMHs.

Originally Posted by BrianG

What is "es"? One hour should give you more than enough time to charge a 4200 pack since you're charging at 5.5A (~1.3C). Delta peak is 6v? That must be for the whole pack. The chargers I've used rated this "per cell", not as a whole, and is usually a low number - like 0.05v.

Cut-off sounds like the discharge setting. Trickle is OK.

The discharge will probably be limited by the charger capability to something like 3A, so no worries there.

How hot is the pack after you are done charging? How hot after a run? Like I said, heat can damage NiMHs.

i meant yes there is lol, forgot the y

and yes thw whole pack they say in the manual 5, but when there new bump it up so they dont false peak

what should trickle be at? and no, the defualt setting is 6 amps for dis charge

and there 130 ish, to hot i know, but this is why im aasking lol

[BrianG]

lol. Now that I re-read the post, I got it. :)

If you set the delta peak too high, the pack may get too hot after a charge.

Trickle is fine. Usually shoot for 1/10C.

6A discharge is good too. Gotta figure that you are discharging at much higher than that when you are running.

130 is a little on the high side for bat temp IMO. Is this after a charge, or after running?

Originally Posted by BrianG

lol. Now that I re-read the post, I got it. :)

If you set the delta peak too high, the pack may get too hot after a charge.

Trickle is fine. Usually shoot for 1/10C.

6A discharge is good too. Gotta figure that you are discharging at much higher than that when you are running.

130 is a little on the high side for bat temp IMO. Is this after a charge, or after running?

lol, yeah, i mite go back to 5, but i want to make shure that isnt the prob, false peak and all

ummm trickle amps? lol srry

and what is good? i dont want to mess anything up

and thats off the charger, after running its ALWAYS cool

[BrianG]

I don't think it's false peaking - the fact that it comes off the charger that hot tells me that the pack is getting all it can. At the end of a charge, the batteries can no longer accept any more charge, so the energy the charger is sending to them is being dissipated as heat. So really, they are being overcharged. A little is OK since that is what causes the delta peak function to work (at the end of the charge, the batt voltage will start to drop). But, if this is done too much, it can wreck the battery.

Trickle being at 0.2A is good. That is 1/20C. I don't think that has anything to do with your problem though.

What is good? Well, the pack should be warm at the end of the charge. Maybe around 110*F max at a guess. Like I said, this heat is just being wasted anyway.

I suspect you have a bad pack now, probably from the heat, but it's hard to tell. Still don't want to rule out a bad solder joint, so I'd check into that. In the meantime, you could try to run/charge a different pack to help eliminate the cause.

well just to say, bolth (2) packs do the SAME thing, so there not runined, i guess there not cycled and discharged, because they only have 3 runs on each lol, so i think there new still


and yeah, i didnt think that, so back to 5.

and ok that works

ok, i will cheack then tomarow and discharge them, but whats the best discharge? i can go up to 10 i belive, i KNOW 6 for shure?

[BrianG]

6A is fine for discharge. 10 would just be faster. As long as the cutoff is set right, those numbers are fine.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out!

Originally Posted by BrianG

6A is fine for discharge. 10 would just be faster. As long as the cutoff is set right, those numbers are fine.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out!

theres no effect on the amps? no less life?

and what should the cut off be then? lol srry but i want to make 100% shure


and thx brain! u are the MAN!!!!!!! ty sooo mucho:018:

[j-man]

Do not trickle charge IB cells! If you get them full during normal charge, trickle will destroy them in a long run, because of the heat. Set trickle to 0.00.

My settings for IB4200SHV & WC

Delta peak 2-3mVc, depending of the pack
Charge current 5A
Disharge to 1.1V &10A, next to 1.0 &1A (per cell)
Every 10 or so cycles balance them with dishcarge tray.
Trickle 0.00A

I get 4200-4700 mAh into my packs, oldest have +40-50 cykles in them.

In any circumstance do not slow charge IB cells, 1C is slowest charge recomended, my experiense 5A is best

Originally Posted by j-man

Do not trickle charge IB cells! If you get them full during normal charge, trickle will destroy them in a long run, because of the heat. Set trickle to 0.00.

My settings for IB4200SHV & WC

Delta peak 2-3mVc, depending of the pack
Charge current 5A
Disharge to 1.1V &10A, next to 1.0 &1A (per cell)
Every 10 or so cycles balance them with dishcarge tray.
Trickle 0.00A

I get 4200-4700 mAh into my packs, oldest have +40-50 cykles in them.

In any circumstance do not slow charge IB cells, 1C is slowest charge recomended, my experiense 5A is best

to be honest, i dont let them trickle, when there done i have always pulled them off the charger, no they dont get any hotter they cool down when i did trickle them for like 20 mins then pulles them

but thanks! i will set all this up soon


and rc, yeah i havent gone below 5 amps

[jnev]

On my ib4200 battery I had, in the instructions, it said exactly how to charge them. But I do remember that you shouldn't trickle charge them, and charge them at 5 amps. They worked great for me. They should be warm after a charger, but not too hot.

[wallot]

SET trickle to 0 as high quality Nimh dont like it

Amps 5.5 or 6 (instructions say 6A, but racer i got them from uses 5.5, no tricle according to instructions)
deltapeak 3 per cell

thats what i use