mielke1200

I was woundering if it is alright to keep the rx and tx batteries on till completely dead then plug in till fully charged. Would that be considered cycling the batteries.

Nathan King

I wouldn't bother. The way we use batteries memory isn't really an issue. I would just have somebody with a cycler cycle them once at the beginning of the year to make sure they hold at least 80% of rated capacity.

"Completely dead" isn't necessarially what you want. If you do decide to discharge the packs, make sure the voltage doesn't drop lower than 1.1 volts per cell. Go any lower and you risk cell reversal (cell damage).

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

What Nathan said. You don't want to fully discharge a battery because your risk getting cell reversal. Once that happens the battery cell is shot and needs to be thrown away. In the past with older Ni-Cad batterys they were cycled to try and reduce memory from forming. But with today's battery technology that doesn't really apply any longer. The biggest reason why you should cycle batteries is to monitor their capacity. You should do it when you first get a battery pack to establish it capacity. Then check it regularly throughout the life of the battery (I do mine about once every month or so) and when the capacity falls below 80% of that original capacity it's time to replace the pack. In this case the only way to cycle the battery is with a dedicated battery cycler that can give you a readout of it's capacity.

Hope this helps.

Charlie P.

Yeah. Dead dead is not good. 1.0 or even 0.9 volts per cell is mostly dead and good enough for cycling.

spiral_72

........athough I think it's a good idea to cycle them more than once a season. Once a month will give you a better idea what the pack's condition is AND tend to keep it in top shape.

Come to think of it, it's about time for mine!

mielke1200

Thanks alot for the advice guys i have done this a couple times. So I think I will bring my batteries and have them cycled, and then invest into a cycler.

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

Believe it or not, some batteries require a 'break-in' period by cycling them. Frequent use, fly, charge, fly, charge, usually offers enough cycle to keep them in pretty good shape for a few months. But, cycling them does give you an idea of capacity versus what they were supposed to hold.

There is quite a good web site that has a lot of information on charging, NiCd, NiMh battery packs and how to maintain them.

Check out www.radicalrc.com and go down to the bottom of the page and look at the links to questions and answers.

CGr.