IB4200 Battery Care? (Full Version)

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banzaij -> IB4200 Battery Care? (4/27/2008 5:57:48 AM)

I have a few IB4200 six cell packs that I acquired used. They are supposed to be around a year old, but have sat unused for a little while. I've heard they require some specific care, but have not really read any specific information on what exactly I should do. About the only thing I've been told to do is to do a forming charge initially since they have been sitting. I'd need a bit more info on that as well.

I have a good charger (Competition Electronics Turbo30) that would allow me to control charge/peak/discharge pretty well.

Can someone point me to the right info?

Thanks!



banzaij -> RE: IB4200 Battery Care? (5/1/2008 3:52:46 AM)

Anybody? There have got to be folks out there with decent first hand experience with these packs.



jeeprubicon2k3 -> RE: IB4200 Battery Care? (5/1/2008 4:19:13 AM)

Fancy seeing you here[:D]. Check it out, to do a forming charge you need a slow ".40a or ?400ma I think?" non-peak charger. Discharge the packs slowly down to .9vpc and then toss them on the charger for 16hrs. After that time has past, discharge them slowly down to .9vps and do the same thing again. I would try for 3 times but 2 should do ok. After the forming charges are done bump up the amps on the charger to a fast charge your next time, no more then 4A. SMC says they can charge faster but I wouldn't. You can do a forming charge other ways but I don't know how. Good Luck.



banzaij -> RE: IB4200 Battery Care? (5/1/2008 6:23:22 AM)

Thanks for the info. How slow is slow enough? I suspect that my Competition Electronics's charger can't go low enough. 5A min. discharge. One of my others might do down to an amp, but I'll need to verify. Do I need to discharge below 1A?



jeeprubicon2k3 -> RE: IB4200 Battery Care? (5/1/2008 1:43:29 PM)

1A should be fine, some say .42A but thats so slow. I would do 1A.



SilverFoxCPF -> RE: IB4200 Battery Care? (5/2/2008 3:05:41 PM)

Hello Banzaij,

The best method is to charge at 410 mA for 16 hours, but if you can' do that, try this.

Charge at 2 amps and set a timer to remind you to check at then end of the charge. If you feel one cell in the pack getting hotter than the others, stop the charge. The cells in your pack are out of balance and you will need to figure out a way to balance them, or risk ruining the pack. Balancing is done with a 420 mA charge.

If all the cells in your pack end up equally warm, just use the pack. I would charge at 4 amps, but a balanced pack should handle 5 amps without problems.

As far as special care for these packs, there are two issues that I am aware of. One is that these cells seem to develop vey high rates of self discharge. If you want to keep a little charge in them, you may have to charge the pack weekly or twice a week to keep the pack above 0 volts. The second issue has to do with the cells exploding upon frequent top off charges. At high charging rates and frequent top offs it seems these cells can go into thermal runaway. The vents on the cell are not capable of handling that, so the cell explodes sending shrapnel flying.

Keep track of the cell temperatures in the pack while charging. If one cell is getting hot, it is time to stop the charge and balance the pack.

Tom



banzaij -> RE: IB4200 Battery Care? (5/2/2008 7:22:57 PM)

Tom,
Thanks for the info. Can I balance the cells by using a very low charge rate such that the already peaked cells don't get damages while the still undercharged cells continue to charge?

In theory, I can charge individual cells. This would be doable with the SxS packs, but not the stick packs.



jeeprubicon2k3 -> RE: IB4200 Battery Care? (5/4/2008 1:21:47 AM)

I would take all info that you collect here with a grain of salt, for 100% accurate info contact SMC or the manufacturer. I don't think you will have a hand grenade but just be careful.

As for your theory of charging a peaked pack at a low rate, it may work or it may peak again. That is why a non-peak charger is used. Good Luck.

IB4200s do self-discharge but charging twice a week is excessive, just keep them over .9vpc.



SilverFoxCPF -> RE: IB4200 Battery Care? (5/4/2008 6:44:21 PM)

Hello Banzaij,

Yes, that is the purpose of the 420 mA charge rate. NiMh cells are supposed to be able to handle a 0.1C charge rate for an extended period of time. This allows the less full cells to become fully charged, and has minimal effect on the fully charged cells.

Tom



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