HELP...newbie lost with 989 super brain  
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All Forums >> Radios, Batteries, Clubhouse and more >> Batteries & Chargers >> MRC Charger Product Support (i.e. Super Brain, etc) >> HELP...newbie lost with 989 super brain
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HELP...newbie lost with 989 super brain - 5/31/2008 3:56:50 PM   
shaggyballs


 

Posts: 4
Joined: 5/20/2008
From: fraser, MI, USA
Status: offline 		I just got my brand new 989, but I am so lost on how to properly charge my 4200 mah 8 cell nimh battery.

I tried to charge and discharge but the battery dosent seem to take a full charge?


I tried another but had the same results.

maybe my batts are fully charged and I dont have the knowledge to know if they are or not!

this is my first time charging rc type batts.

I read the manual 3-4 times and seem to be more confused each time.

I am so lost !!!! I thought I would just plug them in and they are charged.

I have no previous knowledge of batteries or chargers.

It is super confusing trying to figure- peaks, cutoffs, 1c, 2c charge ect.

I have no idea what this stuff is or what to do with the info.


I need some one to hold my hand and walk me through all the steps .


Is that possible ?

I dont understand the cut off"s or the peaks 1c - 1.5c or any of that terminoligy


very lost please help

< Message edited by shaggyballs -- 5/31/2008 4:29:08 PM >
       Post #: 1

RE: HELP...newbie lost with 989 super brain - 5/31/2008 8:30:14 PM   
guver


 

Posts: 8790
Joined: 3/7/2003
From: LaGrange, OH, USA
Status: offline 		Hi, welcome to RCU and the MRC support. I have a 989 and can help with settings , it should be in the manual.

Pick a profile (there may be a close one already programmed) and set as follows

Type use NIMH
Cells use 8
Mah use 4200
amp (can be any current really) use 4.2 as a standard rate , slower is better, faster is faster. Some consider 6 amps to be max.
mv use 5 mv.
Trickle use anything up to 400 ma.

If I forgot any for charging let me know. I don't discharge.

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       Post #: 2

RE: HELP...newbie lost with 989 super brain - 6/1/2008 1:40:42 AM   
shaggyballs


 

Posts: 4
Joined: 5/20/2008
From: fraser, MI, USA
Status: offline 		How do i tell if the batt is fully charged, how do i find out what the mah of the batt is?


And I thought if you dont discharge a new batt you wont reach full potential.


Isnt it bad to trickle charge a nimh batt, thats what i heard


This is all new to me so any info is greatly apreciated.

(in reply to guver)
       Post #: 3

RE: HELP...newbie lost with 989 super brain - 6/1/2008 2:15:42 AM   
guver


 

Posts: 8790
Joined: 3/7/2003
From: LaGrange, OH, USA
Status: offline 		The charger should stop when full. (Battery will be quite warm) capacity is on label , 4200 , right?
Discharging is not nessecary and for a brand new battery set the trickle to 200-300 ma and leave it on trickle after it peaks. Any charges after that can be set anywhere from 0-400 ma.

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       Post #: 4

RE: HELP...newbie lost with 989 super brain - 6/2/2008 8:48:53 PM   
Tim@MRC


 

Posts: 347
Joined: 7/24/2006
From: Edison, NJ, USA
Status: offline 		Thanks again, guver. He's got it right. The battery should be warm when it's fully charged. Also, you don't really know how long the battery has been sitting before you bought it, so it may take a few cycles to really build up the capacity. So on the first full charge, you may not see it go all the way to 4200. Also, when they use the term - 1C, 2C, etc... That's referring to the capacity in the battery, and the charge rate to use. For instance, 1C is 1 X capacity of the battery. So for your 4200, a 1C charge would be 4.2 amps. 1000mah is equal 1 amp hour. As guver stated, I wouldn't charge any faster than around 6 amps, but not for the first charge, stay around the 4.2 for the first few charges until the capacity comes up in the battery. If you have any other questions, just ask.
Tim

(in reply to guver)
       Post #: 5

RE: HELP...newbie lost with 989 super brain - 6/2/2008 10:23:11 PM   
shaggyballs


 

Posts: 4
Joined: 5/20/2008
From: fraser, MI, USA
Status: offline 		Thanks for the great info guys


Hey tim



does this charger state how many mah are in the batt currently after being charged ?

my batts never get to 4000 mah

let alone 4800-5000 mah some say they get

but they do get to just under 10 volts on a 3 amp charge

do I charge them more than once ?


And is it true you dont need to discharge ever?

< Message edited by shaggyballs -- 6/2/2008 10:28:07 PM >

(in reply to Tim@MRC)
       Post #: 6

RE: HELP...newbie lost with 989 super brain - 6/2/2008 10:46:56 PM   
guver


 

Posts: 8790
Joined: 3/7/2003
From: LaGrange, OH, USA
Status: offline 		It will continue to keep track of the amount of capacity that is being added on the display , but will not ever give you a total capacity that is in the battery since it doesn't know how much it started with. Check out page 4 for retrieving capacity data after the charge and it's also possible to retreive a number of charges from a certain memoery profile long afterwards.

If the battery is quite warm then it is full. You could try to start it again , but it should turn off fairly quick because it's full.

If you use the battery for powering a motor then it is not necessary to discharge, maybe it would be good to discharge to .9 per cell once in a great while. (once per year perhaps)

oops, sorry. Didn't notice the "hey Tim"

< Message edited by guver -- 6/2/2008 10:48:00 PM >

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       Post #: 7

RE: HELP...newbie lost with 989 super brain - 6/2/2008 10:59:02 PM   
Tim@MRC


 

Posts: 347
Joined: 7/24/2006
From: Edison, NJ, USA
Status: offline 		No problem. Is the battery getting warm when done? It should display durring the charge, and when complete how many MAHs are going in. Just so you know, an 8 cell batery should be fully charged at approx. 11.2 volts. If it's a new battery, it may be false peaking. Keep a running total of the MAH going in, and keep track of the temp off the battery. If the charger shuts off, and the battery isn't even warm yet, then yes, do another charge. I would probably up the amperage to 4.2 amps though, just to speed things up a little.

Also, pretty much what guver just said.

(in reply to guver)
       Post #: 8

RE: HELP...newbie lost with 989 super brain - 6/3/2008 2:34:12 AM   
shaggyballs


 

Posts: 4
Joined: 5/20/2008
From: fraser, MI, USA
Status: offline 		Thanks guver and tim

guver I just directed that at tim cause I thought he was tech support- keep the knowledge flowing

yes the batt is very warm

I just saw I posted my batt as a 8 cell it is not......... it is a 7 cell , what voltage should a 7 cell 4200 mah nimh batt. peak at ?


Thanks again to both of you................I think I am begining to get the hang of all this now

(in reply to Tim@MRC)
       Post #: 9

RE: HELP...newbie lost with 989 super brain - 6/3/2008 3:39:24 PM   
Tim@MRC


 

Posts: 347
Joined: 7/24/2006
From: Edison, NJ, USA
Status: offline 		If the battery is getting really warn, then that's a good indication that's it's fully charged. Did you notice what the MAH is up to when fully charged? You can put the battery through an "Auto-Cycle", which a full discharge/charge cycle, that should give you a good idea of the condition of the battery.
You really don't have to worry about discharging a NiMH before you re-charge it. Every once in a while if you want to bring the battery down to 1.0 volts per cell, and then charge it, it wouldn't hurt it. But you should only have to do this if the battery has been sitting for a while and you have to cycle it a few times to get the capacity back.
Each cell in the pack is rated at 1.2 volts, this is the nominal rating of the cell. Fully charged, each will peak at around 1.4 volts, sometimes a little higher. So a fully charge 7 cell battery will read around 9.8 volts.

(in reply to shaggyballs)
       Post #: 10

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