Praetor

k my emaxx is currently on the shelf until i can fix it. i have 2 GP3300 6c shotgun packs. whats a good (and cheap, under $30) discharger i can buy? i dont like leaving batteries sitting fully charged for a long time. it doesnt have to be a 2 pack charger, i can do one at a time.


thx,
Praetor

Mad Wax

Futaba BR-2000
http://www.hobby-warehouse.com/fubrbach.html

Just over $30, but it has LCD display with voltage of the pack, and discharge feature for 4, 5 and 6 cell packs. Discharges to 0.9v/cell.

Praetor

thx, but i dont want anything fancy. i wont need it come summer, and if i do get a fancy one, itll be trinitys pulse discharger. plus im saving up for something else right now and that takes priority over all else, thats why im not spending the money to fix the emaxx.

Edwin

My Feedback: (2)

Battery bugs. You can get them for transmitters and receivers. Cheap. Look here.
http://www.maxxprod.com/mpi/mpi-9.html

Unless you mean motor paks, then I dont know.

Edwin

Praetor

yeah, a 6-cell sub-c "motor" pack discharger is what im looking for.

JNorton

My Feedback: (2)

Beware it's the case of you get what you pay for. If you regularly discharge your 7.2 volt packs below .9 volts per cell you risk ruining your pack with cell reversal. I'd take Mad Wax advise for the $30.00 Futaba BR-2000 or I'd save up and buy a good delta peak charger like the ICE or Multiplex 5014 that will discharge packs safely.
John

Praetor

whats cell reversal? does the polarity of the batteries reverse?

JNorton

My Feedback: (2)

Praetor
Usually only a single cell reverses polarity. What happens is that because all the cells in a pack are not perfectly matched a deep discharge can result in one cell (the weakest) actually being driven negative. This is usually seen where packs are run untill completely exhausted either running your car until it completely stops or in a cell discharger that doesn't cutoff.

A 7.2 volt pack might show 6 volts with a reversed cell. You can try to balance the pack with a trickle charge of C/10 for 14 to 16 hours which sometimes restores the pack.

John

More information at Red's battery clinic
www.rcbatteryclinic.com/
and
Battery Universe
http://www.batteryuniversity.com/partone-16.htm

kx250ryder

Just out of curiosity, does he really even need to discharge? GP 3300's are ni-mh I thought, which I was under the impression do not require discharging, since they don't develop a memory like nicd does.

JNorton

My Feedback: (2)

I wouldn't but I only try to answer the question that's posed. By the way NiCds don't have memory either. Look at Red's site.

John

Praetor

thx all[sm=cool.gif] and i was under the impression that not constantly running a pack can cause it to lose some of its punch/power over time.