i bought a rc18mt lil electric truck

it came with a 1100 mah nimh battery. i also bought a 1400mah as well.

the LHS conned me into buying this charger http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...ProdID=DYN4044

based on the LHS dudes advice, i charged them both @ 4amps the first time.

the batteries got "warmish hot"

but both ran well, and lasted about 15 mins.

but then i read that i shouldnt be charging these batteries at higher than 1amp, or it could damage them.

so i charged them at 1 amp like, the 3rd charge in. and i worked fine (apparently)

both batteries seemed to lack full power (truck didnt go as fast)

so after they were run down, i tried to charge at 1 amp again.

after like 5 mins, all the lights start flashing like i have it set on the wrong cell count (its 6, checked and rechecked)

and now, no matter what amperage i set the charge rate to (1,2 or 4 amps) all the lights start blinking at least once during a charge, and i have to reset the damn thing.

what am i doing wrong?

did i ruin my batteries by charging them at 4 amps the first time?

is this charger a POS?

what should i do?

anybody? please?

i dont want to mess stuff up more than i think i already have....

I've never used that charger, but it looks alright. Too bad it doesn't discharge. The reason it seemed to have more power after the 4amp charge is, because when you charge a battery at a higher rate you get more punch, but less run time. If you had a discharger I would recommend you cycle them a few times and then see what happens. It sounds like your charger may be false peaking. If you know someone with a discharger borrow it so you can cycle your batts and then see what's up.

You could have damaged them with the initial 4 amp charge - way too much for Ni-Mh. They should never be charged higher than C rate. Initial charge should have been at C/10 for the first 2 or 3 cycles in order to form the plates properly. The LHS dude owes you a replacement pack.

can i run them down all the way and just continue to charge on the 2amp setting?

NO! They should never be charged higher than C rate. In you case this would be 1.1 amp for the 1100 and 1.4 for the 1400.

this thing just does 1, 2 or 4..... no decimals....

so then 1 amp only?

if i leave it on trickle for awhile will it get all super boosty like it was when i charged it incorrectly?

and

Can't help you here. No telling what damage was done by the 4 amp charge. I guess you will just have to try it and find out. Stick with the 1 amp charge for both the 1100 and 1400 mAh packs.

cool, thanks red.

tolorating newbs is gooooooood karma.