I use Nicad RX Packs for my plane, lets say I fly 4 times every sat morn. should I Discharge my packs and then charge them before the next Sat? or just top them of the night before ? I guess what Im trying to figure out is how often I should fully discharge them ? I want the most performance from these pack ....Thank You

i have used rx nicads for many years and what i do is charge up the night before flying then after flying i leave until next flying day and re charge the night before again. i have never dis charged these packs and have long term runs with them but if you have a cycler / discharge charger you can discharge these packs right down before re charging again.

When you need a new pack, you should consider investing in A123 battery packs. They charge up in 5-10 minutes, hold a charge for a long time, and are safe to re-charge. Go to www.hangtimeshobbies.com to learn more about them. Once you have used them, you will never buy another nicad/nimh pack.

Capt Lou

The main purpose for discharging a pack is to check if the capacity of the pack is still attainable.
I recycle a battery about every six months to make sure I can still put in at least 75% of its rating.
I also recycle if I think the battery is not behaving properly or if it has not been used for a couple of months.
If I don't like the readings I will reform the battery and recycle again or recycle up to 10 times to see if there is improvement.
When I discharge I like to do it to .9 volts per pack.
Obviously, this can only be done with a charger with discharge capabilities and a digital readout such as a GP Triton.
I hope this helps.
Good Luck,
KW_Counter

I do have an accucycle charger so I guess I will cyle them once a month to check for batt condition ....Thank you all for the Replies

I know many have raved about the 123 batteries however from my limited experiments with them they do have benefits but not that great for smaller aircraft or electrics. They are large and heavy and don't have equal voltage to Li Po's. Guess it depends on what you wish to use them for.

Wonderful!! Don't go near those darn A123 packs. The price has been driven up high enough by those that want fast charge and 1000 cycles of dependable power.