I bought a used Accu-Cycle at a very good price and it works well with a minor flaw; the readings are off by 15%, in minutes and mAh. It’s a bit bothersome having to calculate the actual reading every time.

It would likely cost just as much or more than I paid for the unit to send it Hobbico and pay them (beyond warranty period) to re-calibrate the unit. Is it possible to adjust this myself and how?

I do not have the unit you discuss. But here are the questions I would have to answer:

1. Is the discharge circuit actually an accurate 'constant current' discharge during the entire discharge session?

2. If the answer to number 1 is 'yes' then what is the exact discharge current rate during the session?

3. What do they use as a timer?

4. What is the cutoff voltage for the discharger?

You say the readings are off by 15%. What are you using as the 'standard' for comparison? In other words, off 15% compared to what?

you can calibrate it by measuring the mah load when discharging i believe it is 300 mah not positive bout that measurement but there is forums that have that info there are 2 pots to adjust inside But do yourself a favor sell it on ebay its just not reliable i have had 2 the 2nd one hobbico was made aware of my issue and the one they sent had the same problem get an einstein they are 99 bucks at omni models and the shipping is free get the deluxe the adapter is a must AGAIN GET RID OF THE ACCU SUCK

Keith, Well I’ll do my best to answer your questions, I know very little about electronics. But now if you want to know about building houses…

1. It has a switch to discharge at either 250 mAh or 500 mAh. Weather its constant; there is nothing in the manual to indicate it’s programmed to fluctuate. As for testing for constant DC or accuracy, have not done that or know how.

2. ?

3. It’s a 15-hour time limit charge, no peak detection. If you want to know the type or style of the internal timer, I wouldn’t know what to tell you even if I opened the unit.

4. The ‘manual says’ it discharges down to 1.05 volts per cell.

The 15% figure was calculated by a member of our club that is much more knowledgeable about this stuff than me or the guy I bought it from. So when I acquired the unit I was told to add 15% to the numbers. I’m going to assume the 15% number was determined by cycling various packs with this unit then with a known good cycling unit, not sure.


SuperStick , Agreed! I needed a battery cycler and the price was right on this one. I'm holding hope for a Litco, so everybody reading this please find something else to do on the next open ordering date. Thank you!

Sdr thanks for the information.

Questions number 1 and number 2 are somewhat critical for determining if the unit can be easily calibrated. If it was 'for sure' a constant current discharge circuit over the entire discharge session then this is very helpful. And then if the constant current discharge can be adjusted by adjusting a potentiometer (a variable resistor) or by replacing fixed resistors that would also be helpful. Sounds like too many unknowns atthis point. At least your friend informed you about the discrepancy.

SDR,
I asked the same questiona while ago and got some good information along with a thread on calibrating. I couldn't figure out how to point you to the thread so I bumped it back to the top of the forum, it's called Acucycle Accuracy...clever huh?

You'll get all you questions answered there.

BasinBum, Thats the information I was looking for.

This sure seems to be a comon problem. It will make me think twice about buying Hobbico in the future.

SDR,
Like you I bought mine used and it does what I need it to do. I don't know that more accuracy would change the way I use it even though it is call an ACCU-cycle.

I haven't seen anyone put a meter on any of the other high end cyclers to see if they are doing exactly what they are supposed to do.

Hobbico isn't high quality stuff but at the right price it may do enough to get the job done.