Hi Guys,
A couple days ago i received 2 7.2v Duratrax DTX 5000 nimhs that i purchased from Tower. last night i put one in my CC01 to test a receiver that i had just changed out, switched it on and nothing. the ESC didn't even beep. when i put it on the volt meter, it read 3.6v. so i put the other battery on the volt meter and that one read 6.3v. so i put this battery in the car and it ran about 10 feet then died.

Is it normal for these batteries to arrive like this? i'm pretty new to the electric side of rc, that being said, i have been using a Duratrax 7.2v Onyx 3000mah for the past 2 months and had no problems with it i didn't need to charge it initially as well. worked fine for at least an hour before i charged it the first time. I also have been using 3s lipos on another car for about 6 months now with no issues

Anywho, i'm using a venom pro charger. the battery that read about 3.6v, i put it to charge on the chg/dschg for 2 cycles charge at 4A and discharge at 1A to cut off at .9v per cell. it went through the first charge in about 65 minutes, it took 3300 mah, then it took about 90 minutes to discharge, the second cycle reached 4400mah in about 75 minutes and then i saw it start to smoke. so i quickly disconnected it and tossed it outside. thats when one of the cells popped.

did i do something incorrect? or was this a bad battery? i am very wary now about charging up the second battery.

3.6 volts on a 6 cell pak is NO good. Shouild be replaced. The 6.3 volts is no great bargin either. Could be the result of huge buying discounts sitting on the shelves foever. Or a pack someone returned. Reselling returns is normal for some companies.

Hey Cyclops2,
thanks for the response. I'll contact Tower about it on Monday, pretty sure they gonna tell me to talk to Duratrax though.

thanks

Pres

Do not be suprised if BOTH blame each other. If Tower say no, call your CC company and tell them it was bad as received & you want your money back. That is 1 of the MAIN reasons to... ALWAYS.. pay ONLY with a CC.........Any company will not take a major CC is useless in a problem. Hang up if NO CC is ok..........

PAY PAL is only taking a commision. It ALWAYS agrees with the company or gives you pennies on the dollar. ..............crap.

First off, ALWAYS form charge any new Nixx battery or one that has been dormant a month or so. That means charging at 0.1C for 16 hours. It may take three or more cycles of this (discharging down to 0.9 or 1.0 volts at 0.33c or less between charges) to bring the battery to full capacity.

hmmmm.... so if i had done this with the pack that read 3.6V it would have worked fine? i guess they may say it was my fault that the battery exploded then.[&o]
on the other hand, the Onyx 3000 didn't need charging when i got it...it worked just fine in the truck for about 45 mins before it needed to be charged.

well anyway, lets see what they say. if they refuse to change them i will get some 2s lipos instead. still... those 2 batteries cost 80.00....

WOW! Just got a response from Tower! they just had UPS send me a returns label for the 2 batteries. returns will process it for either a exchange or a credit![8D] SWEEET!!

Thanks again guys for the advice!


Pres.