Hi all,

I bought myself a swallow quick charger but not fully understanding how to use it for best results.

I destroyed one of my batteries by charging at 3Amps (completed in 3 mins) But it no longer holds its charge.

Okay so now i got a new NiCad 1000Mamps, how many amps should i have my quick charger set to to charge it?? A fellow club member told me i should never go above 1amp, is this true? And also, do i have to discharge the battery with the swallow before charging it again?

Thanks for any input!

I DONT KNOW ABOUT THE CHARGE AMPS BUT I DO KNOW YOU DONT HAVE TO DISCHARGE TO RECHARGE.
just remember nicads will develope a memory in other words if you always discharge to the same level then recharge again eventually the battery will get to that point and die.
so about once a month or so discharge your batteries to 1 volot a cell and recharge

Did this charger not come with instructions? Also, 1.1 v per cell is considered discharged.

Dr.1

Is this your charger ? If yes then I would presume you can adjust the charge rate . I would set it for 50 mA first then maybe up to an amp if you are charging TX and RX. A fast charge normally is about 1/2 to 45 min. not three minutes.

I'm going to get the Swallow advanced on the weekend, I hope i dont burn up my batterys

You may benefit by checking out Red's site at www.rcbatteryclinic.com for some good info on battery care. There is probably more missinformation on batteries than on any other topic on the forums. Some common myths such as NiCads having a memory etc. are discussed and information on how to best get long life from your batteries are discussed. In general, batteries will last longer if slow charged as improperly fast charging them will most certainly lower their lifespan and, as you found out, will actually destroy them. Fast charging has its place but is not recommended unless you just can not stand the time it takes to put in a safe charge. Even then, try to limit it to 1C with an occasional slow charge to equalize the cells.

Following Rodney's advice of charging at not ABOVE 1C. You have a 1000 ma pack which is the same as 1 amp so it should be charged at not higher than a 1 amp rate. Personally I would stay below that a bit. but that 's me.

Quick charge--no more than 1C
Slow charge--somewhere around .1 C

BTW, the nonsense about battery memory is slowly fading. There is no good evidence that it happens. Some people believe in it, and others don't--kind of like Santa....

WHAT? No Santa? Next it will be the Easter Bunny. [:@]

Thanks for your input guys, very helpfull.

Yes it did come with instructions but they suck and dont really explain what settings to use. I will take your advice and hopefully not destroy any more batteries.

Cheers.

As general rule, NICD's at 4C, NIMH's at 2C and Lipos at 1C.

An exception would be charging TX NICD batteries where you should probably stay at 2C or less. Also for the first 3 charges, it's a good idea to charge at the lowest rate to ensure long life of battery.

4C? So, I should charge my 1000 mAh NiCd at 4 Amps? That's asking for trouble. 1C is what is recommended by most, and is what is recommended in my Triton manual for fast charging.

Yes 4C for 1000 mah is 4amps.

To get your charge time take your mah rating / amps * 60

Example NIMH charging at 2C would be 1500 / 3000 * 60 = 30 min

1C charging is only needed for lipos. You can charge NICD's and NIMH's much faster.

Hmm, I'd have to agree with 2slow on this one. I havent been using my Triton charger very long, but it definitely says to charge Nicds at 1C for fast charge. It's right there in black and white in the manual. I also have a 1650mah 6V NiMh pack in one of my planes, and I think the manual only recommends a max charge rate of 2C for that one.

A famous line in the Matrix movie "I can only show you the door, your're the one who has to walk through it"

Gary Wright (maker of E3d) charges his Ni-MH packs in 15 min.

Sttockdaddy must have stock in a battery supply company as his advice will surely destroy a lot of batterys.

Our local battery expert around here says Nicad's can be charged at 3 times the milliamp rating, so a 1000 ma nicad could be charged at 3 amps, 2 for NiMH, and 1 for lipos. I have been doing this for three years, and never had a problem.

The problem is everyone is right, thats the reason for so much dis imformation. Only your battery maker knows for sure, If you got good fast charge batteries can charge up to 10 C, most high discharge are 5C charge. Some standard can not go above C/5 or 100mA.Thats the problem we can argue until pigs fly...you may be right.

Always if you do not know then C/5 will never do any damage unless on >24hrs.
Also C/5 always forms the battery better, longer life, safer,just takes longer....
Rich

I think Deadeye has a point that 3 times the mah rating for NICD is probably the fastest you can do with 90%+ safety. Though I did around 2C for my RX NICD pack recently and it barely got warm. I had it on the lowest setting for my peak charger.

The argument isn't what is the absolute fastest you can charge but what is considered by many experts the fastest that can be charged saftly by most flight packs. Peak charging manufacturers tend to be conservative and the battery manufacturers can provide little help in what is the charging limits of their cells.

Anytime you are peak charging cells for the first time, you should monitor them closely and the cells can never exceed 160 degrees Fahrenheit for any reason. My personal belief is that your pack should be no hotter during charging as they get during discharging to ensure max life of cells.

FUNNY THIS TOPIC CAME UP TODAY I JUST BOUGHT A HOBBICO QUICK CHARGER I CALLED TECH SUPPORT AND THIS IS WHAT I WAS TOLD THE 1C RULE IS TO CHARGE A 600 MAH BATT USE .6 AMPS 1000 MAH AT 1 AMP 700 MAH AT .7 AMPS ETC ETC JUST REMEMBER TO DISCHARGE TO 1.1 V A CELL TO KEEP FROM GETTING A MEMORY PROBLEM
HAVE FUN