Accu-Cycle charger problem
 

I have the Accu-Cycle charger/cycler and am having problems in that it will not completely discharge on either the reciever or transmitter sections. I have been out of flying for about a year and a half so just bought new 700mh transmitter and 1400mh receiver batteries. Both very close to a full chg but the charger will only take them down about 250mh on the transmitter and to about 450mh on the receiver batteries. It is still under warranty but thought I might be doing something wrong. I have read and reead the instructions and think I am following precisely. Any ideas?

RE: Accu-Cycle charger problem
 

HMMM...Well are the new ones quality packs....and have you cycled them? It might take a few cycles to get them to charge / dicharge to their stated capacity. ...Also the charge discharge cycles must be done at a slow rate when forming the packs.

RE: Accu-Cycle charger problem
 

If your battery packs are NiMH cells, then it will take about 4-5 charge-discharge cycles before they will hold their full capacity and allow you to discharge them fully. Charge them at about .025C (4-hour rate), and charge them at 0.10C (10-hour rate). Do this about 4-5 times. Then try a regular discharge to see what the capacity is. You continue to charge and then discharge until the capacity comes up.

NiCd cells don't need the slow charge/discharge cycling. Just give them a slow 24-hour charge for the first charge and they should be ready to go.

Also check your leads and connectors. Long leads of small-diameter wires can cause a significant voltage drop due to their resistance. Add a dirty connector and some bad solder joints in the connectors, and you have a recipe for bad charge/discharge numbers. Shorter leads, heavier-gauge wire, and good connections are the solution, here.

RE: Accu-Cycle charger problem
 

I recently bought the Accu-charger Elite and have one plane with an NiMH battery. I may not know my "charging terms", so could you please explain the following instructions in the Accu-cycle Elite manual:

• Do not deep cycle NiMH batteries as permanent damage could result.

• NiMH cells do not exhibit the “memory effect” like NiCd cells, so little cycling is needed.

What is a "Deep Cycle"? Is that different from a regular cycle? I assumed these instructions meant "don't use the cycle function on NIMH batteries" but your post make me think I'm wrong.

RE: Accu-Cycle charger problem
 

Deep cycling refers to dscharging a battery too low. I generally assume this to be 0.9 volts per cell on the pack for both NiCD and NiMH packs. So a 4 cell pack should stop discharging at 3.6v and a 5 cell would be 4.5v.
C

RE: Accu-Cycle charger problem
 

The batteries are both NiCad and were built for me by Batteries Plus, the builder is an RC guy that makes an excellent battery [used Sanyo cells], he cycled the batteries when he built them and they both checked out fine.

RE: Accu-Cycle charger problem
 

The below is a copy-paste from Radical RC Frequently Asked Questions section:

There is a calibration procedure that is simple and easy to follow. If you own a digital volt/ohm/ampere meter, you can pretty easily calibrate it yourself. I'll try to dig out the process and post it.

CGr.

RE: Accu-Cycle charger problem
 

Here is more info on checking the discharge rate (and ultimately the charge rate) of your charger:

Once checked, if you find it is in need of "calibration", remove the charger cover (the case). You will find a small potentiometer, round gizmo with a small screw driver slot either in the center on either end of the component. This is the calibration adjuster. You can turn this slowly until the numbers match, then box it back up and use it.

CGr.

RE: Accu-Cycle charger problem
 

Also, go here

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_1526489/tm.htm

This is a detailed RCU posting on how to calibrate the Accucycle.

CGr.