LITEGIDE24

Hi Guys,

I finally purchased some ok batteries for the new buggy, here is what I bought.

(2) Reedy 3000 NIMH sport pack batteries
(1) Duratrax intellapeak digital charger

To tell you the truth after reading up and down on the battery forum, I'm afraid to plug this new charger in! in result of doing it it wrong and ruining the batteries? They cost way to much for me to trash!

Is their some simple way of explaining how to do this properly specifically for this charger and these particular batteries without so many variables. Once I understand how to do these batteries I'll try and digest all of the other rule of thumbs - but for now it's over my head.

Plug it in and charge it, discharge it - I guess all batteries are different but these came w/no instructions

Totally confused I'd be greatful if someone was familiar with this intellapek charger and 3000 sport pack that could help me with this.

Thank you,

Phil

1stPlaceRace

Does your charger have any markings or instructions about NIMH charging?

tervis

i got that charger and what you do is on the menu go over to batt setup, then choose the right things like nimh 6 cell and to avoid over heating do 3 or under amps then plug the bat in an hold the button down

LITEGIDE24

This charger has no menu that I am ware of, I did try it, worked good.

All I did was plug the battery in,

1. PUT IT ON PEAK
2. tURNED THE DIAL DOWN TO HALF WAY WHERE IT WAS SHOWING AN LED OUTPUT AMP AT ABOUT 3.75 OR SO...
3. WAITED UNTIL IT STARTED FLASHING AND THEN WENT TO SLOW CHARGE ALL BY ITSELF AND BEEPED.
4. THEN UNPLUGGED IT ANS LET THE BATTERY COOL FOR 5 MINUTES AND WENT FOR A RIDE.

Is this right?

thanks,

Phil

Wookie

My Feedback: (5)

The Intellipeak Digital Pulse Charger should have come with a little silver menu that you can stick to the charger so you know what charge/discharge modes you can use.

Here are the different charge/discharge cycles:

1. plug a battery in it and don't touch anything. This will trickle charge a battery.

2. plug a battery in and push the button once. You should hear one beep. This will fast charge at the rate you selected with the amp dial on the charger.

3. plug a battery in and hold the button for two seconds (it will beep twice). This will discharge a battery. Watch out though because it will discharge down to 2.4 volts, that's not so good for NiMh batteries. All you need to do with NiMh's though is set the readout to the output voltage and watch it. When it gets down to 5.4 volts take the NiMh battery off. With NiCad's it's OK to let it discharge to 2.4 volts.

4. To cycle a battery 1 time push the button twice (somewhat quickly). You should hear three beeps. This will discharge the battery (to 2.4 volts) then peak charge it.

5. To continuously cycle a battery press the button once, then press it again holding it for two seconds. You should hear 4 beeps. This will discharge the battery then peak charge it then discharge it. It will do this until you stop it. This is used to deep cycle a battery if it's been sitting for a month or two or if you get a false peak on a battery it can help setting it straight again.

6. in the middle of any cycles press the button once and it will stop what ever it's doing and go to a trickle charge.

That's basically all of the charge/discharge cycles the charger has. The charger automatically recognizes if the battery is NiCad or NiMh so you don't have to worry about setting it.

Also you can change the discharge rates by flipping the switch on the bottom of the charger. It can be set for 2 or 10 amps. I always leave mine at 10 amps.

Also if you have a decent set of NiMh's don't be afraid to charge them between 5 and 6 amps. They should be able to handle it fine. If you are bashing go with 5 amps, if racing look at 5.5 to 6 amps for a little more punch to the pack (less run times though).

I hope this helps a little.

LITEGIDE24

Thanks a million, the way you explained it is not in the instructions!

I've been trying to understand this thing for the last few days. And now have the keys to unlocking the puzzle - can you tell I'm new! I just built two cars and have beem looking forward to using the charger.

I will print these instructions and stick'em on my case till I get the hang of it.

I do have the little silver sticker, is this something I should do frequently, what status it is in...

Output volts
Output amps
Or Capacity in Mah - not sure about these three functions.

I've figured out the dial, what I did is put the status switch to uoput amps and turn it down to 3.75 for the (2) NIMH reedy 3000 sport packs and 2.75 for the pirannah 1800's which I have a bunch of.

Ran about 4 packs yesterday. I was feeling the batteries to see if they got hot, on the last sets I realized that it'll beep and go to slow charge (the green light ) automically, is it a good idea to let it set on slow charge for a while after fast charging or is it good to pukll it off asap?

Thank you again!

Phil

Wookie

My Feedback: (5)

Output volts, Output amps, Or Capacity in Mah.

These are more for your knowledge than anything.

Output volts let you know where the battery is voltage wise during charge or discharge. When charging it will read higher than where it is due to the extra amperage being forced into the cell. Once the charge is complete it will show the total voltage of the battery. It's also good to use when discharging batteries, especially Nimh's. You shouldn't discharge NiMh's below 5.4 volts and the Intellipeak will take them down to 2.4 (it's non adjustable). Basically just keep an eye on the battery while discharging and when it gets to 5.4 volts take it off. If you discharge NiCad's let them go all the way down to 2.4 volts (it shuts off at this point and switches to trickle charge).

You can also use the voltage and mAh functions together to get an idea of your batteries abilities when discharging. My batteries generally start out on a full battery (when cycling) at around 7.8 - 7.9 volts. I know that I have good power all the way down to around 6 volts. I can then watch the meter and switch between the volts and mAh and see how much battery is used up by the time it gets down to 6 volts. If my 2400's get down to 6 volts by 900 mAh I know I have a problem. If it takes 2000 mAh to get down to 6 volts I know I have a good battery. You can even graph it out to get an idea of your batteries discharge curve (albeit at 10 amps) and keep records for future knowledge to see if your batteries are wearing out on you or not.

Output Amps lets you know how many amps you are charging at (you already figured that out) and how many amps are being used to discharge the battery at.

Capacity in mAh is a very useful function when charging and discharging. It tells you how much capacity your battery charged up to. My 2400 NiCad's generally reach anywhere from 2350 to 2700 mAh. If they stop at 1500 mAh I know I had a false peak and may be having a cell go bad. It also tells me when I discharge how much was left in the battery when I'm done running it. Most of the time Ihave 250 mAh - 500 mAh in the battery when I'm done running it.

you can switch between all three of these functions while charging or discharging. It's just used for your knowledge.

Don't let your batteries (especially) NiMh's trickle charge after a fast charge. Pull them off when the beep goes off.

Don't worry about heat too much. NiMh's should be a bit cooler than NiCad's when charging. They should be warm but not hot after a charge.

My batteries get very warm after a cycle or after running them in my car. Almost to the point of playing hot potato with them (though I can still hold on to them). They would make great hand warmers in the winter. You should however be able to hold on to them after either a discharge or running your car hard. If they melt the plastic then they are too warm and you need to check out your car for excessive binding in the drive train, worn comm or shorting out of electrical equipment.

I hope this helps a little