Offshore Blue

I was on cheapbattery packs.com and I could get a 6 cell pack of 4500's elete with dean female and 12 guage wire in a side by side for 44.97 this seams to be a really good deal. How long of runtime would I get with them in my sv27. Would my duratrax digital piranha charger work? What would be some guidelines? How many amps do I charge them at? Are Ib4200's worth the extra $10 or are these better? Thanks

CadillacDTS2001

Don't go side bye side.
you will get better performance if you go end to end
the elites are good and bad. some people have had a good experience with them and other not so good.
yes 10 bucks for the ib 4200 are good.
charge them at 0.4 amps every 10 runs or so. and charge them at about 4.2 or 5 amps normally

Orange Crush

That sounds like a real fair deal for 4500's. I get 6-9 minutes out of my IB4200's. Never ran 4500's. I think BJ has a pair and could give you more insight to them. Remeber, the higher the mah, the lon ger the run times. The longer the run times, the more heat you genrate in motors and esc's. Just a thought from my FWIW dept.

Not sure about the Piranha charger as I have no experience with them.

Yes, you should "form" new NiMh packs at 10/c charge rate or .45 amps on 4500's and "once a month" or so is what I do to "balance" them.

The 4.5 amp charge is higher than I do, though. I charge my IB4200's at 3.0 amps when using regularly. Sometimes I hit them with 4 or 5 amps while out at the lake, though. Rarely, but it depends on my time constraints and the amount of kids I bring with me and how many boats and batt packs have to keep up with.

BTW, I got over 42 mph with my SV using 12c IB4200's race packs from OFE.

P.S......

Don't go side bye side.

The way I understand it is that you can draw more amps, faster out of an "end to end" arrangement. However, the "premade" end to end packs are usually put together cheaply. The "side by side" packs you are probably looking at are of better quality. Now, that said. If you have custom packs made, or you build your own, end to end might be the way to go, but I don't think it is applicable in so far as your question here IMHO.

Offshore Blue

I have two race packs that are 3300's. I built them and they arnt radioshacks. I have a pirahana digital peak charger. I dont know what charge settings to charge them at. They never used to get this hot. Here are the choises.

1) Nimh or nicad: -obviosly nimh
2) Amps to be charged at: -Im using 4.5 (IS this bad?)
3) Batteries mah rating: -I put 3350 it goes by 50's and this way it gets full charge.
4) Peak sencitivity rating: - Its from 1-20 1 being the highest peak senscitivity I chose 9.


Thanks.
Also how hot should these batteries get??

Offshore Blue

Yes, you should "form" new NiMh packs at 10/c charge rate or .45 amps on 4500's and "once a month" or so is what I do to "balance" them.

Im really sorry guys, but 10/c I mean im on overload right now! I have no Idea what this stuff means. I just buy packs run em and well, they normaly run fine for me. I just want to make sure im not hurting my batts

Orange Crush

4.5 amps sounds kind of high for a regular charge on 3300 packs. The way I understand it is the temp on a charge should not exceed 120 degrees. If your charging 3300 mah packs, I would think a 3.3, or 3.0 would be optimal. How low of a charge rate can you select with your piranha? Can it charge below 1.0 amp? You made just need to "form", or in this case, "reform" or "balance" your packs you've built. If you can charge them slowly at a .33 amp rate, it will take 10-12 hours, but it will balance all the cells in the pack. Do you have a temp probe or a non-contact thermometer?

When you say you "put it at" 3350. Do you pre-select the mahs when charging? You should be able to get up to 125% of the rated capacity on a charge before exceeding 120 degrees, or in this case, 4187 mahs.

Offshore Blue

4.5 amps sounds kind of high for a regular charge on 3300 packs. The way I understand it is the temp on a charge should not exceed 120 degrees. If your charging 3300 mah packs, I would think a 3.3, or 3.0 would be optimal. How low of a charge rate can you select with your piranha? Can it charge below 1.0 amp? You made just need to "form", or in this case, "reform" or "balance" your packs you've built. If you can charge them slowly at a .33 amp rate, it will take 10-12 hours, but it will balance all the cells in the pack. Do you have a temp probe or a non-contact thermometer?

When you say you "put it at" 3350. Do you pre-select the mahs when charging? You should be able to get up to 125% of the rated capacity on a charge before exceeding 120 degrees, or in this case, 4187 mahs.

I dont have anything to tell how hot they are. My Piranha goes down to .1 Its really a nice charger. No I dont have anything to measure it, would like a food one work ? Yes you pre-set the charger and you tell it the mah of the battery I just went 50 above what it says on the battery cause I heard it somewhare.

Orange Crush

Hmmm. Still confused on your charger......kind of. No, I don't think a food thermo would work. Unless your making M-hydride stew..... Does your charger discharge? How old/new are your packs (the 3300's you built)? Did you do an initial "forming charge" @ .33/30mv on your 3300 packs?

Orange Crush

Do they have "Harbor Frieght Tools" in your area??? Get a thermo, tomorrow. Cheap and "priceless"

Offshore Blue

No, it doesnt discharge. There about 2 years old. and no I have not done anything like that. I got em charged at 4 amps and ran them, I have done that every run upuntil now, when I got a new charger.

CadillacDTS2001

4.5 amps is fine for 3300 packs
set your mV for as high as possible

Offshore Blue

COuld I go as high as 5 amps? Would it make a diffrence? Sorry I have no idea what mv is... Is it peak sensitivity? So does that mean that it will have HIGH sencitivity???

Orange Crush

No, it doesnt discharge......

Your Piranha?

......when I got a new charger.

Your Piranha?


OKay, I'm really confued now. But thin again, it's getting deep intothe evening......[8D]

Look. Maybe charge them the next time at the slowest, or about a .30 amp charge rate after having run them down. Oh, and don't run your packs down to "motionless"...lol. When you see their performance start to really degradate (is that a word?), bring it in and cool down/recharge.

Orange Crush

I would not recommend 5 amps on your 3300 mah packs. At least not until you have a baseline for them and understand what thy want/need. Again, I'm no expert and hopefully someone experienced with your charger will chime in here, but mv and peak sensitivity have got to be related. Can't recommend a differnt "sensitivety" rating for your charger, however. Read the manual again. Maybe it will give some more insight this time. Again, try a slow..."balancing" charge rate of .30 or .33 amps if you can. Then charge them reguraly at 3.0 amps.

Offshore Blue

The pirahana was my new charger. Yeah my pirahana doesnt discharge. So let me get this streight, I run them down in my boat. Being careful not to overrun them. Then I let them cool to room temp then I charge them at .33 amps for 10-12 hours. Then there ready to be ran. Then I can go to charging them at 4.5 amps and run them reguraly.

CadillacDTS2001

your mV is the peak sensitivity and yes have it high.
your charger is fine . don't worrie about discharging . go to your hardware store and buy 6 auto bulbs and wire them in series and then attach them to the battery and discharge.

CadillacDTS2001

why .33 amps ?
Those battery's do not need a low discharge like that. there is no point of that.

Orange Crush

Yeah...well, almost.

The 10-12 hours is a guess. If your charge is like mine (which likes to "false peak") you can charge them to capacity with one charge at a slow, or balancing, or forming charge. Just pay attention to temps. YOu shouldn't have to worry too much about temps at such a slow rate as you individual cells will dissapate heat quicker than they will overhcarge...or something like that. Anyway, YES!

4.5 amps is high for 3300 mah packs.

4.5 amps is good for 4500 mah packs......

CadillacDTS2001

4.5 amps is not hight for 3300 packs at all . i have put 6 amps in a 2000 mah pack with out a problem.
mind you they were top of the line cells.
also when you charge at 0.33 amps you can leave them on all night or for ever . its so low the power being put threw it can turn in to heat faster then it can charge . so really you will never charge the battery properly.

Orange Crush

I wasn't talking about a disharge rate of .33 amps. I was talking about a "balancing" charge rate of .33 amps. Slow charge...maintaianence charege rate, etc. etc. etc. Am I wrong??? Learn me sumpin???

CadillacDTS2001

kinda wrong.
those cells are of a different make up and can not take a "balance" properly
and balance those cells will not make a difference at all

Offshore Blue

why .33 amps ?
Those battery's do not need a low discharge like that. there is no point of that.

He was reffering to accualy charging them.

Jallen: So I will do the steps of .33 charging, then discharge, then 3.3 amp charge then discharge then 3.3 amp charge then discharge then 3.3 amp charge then discharge then 3.3 amp charge then discharge then 3.3 amp charge then discharge then 3.3 amp charge then discharge then 3.3 amp charge then discharge then 3.3 amp charge then discharge then 3.3 amp charge then discharge then 3.3 amp charge then discharge then 3.3 amp charge then discharge then 3.3 amp charge then discharge then 3.3 amp charge then discharge and so on and so fourth?

CadillacDTS2001

yes but you don't have to stick with 3.3 amps . you can go to about 4.5 amps for those battery's with out a problem. 3.3 is more of a save haven for those with doubts about there batteries.
i still use that method unless i want to hurry up and race then i boost them to about 10 amps.
But don't you do that with your batterys

Orange Crush

You don't need to disharge NiMh batteries regularly. I'm just trying to help you get "back in the ballpark".......find a baseline, if you will. I never discharge mine. I charge my 4200's at 3.0/30mv and balance them about every month at .42 amps. Some run their batts more, some less. This info is just a "rule of thumb". You can charge them at 100 amps if you want. Maybe you have a budget that allows you to replace your battery packs at will. I don't. I try to take care fo, and make my packs last like they should/can/will/etc..........whatever.

Offshore Blue

By Discharge I mean running them out in my sv27 just FYI. Well i cant be doing anything of the sort, I spend time and effort into my batts and hope they will last everybit that they are designed for, maby longer. So your saying it will hurt the batts at 4.5-5.0 amps? OR it will just not take as long. What ever is best for the battery... Even if it does take me a bit longer to charge.


Would it be safe to leave my charger at .33 amps overnight? I really dont have 10-12 hours in the day to watch my charger...