Battery care and breaking in new motors

[ajreynolds]

Greetings all.

I have been out of the hobby for several years but have caught the RC bug again. So I dug out my old gold tub RC10 and 1200 SCR's... (yes I need new ones...)

Anyway, I was wondering what the current wisdom is on battery care. Should they be stored charged or discharged. In cordless power tools they always seem to recommend storing them charged, but several years ago the RC world used to say to store them discharged. If they should be discharged, should I drain them completely with a battery bug?

Also, what about breaking in new motors? What's the best way these days?

Thanks,

Andy

[murphy3688]

first, buy new batteries. www.promatchracing.com will do ya nice. look for some gp3300, and for an extra kick, buy matched cells. these will be nimh batteries. they need to be stored at least half charged (up to full charge wont hurt). if you decide to buy nicd batteries (i wouldnt...) they have to be discharged to be stored. just put them in your car and when it comes to a crawl, thats good enough.

to break in a new motor, some chargers will do that for you. but if you cant do that, use three cells and attach it right to the pos and neg of the motor for a minute. viola!

good luck, and welcome to the boards! (a lot of your questions can be answered by using the search feature to look for your question)

[murphy3688]

if you dont want to assemble a three cell pack, you can just put it in your car and drive the car slowly at an idle for two or three minutes. then rip

[gillbot]

I just use 1/2 of an old stick pack or a 3v or so wall brick to break them in.

[gizmoguy303]

Most people will agree that the current GP3300 cells perform best when stored discharged to 0.9v/cell between weekends. If you plan on leaving them stored for an extended period of time, it would be wise to store them at least partially charged. After running your pack in practice or after your heat, discharge the pack to 5.4v (0.9v per cell). Ideally, before you start to charge it again (after it has sufficiently cooled), you should put it on an equalizing tray to discharge all the cells individually down to the same voltage.

Many high-end chargers such as the LRP Pulsar Competition 2 have the ability to break-in your motor. I break mine in on 2.0v for around two minutes.

Check out these places for good matched GP3300 cells:

www.surgeworldwide.com
www.kinetixrc.com
www.promatchracing.com

Big-name brands such as Trinity, Reedy, and Orion/Peak offer matched cells as well. Smaller matchers usually are a better value, however.

[tadium54]

Greetings all.

I have been out of the hobby for several years but have caught the RC bug again. So I dug out my old gold tub RC10 and 1200 SCR's... (yes I need new ones...)

Anyway, I was wondering what the current wisdom is on battery care. Should they be stored charged or discharged. In cordless power tools they always seem to recommend storing them charged, but several years ago the RC world used to say to store them discharged. If they should be discharged, should I drain them completely with a battery bug?

Also, what about breaking in new motors? What's the best way these days?

Thanks,

Andy




Actually, I ran 1200s in my 1st E-maxx and they were actually pretty good. If they still work, use them. Unless you're racing, in that case you should get some new batteries. Nicds shouldn't be stored charged, but Nimhs should(about 40% capacity if im not mistaken)

Best way to break in new motor? 4 cell pack and a glass of water was the last I heard(but i could be totally wrong). coupled with motor spray and comm drops should be a good sta

[dhutch]

Best way to break in new motor? 4 cell pack and a glass of water was the last I heard(but i could be totally wrong). coupled with motor spray and comm drops should be a good sta

As far as i know thats and the tooth paste trick are usally only used on stock sealed-can motors, as they have much harder brushes that need longer/hard break in.


daniel

[tadium54]

Ya, sounds about right lol. Haven't picked up an RCCA issue in quite some time lol

[cr250]

ajreynolds - SPC (http://www.specpointbatteries.com) has a good article on battery care. If you have any other questions regarding batteries, contact SPC, they are very helpful.