Charging a Mulitplex 403

[Nairb]

OK, what charger do you have? Do you have a charger at all? You can either hook up the thing to a wall unit or use a fast peak charger. First of all, I'm annoyed that they say nothing about how to use the included wire to charge the batts. This is what you need to do. Cut off the green plug dealie and notice which wire is positive (mark it). Then you'll need to solder on a connector (the kind you use with your charger) where you cut off the green one. Make sure you observe the right polarity. Then you either 1) plug it into your wall charger and let it go overnight or 2) hook it up to your peak charger and charge it at 1 amp or less (recommended). Also, use the biggest out of the four connectors on the other end to plug into the radio.

[Interceptor]

Ok, so wack off that funky green plug and solder a Deans plug to it and hook it to my regular charger? Groovy..
Thanks Nairb, I don't care what the other guys say about you, you rock bud!

[Nairb]

OK, who's been sayin' stuff about me?

Sure, I take a vacation from the BB, and people start talkin...?

One of these weeks I'll be a regular BB-guy again, but I'm not ready yet. ;)

[Interceptor]

Hey, one more thing, Do I seriously need to only use multiplex Xtals? I put my xtal in and the car went nuts, I don't think I am getting a full charge either. What should the battery indicator read?

[Interceptor]

Ok, how do you do it, It came with a wire with some plugs on it, but none of them fit in the wall. Please don't tell me to read the directions, they didn't help and I am at work. I need to know if I need to run by the hobby shop on the way home to pick up a wall unit. Thanks for any help. Anyother info would be nice as well.

[TC3Racer]

What do you mean by read? normally a fully charged battery is between 9 and 11 volts. If you have a Voltmeter it will show the progress of your battery, and when the volts start to decrease and go down that means that your battery has 'peaked' or is fully charged. If you leave your battery charging to long it will begin to discharge. After it peaks it starts to **** up the inergy, away from your battery. So make sure that you unplug your battery when you see that the volts are between 9 and 11 and the volts are starting to decrease.

[XXXER]

Now, Brian, you know it was not me! Interceptor, I have the privilege to race with this fine fellow on a weekly basis, and trust me, he is FAST!

He is the Stock Truck Points Leader at our track right now even.

[Nairb]

Aw shucks, Steve...yer makin' me blush... :D

Yes, you DO need to use Multiplex crystals in the transmitter. I've tried my AM futaba and my FM Airtronics crystals and neither pair worked. Just buy single Tx crystals from Multiplex and single Rx crystals from your receiver brand (or just get a Novak XXtra, I'm planning on one for my new XXX). 3 pairs oughtta be enough for racing; just be sure not to get the same channels your buddies have.

Before you go suggesting that the pack will peak between 9 & 11 volts, remember that this radio only uses 6 batteries! It won't go that high. When you turn on the radio just after peaking, you might get as high as 8.5 volts on the screen, but after it settles down, it'll show something in the high 7s. Remember, your batteries will take a few cycles to get up to full potential. Runtimes will be very short at first.

Here's a HUGE suggestion that you'll love me for. (I love myself for figuring it out.) when dumping your battery before charging, do this if you have the time. Leave the radio on for hours after the final beep sounds and it turns onto standby. If you let it drain until the screen goes blank, then recharge it, it'll have oodles and gobs of runtime compared to before. I've more than doubled my usable runtime by doing this. Try it!

Just ask again if you have any more questions.

[Interceptor]

Thanks again, You would think that the goober who sold this to me would think to mention, Oh, you need these xtals to! Oh well, thanks

Bill