Freezing Batteries

[Elusive]

is this a Good way to store battries..
particlulary 3000nmh packs, it says that you should charge them 30% to store them.

well how about 0% charge freezed so u dont have to discharge them before u charge them again.

how dose freezing effect nmh battries??
any other thoughts

:D

[gacjr0]

Cold batteries are bad.

Last weekends race was cancelled in my area, but I had charged a couple batteries at home that morning. I went to the track, turned around and went home. When I got home I peaked and discharged the batteries. They were sitting in the trunk, and it was about 40 degrees in there. Even after two peaks the packs were just barely warm. The voltage and run time that came out of them was so sad... :(

[Isky]

i can't relate to that...either my batteries are super bad(Sanyo 3000's) or storing them in cold doesn't hurt them...I store mine in the 'fridge for a few minutes, then wait abother few before running them and they seem to perform better. just my experience with 'em.
-Isky ;)

[B3 Bomb]

I know someone who takes stick packs and dips them in rubber sealer. After that he just throws them into his cooler at the track. works for him? :)

[Elusive]

hehe yea I was thiking that to, Cool the packs down. Ive herd your not suposed to charge them while there warm.

[Grizzbob]

Well, if you only cool them it shouldn't cause any problems, but extreme cold(say, freezing) will have an effect. Thnk of it this way, a number of full-scale cars that have small batteres tend to have trouble starting in the winter, & it's because of the cold, it tends to render much of its capacity useless. That's also why many battery companies(like DieHard)offer higher capacity ones, & refer to cold cranking amps, when its really cold, you need it to do as well as in warm temperatures. The effect on NiCd & NiMh batteries may not be exactly the same, but they are still similarly affected.... :)

[Gutter Ball]

Wouldn't the condensation from freezing temps to warm cause rust to form inside? I built a battery cooler out of 2 computer case fans. The fans form a V shape and is powered by a messed up 1500 mah pack. I sit the battery up on the rounded side(more surface area to cool, fans hold the battery up) and leave it for about 10 minutes.

[Railman]

Had a guy tell me that he used to charge his packs the night before, so that he could race two classes (one charger, not enough time between heats). We had the same problem at that time, only one charger for me, & 3 boys (a lotta packs!). Freezing seemed to work ok for a while untill we had a couple of good packs go bad. At first we didn't think much of it but later figured out that the extreme temp changes warps the internals of the battery causing a short. :eek:
We now have 4 tekin 112 chargers. This is cheaper than wasting batterys. I wouldn't recomend sudden temp changes. I would think fan cooling is ok. Just my $.02. :)