jpbp200 Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 I have a Core-RC UAC 50 and storage charging my batteries takes 2 hours! To clarify - I will use them in my car for about 15 - 20 mins and when I plug them into the charger for storage they are at around 3.8v per cell. Perfect. I set the charger to storage but it takes 2 hours to complete the program. The storage charge setting has a maximum discharge rate of 1 Amp and if I plug a fully charged battery in it discharges at 1A until it nears the target voltage and then gradually decreases until near the end it is discharging at 0.1A. When I plug my used batteries in obviously they are near the storage voltage already so it just starts discharging at around 0.2A which is what I would expect. What I don't expect though is for it to then take 2 hours to complete the process.Is this normal?Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonysmini Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 It can be, I have an Accucell 6 that does the same dependant on the battery. I have two 3500mah Overlanders that take about 2 hours to balance whereas my nano techs balance faster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tug Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Sounds it. A 1 Amp discharge rate is woefully slow, you're better off running the car until they're below storage voltage, then letting the charger charge them back up to storage voltage. It'll be quicker that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpbp200 Posted April 13, 2014 Author Share Posted April 13, 2014 Sounds it. A 1 Amp discharge rate is woefully slow, you're better off running the car until they're below storage voltage, then letting the charger charge them back up to storage voltage. It'll be quicker that way.Agreed. I normally take my 4yr old with me and his attention span/gets too cold seems to coincide with 3.8V!!! Prob better once the weather improves and we can stay out longer...Do other chargers have a better discharge rate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b19jas Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 I got to be honest, if I finish a run and the cells are sitting at around 3.8v I dont tend to do a storage as long as they are withing 0.02v of each other which invariably they are. I dont seem to get enough time to run them down to cut off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noj Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Mains powered chargers (like the core) will always be slower to charge/discharge than a charger powered by a separate PSU; your choice here is plentiful, however, I only use hyperions (dashed expensive), so can't offer specific advice on others...someone will tho...I see the name 'iMax b6' in future advice.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tug Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 My Hyperion chargers will discharge at up to 10 Amps, but are expensive. I've no experience of other chargers, so can't comment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevoMikey Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 I also run an accucell 6, well, actually 2 of them, quite often the batteries time out at 120 minutes before the balance or storage cut off kicks in. As said, as long as they are close don't worry too much about it. My first set of lipos are over 2 years old and still going strong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonysmini Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Revo, you can turn off the 120 min timer, it's in the settings menu. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noj Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 There is a second hand Hyperion in the FS section....surprised no one has bought it yet tbh...dualport and rather marvellous Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shudson Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Most chargers are going to be relatively slow when discharging, since the energy being taken out of the battery has no work to do, other than generate heat, which has to be dissipated. Chargers with larger metal cases (heat-sinks) or bigger fans are probably going to cope better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Bailey Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 As above, if the cells are bellow 4v each don't bother. It's only needed if the packs are fully charged. Even then if your planning on bashing within the next week just leave em' charged. The damage only occurs if they are left charged for long periods of time ( read many weeks ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noj Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 I've read that 24hours at full charge is sufficient to start the cells degrading? Is this myth or fact? Never leave mine charged for more than 24hrs personally... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpbp200 Posted April 13, 2014 Author Share Posted April 13, 2014 (edited) Sounds it. A 1 Amp discharge rate is woefully slow, you're better off running the car until they're below storage voltage, then letting the charger charge them back up to storage voltage. It'll be quicker that way.As I've just discovered there is a small flaw in that method..... When in storage mode the maximum charge rate is also 1A. I can't be bothered to use the full charge mode and then keep checking on the voltage.The charger clearly uses an exponential curve to determine the rate in storage mode. Do the Hyperion ones do this - namely as the remaining voltage to be charged/discharged decreases so the input Amps decrease accordingly thereby increasing the time almost infinitely. Can they not just operate in the same way as the charge mode does???As I type my battery has been on Storage charge from flat (3.7V per cell) for 25 mins at 1A and the charger reads 3.80V per cell. The charge has reduced to 0.7A and it is still going. I know it is safe to disconnect it now and stop the charger but I would rather it stopped itself! Edited April 13, 2014 by jpbp200 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tug Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 The big Hyperion chargers, the ones that use an external PSU, will charge or discharge at whatever rate you set them at. Then stop the moment storage is reached. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpbp200 Posted April 13, 2014 Author Share Posted April 13, 2014 I've read that 24hours at full charge is sufficient to start the cells degrading? Is this myth or fact? Never leave mine charged for more than 24hrs personally...I read that too but I've also read that up to a week is OK but no longer. I have got in the habit of only charging on the day I am going to use them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noj Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Likewise, or, if out for a full day away from home, I charge the night before. Any unused packs go straight back on storage, once home. As a newb, I did leave packs charged for a few days, they slowly died one by one The right knowledge is priceless Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpbp200 Posted April 13, 2014 Author Share Posted April 13, 2014 The big Hyperion chargers, the ones that use an external PSU, will charge or discharge at whatever rate you set them at. Then stop the moment storage is reached.Are they really Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpbp200 Posted April 13, 2014 Author Share Posted April 13, 2014 I have had a quick google and seen these... any recommendations? http://robotbirds.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=9_268&osCsid=b0604c53d41a845cd4a0ab61d910646c I only want to charge 1 battery at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tug Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 I've used robotbirds, seem OK. I've got a v1 and v3 Duo, top kit. The v3 is five years old (I stumbled across the receipt recently!), the v1 is older, both still rock solid. You can spend far less, but you'll need recommendations from other people. Suicideneil has an information page somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noj Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 I also purchased mine from robotbirds, on Tug's recommendation. Best spend I've made to date Stretch has the exact same model as mine in the FS section....very good price...a dualport is always useful, IMO... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Bailey Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 I've read that 24hours at full charge is sufficient to start the cells degrading? Is this myth or fact? Never leave mine charged for more than 24hrs personally... I've never found any issues with leaving for a week. If I charge and don't fly them that day I normally leave them till next week and discharge those first. I've got packs with well over 450 cycles now and have never lost a pack to use, only to crashing :S Lipos are like asking which nitro fuel is the best, ask 10 people the same question and you'll get 11 different answers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevoMikey Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 Revo, you can turn off the 120 min timer, it's in the settings menu. Thanks mukka, i didn't know that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b19jas Posted April 14, 2014 Share Posted April 14, 2014 I am using http://www.rcgeeks.co.uk/ansmann-racing-rc-car-xmove20-ultimate-12v-lipo-battery-charger.html#specification with a 200w PSU from MS. Brilliant charger IMO, Does everything I have ever needed to do like a beast !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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