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TRINITY POWER!
1)
What amp rate should I charge my NimH batteries
at?
We recommend to charge at 5 amps for race
conditions. If you charge higher, you'll get more acceleration early, but in some cases they flatten out toward the end of
the race. This is also harder on the cell and will decrease
the overall life of the cell. We do not recommend charging at
7 amps or higher.
2) What's the best way to assemble
these batteries?
Battery jig (RC5002), Trinity bars
(RC5106), a very hot iron, 60/40 rosin core solder. Solder
quickly so the cell does not absorb heat, and make sure that
you do not get
solder on anything but the button. A very
hot iron is key to this process. You should have no less than
a 40 watt iron to solder batteries properly. Never hold the
iron on the cell for more than five or six seconds and always
wait for the cell to cool before soldering on the same cell
again.
3) How should I store my batteries between
races?
Discharge the pack down to .9 volts per cell
which is. 5.40 volts for a 6 cell. Then store
them until
the next race. If you plan on not running them for a few weeks, add a little charge to them (1 minute on a
charger).
These cell deteriorate quickly when left at a
low voltage
point. Always store with at least .9 volts per cell in a pack.
4) How can I check to see if a cell is bad in
my pack?
Check the voltage of the cell. A cell will
read significantly lower voltage than other cells under load.
You can also look for vented cells and shrink that popped.
These are warning signs that something is wrong or on its way
to going bad. The pack will drive flat (read slow) when there
is a problem.
5) What's most damaging to my Trinity
cells?
Leaving the cells without charge is the worst
thing, but overcharging and
hard discharging are close.
6) How many charges should I get for the lifetime
of my pack?
We have packs in a controlled environment
that went well over 40
runs with numbers consistent to the
first run. After that, they are still good enough for practice
or stock racing, but their best discharges are gone forever.
Runtime will suffer first on older packs
7) Should I
charge my packs differently from Stock to Mod
racing?
It's close, Some charge a little higher for
stock racing. Personally, I
charge at 5 amps for
everything.
8) What role does temperature play while
charging my packs?
If the batteries are kept a little
cooler, they will take a little more
time to charge. But
the discharge is the same either way.
9) What
happens if I over charge them?
Overcharging builds
resistance if taken too far. The old nicads liked it, NimH
cells do not. This can be damaging to the cell depending on
the severity.
10) What chargers does Team Trinity
recommend?
The most important feature is the adjustable
peak. We try to keep the
peak detection down so we do not
overheat the cells. Most of the new chargers
have this
feature. We recommend setting the peak detection to .02 on all
chargers.
11) Can I send my packs somewhere to get
re-matched?
Some shops will offer this service. Usually
by the time your packs are out of match it is time for new
cells . The NimH cells are much more consistent than the nicad
cells were. This means when the NimH cells are out of match
they are near the end of their life span.
12) How
many charges can I get from my matched packs until they are
not
really matched anymore?
That depends on
treatment of the cells. We have 40 good documented runs on
cells. If
the pack is treated poorly, it will give up earlier. If the pack is only going to act the way it is
treated. Under normal usage a pack should give at least 30
good charges before there is significant deterioration in
runtime. Again, heat and low voltage are a cells worst enemies.
13) How do I charge my Ni-MH receiver
packs?
The secret to charging Ni-MH cells is to keep
them cool and not let them overheat when charging. Heat is the
enemy of Ni-MH cells, so they need to be charged on high
quality chargers that let you adjust the peak detection point
(Negative Delta Peak) like the Novak Millennium. Negative
Delta Peak is the amount of time the charger keeps charging
after the cells peak. On most chargers this is set high for
Ni-Cds and must be reduced. Ni-Cd cells like to be
over-charged to reach full peak, but Ni-MH cells DO NOT. They
heat up very quickly as they peak and putting them into this
"over charged" state will cause them to vent. To prevent
this,
we recommend charging at the following parameters:
Competition Electronics Turbo
30/35:
0.5A (amps) with the Negative Delta Peak set
to 0.02V (volts)
Novak Millennium:
Follow
Novak's instructions for Ni-MH cells
If your charger
has no way of lowering the peak detection setting, we
recommend charging at 0.5 amps and keeping a close watch on
the temperature. Remember these cells will get hot when they
peak.
Since Ni-MH cells have no discharge memory, there is
no need to discharge them completely. Ni-MH cells must be
stored with at least a 40% charge in them. Storing packs in a
fully discharged state will deteriorate the performance over
time.
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