The Horrors of Battery Maintenance

[Bob B]

Darn, I wish I had tried that. I was only getting 40 minutes

Now you know why i bought it from you.. This trick has been around for many years in the RC racing world... So far I have helped at least 8 N-19 batteries "come back to Life" Not counting yours (of course I think Edd killed one of his)

[Bob B]

It depends on how the chargers are designed to work. *Most* lead acid chargers need to "boot" with no battery attached, then connect to the battery to "analyze" the charge requirements.

NiMH chargers have to have to have battery connected during "boot" to "analyze" the charge requirements.

I have "boot" and "analyze" in quotes because this is an over simlification of how "smart" chargers work.

I have 1000s of batteries and dozens of battery chargers and testers and matchers and analyzers and crap. (Along with 100s of wins and ET / MPH records, in RC Drag racing ) I can tell you that Most of this stuff (dealing with NIMH and NICAD batteries and chargers) is fluff that comes from people using crappy chargers.. I have heard / seen all kinds of processes that people use to get a "H" charger to charge their HID battery.. Right John..

[Rodney Nairne]

If your pack is so low it's unusable, there is no real downside to giving this a try...

If that does not work, we have a Xmas special on replacement packs, $495 excluding the spacer/clips and threaded rods.

-Rod
Submerge Scooters

Now you know why i bought it from you.. This trick has been around for many years in the RC racing world... So far I have helped at least 8 N-19 batteries "come back to Life" Not counting yours (of course I think Edd killed one of his)

[FW]

If your pack is so low it's unusable, there is no real downside to giving this a try...

If that does not work, we have a Xmas special on replacement packs, $495 excluding the spacer/clips and threaded rods.

-Rod
Submerge Scooters

This is the procedure Rodney is referring to:

I know of another person that is completely discharging his pack to 4 volts, and your old one Forrest, and claims to have it back up 60 or so minutes.

Only try it as a last resort, because if it doesn't work, the battery will be totaled

Thanks Rodney!

[GeorgiaDoc]

My burn tester from SS cuts off at ?21 volts I think. How do I discharge it lower. Only getting 29 min right now on the burn tester from full charge of N-19 bat.

[jdh]

My burn tester from SS cuts off at ?21 volts I think. How do I discharge it lower. Only getting 29 min right now on the burn tester from full charge of N-19 bat.

I stick a screwdriver blade between the terminals with the black wires on the low voltage cutoff module.

I recovered some time from my battery pack with this method, but the discharge curve is lower. I also changed the LVC in both the burn tester and the scooter to cut off at just over 20VDC instead of 21.

John