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Annoying A123s
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Glen
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Annoying A123s

Okay this has been an ongoing problem for me since ive gone to M1 cells.

basically if i discharge them fairly heavily (but still well within their lowest discharge voltage) none of my chargers will charge them properly - i.e. mega power infinity OR the triton and dapter.

it always registers as a 6 cell pack and refuses to charge when manually told its a 7 cell pack for whatever reason.. (on the infinity it says output voltage is lower then selected..)

it seems usually i have to hammer it with current in nicad mode until the voltage rises to a bit below the 3.7v maximum per cell then finish it off in LIFE mode.. which is pissing me off having spend almost $600 on getting all the gear to use these batteries Sad

i was suspecting perhaps it was a cell imbalance causing it to maybe cut off or constantly read low but i did manage to bodge up a balancer set and they are all within .03 of a volt.

if i charge a 2.7v individual cell it will happily charge up to full voltage with no worries. both of my stick packs will cut off and have hissy fits and 4 of my 7 cell soldered packs do the same when i discharge them.

sooo im totally lost Shocked are the chargers just crap or am i just giving the batteries more then they can handle? arghh!
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Post Wed Sep 10, 2008 8:43 pm 
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Knightrous
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I got that input voltage error on the estation charger, but got past it by just telling it to start again. I've yet to have this issue with the iCharger 1010B. Didn't you use to kill nicad packs too Razz
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Post Thu Sep 11, 2008 12:10 am 
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assassin



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From what I remember it was always a good idea NOT to discharge a pack very low. And as soon as you have signs of the pack getting to the end, its time to stop. Take care of your cells and they will take care of you... hehehe
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Post Thu Sep 11, 2008 7:36 am 
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Glen
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haha fair enough, not much i can do about its voltage thats how i pull them out of the bot after the 3 minutes, but its still about 3.1v per cell IIRC which was never too discharged.

will see how it goes on the weekend
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Post Thu Sep 11, 2008 8:15 am 
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Rotwang
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My Dapters cope with flat M1’s no problem.
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Post Thu Sep 11, 2008 9:23 pm 
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Rotwang
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Ok, Now I understand what you have been going through Glen.

The rumble at the end of the last Battelshed left Badger with a loose magnet in its weapon motor and very flat M1’s and a damaged bearing in Benders weapon left his M1’s very flat also.

So I am messing about in NiCad mode on the tritons trying to get a bit of charge into them.

Might have improved my chances if I hadn’t left it so long but a few other things crowded in.

At least I didn’t leave it till the night before Robowars.
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Post Sat Dec 27, 2008 8:19 pm 
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Glen
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yeah, i found putting a balancer on the packs has helped a fair bit because the mega power charger can actually determine it has the right number of cells there just dead, so it blasts charge into them.

still not happy with them over all but with all the 0v cells and puffed out ones. if my two new a123 packs with the balancers set up dont work properly at robowars im going to lipoly Smile

22v 5000mAh 20C pack is only $130.. and no annoying building either.

i wonder what came of those lithium cells they where supplying in the milwaukee packs a fair time ago. havent heard anything of them in a long time.

and hopefully someone works out a way to rejuvinate 0v cells. cause i got tons of em haha
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Post Sat Dec 27, 2008 8:32 pm 
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Rotwang
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http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXMAJ1&P=ML


New Triton looks interesting. Maybe I am starting to think balancing might be a good idea.


http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=6301

Is this what your using Glen?
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Post Sat Dec 27, 2008 9:56 pm 
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Woody



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I use this http://robotbirds.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1248
and a simple power supply or battery charger that outputs 13.8 - 14v to charge my 4 cell packs.

Post Sun Dec 28, 2008 4:44 am 
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Glen
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yep me and jake have that one. its a bit tricky to setup but it works well and you can charge off 10 amps. looks like the new triton has most of the same settings Smile
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Post Sun Dec 28, 2008 9:08 am 
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dyrodium
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If anyone is making A123 packs for the first time (or in the past) I HIGHLY recommend having a look at this from hyperion... Off course we would be more likely to use flexable joins, but they run the balancing wires very neatly.. Very Happy
http://media.hyperion.hk/dn/a123/packassy/A123packassy.pdf
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Post Mon Jan 26, 2009 9:31 am 
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dyrodium
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If anyone is making A123 packs for the first time (or in the past) I HIGHLY recommend having a look at this from hyperion... Off course we would be more likely to use flexable joins, but the balancing stuff is invaluable. Very Happy
http://media.hyperion.hk/dn/a123/packassy/A123packassy.pdf
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Post Mon Jan 26, 2009 9:32 am 
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timmeh
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Before i scew up my charger had no instructions so how are the wires for the balancer hooked up?

One to each neg batt terminal then one on the positive out lead?
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Post Thu Jan 29, 2009 9:43 am 
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dyrodium
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Check the above link, damn just realised it was a double post.. Embarassed
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Post Thu Jan 29, 2009 9:48 am 
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timmeh
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Yer have checked but some one sed depends on charger plus i dont know which side of the pins on the charger the positive gose to.

Suppose if i buy the plugs from hobby city they only go in one way and are color coded so hopefully are the right way round for my charger.
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Post Thu Jan 29, 2009 9:58 am 
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