Question about battery life and frequent charging.

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MikeK1981

ChondroManiac
Messages
2,037
Location
Humboldt, CA
Ok so I don't have a battery indicator on my truck yet and was wondering if it is bad for my batteries to charge them before they are really low? I let them go low the first couple times but since then I have been charging them after just running for part of the day to make sure that they are full for the next time. When they got low my servos became unresponsive and if it hadn't been for the return spring the carb may not have closed fully. I'm getting a fail safe today or tomorrow but I like to keep my batteries full so I don't have to worry about it when I go out the next time, and have been charging the standard 1200NiMH hump pack in the XL every 3-5 tanks when the manual says its good for 10 tanks of running is that bad for them? I have also been charging my venom 3000NiMH for my roto start at the same time. It probably has more than half of it's life left when I charge it. Is this OK or am I hurting my batteries? Sorry for the noob question but my Super Nitro RS4 only uses AA's so I'm totally green when it comes to the whole charging thing. Also I only charge the 1200NiMH at 1 amp like the manual says and the venom 3000NiMH at 2 amps and the box for it says 3 is OK but I only have the option of 1,2, or 4 so I went with 2 to be on the safe side.
 
idk mike, but i have a 1200 mah hpi hump pack that ive been charging before every bash (about once a week) and I'm still getting 8+v at peak.

same story with my Hellfire pack & glow igs. all are working sweet so based on that, my $.02 is that you don't have to run them down before you charge.

also, we're not talking an expensive battery replacement here 😛eace:
 
I have never had problems with charging batteries with some juice left in them. All my batteries are still going right now.

When you charge your batteries, it's best to charge them at 1C. What that means is, if your battery is 1600MaH, you wanna charge at 1.6A, if your battery is 2500MaH, you charge at 2.5A. But since your charger charges in full increments, I agree. Go down to the full amp. I like to be safe and charge all my batteries at 1A, not exceeding 1.5A. That's just me, but I've heard that it makes your battery last longer.
 
I always thought of it as taking the capacity in MaH and multiplying it by .001. That will give you something like this with a 2400MaH battery pack: 2400MaH x .001 = 2.4. That 2.4 is the amperage suggested to charge at.
 

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