what's the deal with discharging? how important is it? which dischargers should i get if it's that important, that's cheap? what batteries do i discharge, ( i've got a 1500mAh, stick pack, a 3800mAh, stick pack, and a 3600mAh, not stick pack)?

with stick packs either off your current charger or the good old auto car bulbs for discharging. its a way of conditioning your packs somewhat.

To me discharging is just as important as charging. Most of the stuff i've read recomend a 30 amp discharge for the NiMh for the Nicads I used a autobulb disharger but it had a auto shut off when the nicads reached a certain volts they turnd off. You don't want to take them down to low or they will reverse.If you don't discharge the nicads they will develop a memory. They say the nimh are a less likely to develop memory. I guess i'm a little more picky. Here are some ideas for some cheap dischargers. As much as you pay for batteries you want them to last as long as possible.

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/WTI0095P?FVSEARCH=dischargers&FVPROFIL=++&search3=Go

so, how do you hook those dischargers up to your battery?

same way you charge

If you dont race dont worry about it.

Dont discharge a stick pack at 30 amps the shrink will melt off of it.

alot of your questions can be found:

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/forumdisplay.php?f=166

on the hobbytalk article pages and corresponding search on charging and discharging =)

good luck!

thanks!

Go out and get yourself a nice discharge unit. I like the Integy Reactor. get the 25 amp discharge one. it sells for about 37.00 at stormer hobbies. I like it alot because it automticly shuts off when discharging is done so that you dont have to wory about over discharging those expensive ni-mh batteries Hope that helps

If you dont race dont worry about it.

Dont discharge a stick pack at 30 amps the shrink will melt off of it.


Like he said.......If you don't race, don't discharge. Run the battery in the car!!!! You bought the car to drive, right? Why waste the battery power on light bulbs or resistors.

Discharging is for hardcore racing. Only. It is a waste of energy and time otherwise.

that is true if you are just playing around the house with the car/truck dont worrie about it, I myself discharge to keep my batteries cycleing and keeping them good and storng for race's,

i myself use a gecko discharge/keeper It was 6.00 at hobbytown and it works great my packs were starting to die and it sorat revived them to like new!!

i myself use a gecko discharge/keeper It was 6.00 at hobbytown and it works great my packs were starting to die and it sorat revived them to like new!!
dont it take forever to use the gecko thing?

yea but i leve them on for 24hrs after i race then charge them run it during the week put it on for 24hrs till the night b4 racing and chargthem, i have 4 of these for each pack!!

yea but i leve them on for 24hrs after i race then charge them run it during the week put it on for 24hrs till the night b4 racing and chargthem, i have 4 of these for each pack!!
i see

For Ni-Cad batts use something that would discharge from 10 to 20A not more. A Reactor, light bulb set or discharge option included in specific chargers will do just fine. For 3000 batts or more, 30A discharge is a must (just before charging).

But as some people said here if it's just for bashing and/or grassroots racing run the car as long as it can but just stop when it really starts to slow down. Especially with Ni-Cad ones if you do run until complete stop a couple of times you basically ''short'' them and drastically cut their performance and, mostly, runtime.

It's just common sense to do minimal maintenance on batts although I'd cry much less if busting a 15$ sport pack than a hi-tech racing pack.

Stephane Courchesne