Has anyone bought new packs lately? I have 3 new ones I bought about 2 weeks ago. They are junk. Discharge Ave. is not bad (4.14-4.22), but the time is terrible. Best is 280 sec., worst is 245 sec. I used them for practice last week and they drastically dumped after about 2 minutes. I have old packs from last indoor season that sat all summer that are better.

Anyone else have the same results?

H.D.RACING,I will agree,I cycled my packs a couple of days ago and cant believe how the run time has failed,im not even makeing 240 sec.!!!!.

dead short em !! that'll get em going !! i had a few that were headed to the garbage and i just did that for fun and they turned into my best packs !!

briano 72 You know i was just thinking the same thing,gone down and try it in my RC shop. Thanx. Oh,what do you use for a charge rate????.

What are yall discharging those at?

What are yall discharging those at? Im still old school,im useing 1157 bulbs,roughly 10 amps.

Are they being cycled on a GFX? I know a few of the guys I race with have bought new packs lately, and have been real satisfied with them. Usually around 4.54 to 4.56 voltage and 400+ runtime. This is on a GFX cycled at 5 amps and discharged at 15.

Brian, sent you a pm.

I have been cycling on an older T-30. Charge at 5, peak at 6, discharge at 20.
Packs I bought last year were 4.10-4.30 with 300-350 run time.
New packs this year are 4.0-4.20 with 245-280 runtime. I thought about dead shorting
but I don't think that will bring back run time.

glen, you have a pm....

briano 72 You know i was just thinking the same thing,gone down and try it in my RC shop. Thanx. Oh,what do you use for a charge rate????.


i always charged em at 5 amps. with a .20 cut off i think. i was never real technical with runtime seconds, but they were dropping off at 2 1/2- 3 minutes runinng brushless nastruck and after deadshorting em they lasted a 4 minute race. and i used a deans to discharge, so its like 10 amps.

briano 72,thanx for the reply.Well,I did go down in the celler and dead shorted the bunch of them and now we'll see in a day or so what's gonna happinn LOL.My charge rate and discharge rate is about the same as yours.If that dont work maybe I can talk track into 25 lap races maybe???????.HA HA.

i tried reflexing a couple of packs yesterday and that seemed to pick the volts up some. one pack i did at 4 amps and the other i did at 6 amps the 4 seemed a little better and i discharge at 10 amps

Are the current cells Nicad or Nimh ?
The yellow and orange spec packs loved to be dead shorted or 0.0 trayed
for a week.
If they are of the nicad family , try pulse charging vs. linier.

Otherwise I have no hands on with these.

I'm not sure the supplier your talking about , but some have put their SPEC
priorities on the back burner and just don't care whats in the shrink wrap.

Yes these are the Trinity Spec.packs yellow and orange in color.

Are the current cells Nicad or Nimh ?
The yellow and orange spec packs loved to be dead shorted or 0.0 trayed
for a week.
If they are of the nicad family , try pulse charging vs. linier.

Otherwise I have no hands on with these.

I'm not sure the supplier your talking about , but some have put their SPEC
priorities on the back burner and just don't care whats in the shrink wrap.


they are still nicad, 1600 mah. and ya cant tray a spec pack, its all sealed up nice and tight !!

Yea , I messed up on the traying aspect .

Just put a power resistor ,, 10 ohm for 4 cell and a 30 ohm for 6 cell and
leave it on there all week.

Pulse charge and hit them with HIGH amps at least for the first half of the charge. 9 - 10 amps.

Good luck


The ICE works well for this , in pulse / step mode

I'll tell yah right now!!!!I dead shorted my 1600 specs and chargedim with my old Novac Digy Peak charger at 5 amps pulse and discharged at 10 amps,you cant believe the difference in those packs!!!!!!!!.Now i gotta put them to the test onna track,then i can make a full judgement on results. :thumbsup:

i charg at 6 discharge at 15
got 4 new packs 2 get run time of 450+ at 4.45 discharge ave,
the other 2 are junk

Glad I spotted this thread as our LHS placed anorder for a bunch of these packs for our Legends class.looks like we might have some work to do.
Thanks for the info.:thumbsup:

I'll tell yah right now!!!!I dead shorted my 1600 specs and chargedim with my old Novac Digy Peak charger at 5 amps pulse and discharged at 10 amps,you cant believe the difference in those packs!!!!!!!!.Now i gotta put them to the test onna track,then i can make a full judgement on results. :thumbsup:

Glad to hear you found a combination that works , these are odd cells
as their a Nicad Hybride but love to be dead shorted and pulsed hard like
the old Sanyo nicads.
If you really want the best charger for these ''but scarce" , find a Tekin
BC-210 , those were over $200 in their day , on the pulse proflex mode we run the same pack all night , 4 runs and see NO difference in the feature
laps.
Sometimes you'll find on e-bay ,,, make sure the pro-flex part works.
If the charge light doesn't flicker noticeably or you can't pick it up with a good DVM then it won't work properly.

NCFRC,i just want to emphasize that I used the --Pulse-- mode not the linear mode,and charged at just under five amps and peaked at six.Im leaving in a few minutes to Turn 4 and put some laps on those packs.--- Hey!!!,im a poet and dont know it !!! LOL.Thanx for the good advice.

Is discharging newer (orange) packs at 30A way too much or is it just common practice to stay anywhere between 10 and 20A?

Raceman,
In my opinion i think there like the old style nicads,they dont like that 30 amp load,they get wicked hot when delt with 30 amps.They get hot enough at 10 amps as far as im concerned!!!!!.You should try useing an old pulse charger if available and cycle them and then ck the numbers,I think you'll be suprised!!! 5 amps then peak at six,some say pokeimm with 8 or 10 but im a little leary with that.I dont wanna make fireworks LOL.

Is discharging newer (orange) packs at 30A way too much or is it just common practice to stay anywhere between 10 and 20A?

If your cycling your packs and discharging at 30 amps untill .90 or whatever cut off ,,,,,,YOU'LL BLOW THE HEAT SHRINK RIGHT OFF THE CELL , DON'T DO IT OR YOU'LL DESTROY YOUR PACKS.

The thread topic was about the new spec packs , not some of the old , good sanyo cells.

PULSE CHG at 5-6 amps , if a complete cycle , discharge at 10-15 amps.
If your able to Pro-flex by Tekin , which is a combination of 4-5 hard positive
pulses then 1 neg flex , you can charge at 7-8 amps as they stay alot cooler.

Don't regular "Flex" these as most reg. flex chargers including tekins BC-112 series , only uses a neg flex pattern,,,,,,, you need a positive pulse.

Sorry to ramble ,,,,, Now after you race a pack , put it aside , let it cool , then you could put it on a 0-30 , 30 amp disc to extract the remainder of the charge , just hold your hand on the cells to make sure their not too hot , which they shouldn't be if you used up 3/4 of the charge in the race .

Like said earlier , disc pack to 0.0 and then short with a resistor for a week, a little safer than a solid wire.

Sounds complicated , but fairly basic once you get a system down

Hope this helps , as our Spec SK class is the most popular

If you can't find a BC-210 , then use a BC100 , not the BC100s , as the BC100 only uses hard positive pulses.

As you can tell , I like Tekin , but if your really desperate , use an Ice on
pulse three step, still better than linier.

I remember when I started racing on 1/10 oval 9 years ago 1700 and 2000 were the rage and you could abuse them non-stop. I had a 12 (not 10) light bulb set - a 24A discharge- the 2000 packs became more powerful and unmatched ones got more runtime.

However orange cells look like some bizarre material; who manufactures them?

I still have some yellow cell packs but since it's much more for bashing around I wonder If I'm simply better off taking 3000 mah sport packs, ripping them off and get homebuilt packs instead.

I remember when I started racing on 1/10 oval 9 years ago 1700 and 2000 were the rage and you could abuse them non-stop. I had a 12 (not 10) light bulb set - a 24A discharge- the 2000 packs became more powerful and unmatched ones got more runtime.

However orange cells look like some bizarre material; who manufactures them?

I still have some yellow cell packs but since it's much more for bashing around I wonder If I'm simply better off taking 3000 mah sport packs, ripping them off and get homebuilt packs instead.


I understand what your saying , we've been doing this since 1988 and now my son does all the driving.
We're running a Spec class at our track with Sanyo SCR 1900's , you can do anything to those packs and many have run competitive for years.

Back to your orange Spec cells , There's so many foreign companys out making cells who knows ,,, The bottom line is that they were bought from
the lowest price supplier and you get what you pay for .
Sad that company has lost all focus on Spec Racing.

The one other option I can still see is using sport packs (3000 mah or close) 6 cell and find a low-rev motor like a tamiya 540 (or another motor going around 15000 RPM) get the appropriate gearing to keep pan car slow enough. Someone already gave me clues for it.

My last testing of yellow speed spec packs has been a bit deceiving in numbers. That's why I want to keep looking for stuff relatively out-of-the-box as much as possible. Going with Vision Peak 2 charger and Reactor discharger instead of the usual competition-type 4 cell equipment.

I was thinking about the fuss about the new SPEC packs, so why not insist on a change to:

GP3300 with a PCB protective circut.

With the change to a larger capacity cell SPEC racing could be better. As the cells age, they lose capacity. If a 1600cell loses 200mAh capcity you notice it right away and spend $30 for a new pack. If a 3300 pack loses 200mAh or even 1000mAh you still have a pack good enough to practice with and finish all the laps. Yes old cells have higher IR and lower voltage but you still can drive for 5 minutes.

Now to explain the why the PCB protective circut. Just like on LiPo's these circuts could be designed to have an AMP limiter, Low Voltage Cutoff, High Voltage Cutff or Equalization in Charging mode. GP3300's really don't need AMP limiters or high voltage cutoffs. What a TAMPER PROOF and SEALED SPEC pack needs is an on-board individual cell cutoff of .90V and equalization for charging. Pretty much when the race is over, hook the cells up to some 10A bulbs and one-by-one the PCB will cut off the cells at they hit .90V

Downside to this change, Cost would be about $10 to $15 dollars higher per pack and the onboard PCB will add about 80mOhm of resistance.

Goodside: Packs will have a longer lifespan justifying the extra $10 in cost. Less Voodoo in getting the packs to behave. And finally, old or new SPEC packs can still make a 5 minute race.

Well well well........what does Windtunnel offer us now? Someone really heard us!:thumbsup:

Should these packs be cycled at first? I am pretty new to this, the little r/c I ran a few years ago showed me that battery maintenence is key.
I plan on cycling these packs on an "Ice" Intellipeak charger. I was hoping someone can set me in the right direction. Here are my settings:
NiCd 4cell 1600 MAh
Charge : 5A
Discharge : 10A
Peak sens: 5 mV/c
discharge : .2 V/c
No. of cycles? How many cycles on each pack?

When I set this up, and start, I get a delay that says END: CUT VOLTS
What am I doing wrong? Again, keep in mind I am brand new at this... Was hoping to get to the track to practice on Sat., want the batteries ready... Thanks

Here are my settings:
NiCd 4cell 1600 MAh
Charge : 5A
Discharge : 10A
Peak sens: 5 mV/c
discharge : .2 V/c
No. of cycles? How many cycles on each pack?
Was hoping to get to the track to practice on Sat., want the batteries ready... Thanks

Kwik-e,

I've been cylcling packs all week, I've been using a Futaba 5000 charger here are my settings.
MAH cutoff of 2000
charge amps: 5
Discharge amps: 10
Peak Detec: 12
Discharge cutoff: .3

I've been going threw one cycle the packs range in age, But I've been getting positve results with peak MAH of most of them being 1800 or higher.
while discharging they've been holding a better part of 4.5v for at least 3min. than they settle in around 4.2-4.3 volts till the end of the mode.

As too what you maybe doing wrong? I'm not fimilar with the setting on your charger, so hard to say.

I just bought a new spec. pack last week. I charged it up on my old but reiable turbocharger (1989 version) at 6amps. and discharged it with my 1157 bulbs (10 amps.) and raced it the next day (100 laps 85 ft track). I charged at 6 and boosted it right before the race at 7.5 and it worked fine with no noticable drop off. I still have it in the car and wont discharge it untill I get ready to run it again. I'll give an update on how it does the second time around.

I've always had good luck charging at 6 amps. Boosting on a indi torpedo before I race. Then discharging at 20 amps after the race.

Whats dead shorting anyway?

deadshorting is discharging till the lights go out then plug the each end of the packs wires to themselves.

deadshorting is discharging till the lights go out then plug the each end of the packs wires to themselves.
For how long?

I bought 4 brand new still in the package trinity orange 6 cell spec packs a few weeks ago and only one is usable for racing. I cycled them (5 amp tekin power pulse setting 3, setting 2, no pulse; discharged @ 15 amps), dead shorted for a week, and they are still terrible. So, I got one good spec pack for 80 something dollars! :rolleyes: The bad packs don't make 5 minutes at race speeds but I'm still fooling with them. Good thing I still have 3 good spec yellow packs to race with! :cool:

Dominic

i bought 4 for this yr.and have only one pack that is a little weak. i charge them on my ice at 6 amps in the reflex cycle and discharge them at 10 amps.

Jeez,Iv tryed all kinda which ways to charge these things with no success,they dont look to bad on paper (cycleing) but arnt worth a fiddelers dideler on the track??????. I have dead shorted them,charged with a pulse and linier charge,discharge at 10.5 amps.No luck,4 minute heat race,like im runninn down a cyl. Lol.

charge them at 6 amps with an .05 cutoff, repeak them right before your race. make them hot and make them sweat.... that'll fix em ;)

Ok mr meat68,I will try that,havnt charged that high,how bout form of charge,pulse or linier,or reverse pulse on my old Novac digy peak charger???. Thanx

what about the novak millenium pro? it has the nicd rev. pulse. i use a turbo 35, but i have the novak for my son legend car. i have used the novak on nicd linear and nimh2 and have seen no differance. would it be a good idea to try the nicd rev pulse? and if so what delta peak would i set it on? novak recommends 14mv/cell.

what about the novak millenium pro? it has the nicd rev. pulse. i use a turbo 35, but i have the novak for my son legend car. i have used the novak on nicd linear and nimh2 and have seen no differance. would it be a good idea to try the nicd rev pulse? and if so what delta peak would i set it on? novak recommends 14mv/cell. Yes Sir ,got one of them also,im willing to try anything at this point,just take notice if you see a big mushroom cloud over eastern Ct.,if yah do I over did it on my charging LOL.Thanx ncracer1st for you input.

i hav'nt pulse charge anything for probably 15 years. for the last couple years it's all been linear, including my spec packs.

i use the new team checkpoint charger,re-flex at 5 amps and then repeak at 6 .dump em at 10 amps then put them on a discharge tray,works perfect and they never fail to get the run time,just my 2 cents.

Thanx for the Info Mr. Woods,I gotta try somthing different!!!!!

i use the new team checkpoint charger,re-flex at 5 amps and then repeak at 6 .dump em at 10 amps then put them on a discharge tray,works perfect and they never fail to get the run time,just my 2 cents.


discharge tray ?? we are talking spec packs.

I ran my spec pack for the second time 2 weeks ago with the same good results. In fact I think it got a little better.
I charged at 6.5 and peak at 7amps. with my 1989 varitey turbo charger, I assume most everybody is running a legend with a tamiya motor to have to use spec packs, or are you running 27 turn. spec class of some other varitey.
I took last week off to run an sk event so well see how it does this week. It still hasnt been discharged.

thats what i'm talkin about.... beat the piss out of them packs :thumbsup:

they love it!

were running the spec class with a 13.5 novak bl motor with great results

Mr Meat68,refresh my memory,what type of charge do you think is the best,Im realey having some issues with these cells????.Linier--Pulse--reverse pulse ?????. .I just went back and read your other post ,and you said linier,. thanx Sandy.