I have two 2400 stick packs that i have been using for stock truck indoor oval carpet racing, since i am going to be moving up to matched packs i want to make sure i'm doing things right, cause my stick packs which ive only used for about 20 total 5 min races between the two of them. Ok, I always keep them discharged and the night before the race, i charge them both at 5amps, let them cool for an hour then discharge them at 20 amps, then a few hours before the race i charge them both again at 5 amps. Since i have been having to use one of the batts twice, i will use the one batt from my first race, then discharge it at 20 amps afterwards, let it cool for about 30 minutes, then charge it again for my main. does that even sounds close to what i should be doing? I just seem to be lacking the "punch" that most of the other guys who race have...

I have two 2400 stick packs that i have been using for stock truck indoor oval carpet racing, since i am going to be moving up to matched packs i want to make sure i'm doing things right, cause my stick packs which ive only used for about 20 total 5 min races between the two of them. Ok, I always keep them discharged and the night before the race, i charge them both at 5amps, let them cool for an hour then discharge them at 20 amps, then a few hours before the race i charge them both again at 5 amps. Since i have been having to use one of the batts twice, i will use the one batt from my first race, then discharge it at 20 amps afterwards, let it cool for about 30 minutes, then charge it again for my main. does that even sounds close to what i should be doing? I just seem to be lacking the "punch" that most of the other guys who race have...

Tough to reply to this one... You don't have the punch because you really don't have the batteries you need. What batteries are the other guys running?
You are treating the correctly for what you have. Nicads like the same cycle over and over...so keep doing that.
You could charge at 6amps... but that is pushing it. You would see a difference though.
How old are your batteries and what are you thinking of buying?
What charger?

I doubt most everyone else is using 2400s so that is probably where your lack of "punch" compared to everyone else is. Your method is ok to a "point". I'd suggest just discharging a NiCD at the end of the race day and recharging before you race. The longer you let the pack sit after you charge the less punch you're libel to see.

When you move to NiMH cells you will need a whole new charge/discharge procedure btw. :(

yeah, what oval man said,Nicds dont like to be charged and sit #1, and also nicd's always seem to bee a little soft on the 2nd cycle of the day. Also you will get the best performance out of a nicd if you can time things where they peak off 5-10 min.before you run.Also what oval man said is correct, when you switch over to Nimh cells be prepared to change your maitenance techniques.

Well, i'm going to be picking up some matched cells this weekend, prob 3200's What do i have to do diff with these type batts? Thanks guys

do you mean 3300's? if so thats cool. 3300's are pretty durable. Many people differ on their techniques as far as maintaining Nimh cells. I am a firm beleiver in the discharge to .9v per cell philosophy. I have run the 3300s for the last 3 years and have not had a cell go bad, or had a pack with poor voltage out of about 20 packs my son and I have been racing with. My routine has been charge it at 5 amps, run it, discharge it to .9v per cell (5.4v for a 6 cell pack, 3.6v for a 4 cell pack) for storage until the next weeks race day.all my packs still take between 3000-3400 mah of charge and maintain good punch for the duration of a race after taking care of them like that for 3 years.And they werent matched packs to begin with. Just loose GP cells bought in bulk.

SMC 3300's They just came in tonight and i race tomorrow night, so any fast help would be great on how i can get them conditioned and stay that way for tomorrow night and longer... I'm building them right now.. thanks, B