iam charging my smc 3200 lipo for the first time and they are expensive so i dont want to screw it up. iam using a turbo 35 with the lipo upgrade and i have the instructions for it but can anyone give me settings so i can make sure i have it right. thanks.

Not much to set. I set the charge @ 2c, 6400 amp, and maximum seconds @ 3400. Discharge @ 35A. Cycle 1 time. 180 seconds cool down time. All there is I believe. (This is on a 35 Stealth) Pack will only charge upto 8.41 volts and discharge down to 6.0 volts. :thumbsup:

Hook up the small sensor leads when charging!

with the charge set @2c you set the amps at double the mahr,which is 6400. if you set the charge on 1c you set the amps on 3200 and if you set the charge on 3c you set the amps on 9600. is that right?

Yes that is correct on the C rate/mAh. You need to attach the voltage sensing leads to the pack or the GFX power leads or else you will overcharge your pack by .10 of a volt.

we found at the first brl in omaha, that the leads, when using a ce gfx, have to be on the battery side or it charged to 8.44, but when connected on the battery side it went right to 8.4...

we found at the first brl in omaha, that the leads, when using a ce gfx, have to be on the battery side or it charged to 8.44, but when connected on the battery side it went right to 8.4...


There is nothing wrong with 8.44 as this should be the maximum limit permitted. I will test this as I haven't noticed this.

I just charged up a pack on my GFX. I put the voltage sensing leads as shown on the picture above. The voltage is 8.39 on the GFX side and 8.39 on the pack side. Not sure what could of caused this at the BRL race but I suspect loose or dirty connectors might of created the issue.

ok, wait a minute....I'm charging my 3200's and 5000's at 3.2 and 5.0 amps, respectively, on "2c"...so, this is too low? They take a good 4000 seconds (little over an hour) to charge. They are running fine....I qualified in the A in two 13.5 classes at last weeks Open Wheel race.

Alan

what do i do with a new smc lipo? use it right out of the box, charge it, discharge it then charge it , or cycle it?

what do i do with a new smc lipo? use it right out of the box, charge it, discharge it then charge it , or cycle it?

Some who actually race the packs can tell you what they do as I haven't raced oval in a long time. From what I heard they use the pack once in practice as the first run on a pack after being stored isn't as good.

ok, wait a minute....I'm charging my 3200's and 5000's at 3.2 and 5.0 amps, respectively, on "2c"...so, this is too low? They take a good 4000 seconds (little over an hour) to charge. They are running fine....I qualified in the A in two 13.5 classes at last weeks Open Wheel race.

Alan


In my testing I don't see a difference in numbers between 1C and 2C charge rates. On the track some say they run faster when charged at 2C. You should try this for yourself. The charge time will be be faster at 2C.

I have notice charging with my GFX...
no small leads the pack charges to about 8.49 - 8.5 volts
Just the small pos lead hooked up is 8.43 - 8.44
with both small leads hooked up 8.39 - 8.4

Yes that is normal. So if your one to beleive that every little bit counts and makes a difference using the positive sesning lead alone will bring you to the charging limit.

Yes that is correct on the C rate/mAh. You need to attach the voltage sensing leads to the pack or the GFX power leads or else you will overcharge your pack by .10 of a volt.Several guys at this years open wheel got caught up with this, fortunately it came up in the practice round. :dude:

with the charge set @2c you set the amps at double the mahr,which is 6400. if you set the charge on 1c you set the amps on 3200 and if you set the charge on 3c you set the amps on 9600. is that right?

If your charger and battery was not designed for 2C or 3C charging do not, I repeat do not charge at 2C.

Chargers for LiPO have other methods besides waiting for the voltage to rise to 8.44V before stoping the charge. Some chragers use tempature probes to prevent a bad battery from getting too got. But every digital charger I have seen uses a mAH limit for charging a LiPO. Some are set fro 110% or 120% but they are there should the pack fail or the voltage meter be off while charging you will not continue to charge the battery beyond a safe level.

By telling your charger that it is charging a 6400mah pack when it really is a 32000mah you are overiding the mAh saftey limit. If the charge was not completed it would alert you of a problem with your battery or charger that needs to be resolved.

There are several high quality chargers that will charge at 2C rates up to 10Amps. There should be no reason why anyone should risk a lipo failure because they overrode a safety function.

we are not telling the charger to charge a 6400 mah pack are we? the 6400 is the amps, .2 amp for every 100 mah. which is 6.4 amps.if set on 2c. iam using a turbo 35, you cant get much better than that can you? and they can charge 2c and the smc lipos are capable of charging 2c. to prevent over charge the turbo 35 has a max charge setting. i repeat iam using a turbo 35 and a smc battery.

we are not telling the charger to charge a 6400 mah pack are we? the 6400 is the amps, .2 amp for every 100 mah. which is 6.4 amps.if set on 2c. iam using a turbo 35, you cant get much better than that can you? and they can charge 2c and the smc lipos are capable of charging 2c. to prevent over charge the turbo 35 has a max charge setting. i repeat iam using a turbo 35 and a smc battery.

If you are setting the max Mah to match the pack, then it should be somewhat ok. But not everyone is setting the max capacity or that function is not available. Even my ICE can be fooled into charging a 3200pack to charge at 6.4Amps but if the max capacity was not changed to 50% I could risk a lipo fire should the battery be overcharged.

I am sure with time the GFX will have another update increase the charge amperage without having to fool the charger

is there any advantage discharging down to 6.0 volt and then recharging between rounds over just recharging between rounds?

is there any advantage discharging down to 6.0 volt and then recharging between rounds over just recharging between rounds?
The only advantage I have heard of is that discharging at a high enough amp rate will heat up the battery. A poor man's battery warmer. But by the time you get it fully charged, it might have cooled off again.