Ideal stock battery charge time

[CrawlinMike]

I'm wanting to keep my stock battery and charger for a while more since they are already paid for and work fine for me, but I am unsure how long I should charge it each time. I know the initial charge time for a new battery but I don't think it should be charged that long every time. I don't have a voltmeter here at home but maybe some of you have done the work for me. About how long on the stock charger should I charge my battery to reach "peak" or near peak charge? Thanks ahead of time for your help!

[JSN]

Mike... your question is really impossible to answer accurately. Here is the best i can offer.

After finding my stock charger(never used it) in the back of one of my bench drawers i found it charges at a rate of 200mAh... so if your stock 1100mA battery was COMPLETELY dead it would take 5 1/2 hours for it to charge... thats assuming the stock charger outputs 200Ma and your battery actually holds 1100mA and not a bit more or a bit less. Of course, your never going to reach that state of discharge... it will lack the power to do much of anything before you hit the FULL discharge capacity of the battery.

So... with the above in mind this info may be of some use to you. When my STOCK battery gets to the point that it lacks power to do anything but drive around slow it takes about 800-900mA on my charger to peak it... once again... asuming your battery and mine have about the same capacity, your stock charger at 200mA should take about 4 to 4 1/2 hours to fully charge the battery. Of course if you DON't run your battery down this far it will take less time to charge... your guess is as good as mine as to how much mA was used and how long it would take to fill'r up

If you plan on staying in this hobby you need a GOOD charger

[4x4wheelier]

i was wondering the same and would i be able to charge the stock bat. on like 4 or 1 amp?

[JSN]

i was wondering the same and would i be able to charge the stock bat. on like 4 or 1 amp?

Myself, i don't like to push these smaller unknown maker cells past 1C... you can do up too 2c...you MUST watch them at this rate...you really should NEVER charge unattended... battery cycle life will suffer at the higher charge rates. 4C thats WAY to fast!!!! I charge my stock 1100mA batt at .80 amps... I normall use lipo's though, my stocker gets used chasing the dogs around the house and couch crawling... when the wifes not looking that is

[CrawlinMike]

Originally Posted by JSN

Mike... your question is really impossible to answer accurately. Here is the best i can offer.

After finding my stock charger(never used it) in the back of one of my bench drawers i found it charges at a rate of 200mAh... so if your stock 1100mA battery was COMPLETELY dead it would take 5 1/2 hours for it to charge... thats assuming the stock charger outputs 200Ma and your battery actually holds 1100mA and not a bit more or a bit less. Of course, your never going to reach that state of discharge... it will lack the power to do much of anything before you hit the FULL discharge capacity of the battery.

So... with the above in mind this info may be of some use to you. When my STOCK battery gets to the point that it lacks power to do anything but drive around slow it takes about 800-900mA on my charger to peak it... once again... asuming your battery and mine have about the same capacity, your stock charger at 200mA should take about 4 to 4 1/2 hours to fully charge the battery. Of course if you DON't run your battery down this far it will take less time to charge... your guess is as good as mine as to how much mA was used and how long it would take to fill'r up

If you plan on staying in this hobby you need a GOOD charger

I really appreciate your detailed answer and will heed your advice I was only charging my battery for 2 to 2.5 hours out of fear of over-charging which I was told can can cause irreversible damage to a pack. Im looking into getting a traxxas slash or a stampede vxl and i'm waiting to get a decent charger until then. I can be very indecisive so it'll probably be quite awhile and i'll end up with both at the same time . I had a friend a few years ago who would discharge his packs by running the battery down in his rc as far as it could then he would hook his pack up to a little home-made string of 2 or 3 very small light bulbs until it was dead as a doornail. Is this beneficial every few charges? I guess I have more battery questions than i originally intended but if you guys are going to be so excellent with sharing your knowledge and experience I am all ears!

[speedjunkie]

My Onyx 230 recommends charging NiMh batts at 110-130% capacity. They say it's actually better for it. I don't remember off the top of my head what the charge rate is, but generally, I can charge any one of my 3 7.2V 1100mAh batts in 45 minutes or less.

And I would also recommend getting a good charger. Good investment.





Mike

[ukbulldog]

I have the stock bat, for now. the first time I charged it, I put it on 2A. It got really hot though, so I only charge at 1A now, it takes about 30 - 45 min depending on the discharge.

Like SpeedJunkie said, get a better charger. I have a prophet plus, had it for 3 yrs, work great. Will not do lipo though.

Cheers

UKBulldog

[CrawlinMike]

Thank you all. Any info on the discharging though? Good or bad?

[speedjunkie]

As to the discharge, with NiMh batts, complete discharge is not needed nor advised. They do not take a memory like NiCd batts. In fact, if you discharge a NiMh batt too hard and too far, it can actually reverse polarity, thus ruining it.



Mike

[07_FJC]

Does the losi mini peak charger work with the stock batteries? I wonder if that kicks up the charge rate a bit..