What Amps to CHarge Batteries at

[jjmusicpro]

I have a nimh 4200 battery, what amps do i charge it at on my charger?
I can charge from 1-5 amps.

 

[Nova's Ark]

4.2 amps.

 

[jjmusicpro]

is that on any battery i have, as long as its nimh?
I have some that are 3200 and 3500.

I also have mini batteries that are 1500 mah for my rc18r.

is there some rule of thumb on what amps to charge at?

 

[Nova's Ark]

is that on any battery i have, as long as its nimh?
I have some that are 3200 and 3500.

I also have mini batteries that are 1500 mah for my rc18r.

is there some rule of thumb on what amps to charge at?

3200 NiMh = charge at 3.2

3500 NiMh = charge at 3.5

1500 NiMh = charge at 1.5

Do you see the pattern?:lol:

The only time I would differ from that standard is on brand new packs. I charge my new packs at half the NiMh. For instance a 1500 NiMh pack, I would charge it .7 or .8 for the very first charge. I personally will charge it low like that for 5 or 6 six charges after that and then slowly work my way up to the 1.5. The lower the amp you charge at, the longer it will take to charge the battery. The low amp rate will also produce less heat. Heat is bad for a battery.

I know some guys in my club that charge their batteries at really high amps in order to get it charged quickly so they can keep crawling. Their batteries wear out faster as a result and don't have long run times either.

 

[jjmusicpro]

very cool thank you very much for this info, ive been looking for it for awhile now.

 

[Spot(T)]

Racers tend to charge at higher amp rate to get higher voltage that will give more punch and speed but less run time.
Hence the 3000+ mAh cells needed for a 5 min race.

Yours
Spot(T)

 

[MattH]

Since that is a NiMH pack, you can charge it at 5 amps. What kind of charger are you using? Is the voltage threshold (peak detection) adjustable?

 

[jc052685]

i have benn told that the longet the charge time ie. lower the charge rate the longer the run times but the higher the charge rate the faster the truck.