RC Car - How Do You Charge New Cells?

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How Do You Charge New Cells?

Comments: How do you charge a brand new RC battery. I have six brand new 1300 Ex-Specs from Trinity.

Response: You could actually start charging your batteries at the normal charge current (between 3 and 5 amps) and they will not get damaged. If you want to be safe and you have some spare time, you can trickle charge the batteries overnight for their first cycle. To do this, charge them using a trickle charger with an output of 130 to 150 milli-amps (charge them for about 12 hours at this rate). After this initial trickle charge (and you have discharged them fully), you can charge at the normal rate mentioned above.

It takes about 3 cycles for a cell to equalize. This means that your battery will perform its best after is has been charged and discharged about 3 times. Don't do this all in one day, let your battery rest between cycles (a day of rest is good).

Don't forget to always discharge your batteries after using them. Never store a ni-cad battery with a charge in it. Charge it just before you are going to use it and store them "dead".

Let's take off a few tenths per lap,

"PRO"
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