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  #1  
Old 21-04-2015
turbo scorpion turbo scorpion is offline
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Default can nimh bats be revived?

I hsve a few nimh batts that have had little use. They worked great last time i had em out and stored them charged up. Now they wont power the car for more than 2 min. They read 8.4v (7cell).
I put them on the charger in discharge mode and at 0.1amp the volts drop from8.4v to 1.0v on less than a min.

Is there any way to revive the pack or it it toast?
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  #2  
Old 21-04-2015
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Default Old cells

You may have a cell that is being driven into reverse polarity under load, check the voltage and polarity of each cell individually whilst on load, not whilst on charge.
You can sometimes bring a pack back by charging each cell independently assuming you have a charger that will handle one cell.
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  #3  
Old 21-04-2015
turbo scorpion turbo scorpion is offline
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Only problem is id have to disassembled the pack. The cells are in a line end to end not side by side.
Unless you know a way to measure each cill individually in that sort of pack.



One seems to be coming back with a real slow charge/discharge cycle followed by a little faster charge.....
If it comes down to it ill tear these packs apart and maybe learn to solder batteries.....
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  #4  
Old 21-04-2015
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for the voltage to drop suddenly it sounds very much like a dead cell there. you can give old packs a shock to decrystallise them, and then cycle them a few times to get the capacity back up but that isnt likely to work with a dead cell. to shock the battery, attach long leads to it and put it the other side of something solid (i use a breeze block) in case a cell pops, then connect across a car battery for ten seconds, leave for a few mins and then repeat. if after 2 or 3 mins the pack is warm then dont repeat. immediatly after, give the pack a couple of charge/discharge cycles. you are pretty safe with sanyo and gp cells, but avoid intellect cells, they go pop more easily

....always protect yourself with a solid object between you and the battery.....
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  #5  
Old 22-04-2015
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Default Dead or alive cells!

Hi Turbo Scorpion, you can measure individual cells in a stick by piercing the insulation on side of the cell you want to measure (its -ve can) and the adjacent cell located at the +ve end, simples!

Back in my old 1/12 days we used to skim a patch off the cell sleeving to allow us to measure each cell when charging and check for imbalance. With multi cell lipos this is now standard procedure with high tech balance chargers of course!

I have also seen dodgydiy's response and he is quite correct too but using a 12 volt you do have to be careful as he suggests, the cell may heat rapidly and vent its electrolyte or explode of course, hence hiding behind a wall!

I have done this procedure a few times in the past, drop the cell on the floor first and usually using a charged 7.2 volt pack to kick an over discharged cell back to life.
You will never recover the full cell capacity though and it will be the weakest in the pack with a risk off reversing polarity under heavy pack discharge!

Happy bomb making, seriously do be careful if using high voltages. John
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  #6  
Old 23-04-2015
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one thing i forgot, if you've got an accurate digital thermometer you can compare nimh cell temperatures when on charge, if one cell becomes warmer than the rest it is likely to be the weak point in the pack! can remember at race meetings years ago when we were running 1200 and 1400scr nicad cells, you used to see people in the pits putting jump leads from their charge batteries to the cells for a few seconds just before they went to race to give them that little extra kick! memories......
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  #7  
Old 23-04-2015
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I have to be honest... I don't see the benefit of creating an extremely volatile bomb.
DMS still have a stock of nimh cells last time I heard (as I'm sure some other shops may have too), or even better get some cheap lipo's - great sets can be had for as little as £25 these days.
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  #8  
Old 23-04-2015
turbo scorpion turbo scorpion is offline
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I got one 6 cell pack to take about 1700mah out of its ratex 3300mah. By trikle charging it (0.1a) then discharging then trikle chargong at a higher rate 0.3 the. 1.0a).
Iv got some old really dead nicads ill try volt checking individual cells on just for practice ...before i stab into my "good" packs.
Ill try the agressive techniques after i try gently reviving them.

Exploding or venting cells suck. Had one pop on a nicd i melted when i was 12 and decided to try and take it apart to fix it....shorted and POP!!!.
Also blew up a bunch of AAs trying to build a 100,000v "shocker"
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  #9  
Old 23-04-2015
turbo scorpion turbo scorpion is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Col View Post
I have to be honest... I don't see the benefit of creating an extremely volatile bomb.
DMS still have a stock of nimh cells last time I heard (as I'm sure some other shops may have too), or even better get some cheap lipo's - great sets can be had for as little as £25 these days.
I'm american which means 2 things. Im stingy with money and love to blow $#%# up!
Im sticking with nimh cuz these cars are for my kids and the esc dont have lvc. Im keeping it simple and safe for them.
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  #10  
Old 24-04-2015
turbo scorpion turbo scorpion is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Xracer View Post
Hi Turbo Scorpion, you can measure individual cells in a stick by piercing the insulation on side of the cell you want to measure (its -ve can) and the adjacent cell located at the +ve end, simples!

Back in my old 1/12 days we used to skim a patch off the cell sleeving to allow us to measure each cell when charging and check for imbalance.......John
Ok. I tried to do this i dug through the plastic and Cardboard. Exposed the side of a cell and the end of the same cell and the next one. Volt meter neg lead on side....positive to either end and no reading.... When i put positive lead to the positive wire of pack got a reading.....

Do you have a picture of what your talking about or a link to something that would help me......
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  #11  
Old 25-04-2015
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A quick sketch for you. Essentially each cell is 1.2 volts and you need to get to the positive (+ve) and negative (-ve) terminals. By making a hole in the side of the battery you get access to the -ve terminal of that cell which is also the +ve terminal of the cell below it. If you make a hole on all the cells you will be able to measure the voltage on any cell and determine which cell is not working properly.

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Old 26-04-2015
turbo scorpion turbo scorpion is offline
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Thank you! I got that to work...
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  #13  
Old 26-04-2015
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Thanks Cutting42 the sketch describes my words perfectly and I did assume, silly me, that it was obvious to use the exposed =ve terminal for the end cell!

What format did you use for the very nice sketch?
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  #14  
Old 26-04-2015
turbo scorpion turbo scorpion is offline
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So one of these packs. A 6cell 3300mah pack just charged up to 4058mah....verry warm to hot!
Wondering if its the charger n not the batteries.....
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  #15  
Old 26-04-2015
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are they gp's by any chance?? the old gp3300's i had always used to go to about 3800 and be quite toasty
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  #16  
Old 26-04-2015
turbo scorpion turbo scorpion is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dodgydiy View Post
are they gp's by any chance?? the old gp3300's i had always used to go to about 3800 and be quite toasty
This was some radio-hack pack.....
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