Discharging cells

[westie]

whats the advantages or disadvantages of discharging at LOW and HIGH amps?

Cheers

[neiloliver]

Obviously lower rates take longer, but lower rates are better for the cells in that less heat will be generated. Higher rates discharge the cells faster and generate more heat through I²R heating. You should always have a single cell voltage cut-off (0.9V typ) when discharging cells to prevent damage by over discharge.

[Jamie B4]

Spoken like a true guru, no better person to speak to than Neil in this area

[cmgreen]

So, how oftern should we equilse cells, before every charge?

[neiloliver]

I equalise mine before each big meeting, i dont bother discharging during a meeting, I know some people do, and there is nothing wrong with that, I just dont see the point.

The main reason for having to equalise is self discharge; the amount of self discharge does tend to vary considerably with high capacity NiMH cells and therefore it is good to know all the cells in your battery are equally discharged before you start to charge them.

N

[niggs98]

personally i do discharge and equalise for every run but only because i have found that my cells run better that way. last year i only discharged before the start of a meeting and if these cells reacted the same then i would carry on that way