Advice needed on NiMH receiver battery- charging/ storage

[high plains drifter]

I haven't dealt with NiMH batteries since the mid-late 90's so I need some help if anyone's able. FWIW This is going into a nitro car that I'm rebuilding/ restoring. My concerns here are charging and storage. Hard to remember back to the day but I think all I ever did was charge my old packs. I don't remember if I discharged/ stored them or not.

> Battery is an LRP 1600mah NiMH hump pack ( 9.6Wh/ 6.0v)

> I have an old Duramax Intellipeak dual pulse charger- Specs are Neg Delta-V & zero Delta-V peak detection, Peak charge amps 0.5-6.5 2 & 10 A discharge& charge cycle functions, discharge/ peak charge/ slow charge, NiMH/ Nicd.

> Should I use this charger despite it's age? I'm concerned about outdated technology.

OR

> Could I use my Sky RC IMAX B6 ACv2? I know it has a NiMH setting.

> I might just be overthinking this as I usually do but when I was reading the literature that came with the battery, it mentioned things like this:

"Max charge of 1C, Max cell temp of 42*, Use charger with Delta Peak Detection, Discharge with 10a to cutoff voltage of 0.9v per cell, Do not dead-short or discharge to 0v, Partially charge empty battery with 1C for 15 mins, After long storage.. battery pack has to be discharged with 2C to cutoff voltage of 5.4v."

> I had assumed that at least from my experience 20+ years ago, that using/ storing a rec hump pack would be much simpler than all of this.

> Note- LRP also recommends its Pulsar, Quadra, and Jet chargers but I really don't want to have to be buying a charger right now with all the expense this project car has already cost me. I don't mind getting a different rec pack and sending this one back but I'm assuming this might be the norm with any other pack as well.

Some advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[svt923]

There has been no changes to the charging of NiMH batteries in the last 20+ years. Adjustable delta-V was probably the last significant NiMH-specific feature added and I had a charger that could do that in 2002. As long as the Duratrax charger still works, might as well still use it. I would guess since NiMH charging is all it does, it probably performs that function as well or better than any basic LiPo charger of today.

As for the specific care, the packs don't need that much attention. Maybe for maximum consistency on the track, you should follow their instructions but for your use case, just charge when needed. Even with less than optimal care, it will last long enough to power the electronics through several tanks for many years. If the truck is going to sit for weeks/months in between runs, I would plan on charging it up before every day of running to be safe.

 

[Gula]

I remember something about having to throwing them in the freezer or so from time to time because the battery would develop "memory" and no longer take a charge. The freezing temp dumps the remainder of the electrons so you could properly recharge it. Iirc, maybe?

 

[high plains drifter]

Okay. Thank you, guys. Sounds like I shouldn't be too concerned about specific maintenance requirements here. I also vaguely remember the freezing trick although not sure I ever did that. I just remember that there wasn't much involved back in the day with having a rx pack ready to go. I really appreciated the advice/ input. Thanks again.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

Just be safe with the battery. Plenty of NiCad and NiMH batteries have started house fires.

 

[high plains drifter]

I thought that house fires were a fun thing? Oh... I'm thinking of house parties... never mind.

For sure... Safety first.. That's why I'd rather ask than to risk it.

Digging around, I found my old Duratrax Intellipeak charger and a/c cord. Weird that the cord uses a Tamiya style plug from the charger to the power-unit that plugs into the wall outlet. But it does work so I'm going to hopefully be able to use it. I'm no where close to being ready to charge it as I don't even have the engine installed yet but trying to get everything lined up for break-in.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

I thought that house fires were a fun thing? Oh... I'm thinking of house parties... never mind.

For sure... Safety first.. That's why I'd rather ask than to risk it.

Digging around, I found my old Duratrax Intellipeak charger and a/c cord. Weird that the cord uses a Tamiya style plug from the charger to the power-unit that plugs into the wall outlet. But it does work so I'm going to hopefully be able to use it. I'm no where close to being ready to charge it as I don't even have the engine installed yet but trying to get everything lined up for break-in.

Lots of those old chargers used Molex (Tamiya) plugs. They can handle the low current of charging, but when you put them in a high amp-draw situation, they melt.

 

[Gula]

I'd be safe and just buy a li-ion 7.2 pack they're small too

 

[high plains drifter]

I feel like the NiMH hump pack that I've got will be fine with my old Duratrax charger. I'm not seeing what issue there might be.

I sure don't want to keep throwing money down this hole... still needing to buy a tx/rx, fuel, a body and paint and I'm already way over what I thought I'd be spending on this project initially. If I have any issues with this battery/ charger then I'll def look into the li-ion route but right now I've got to put on the breaks a bit.