What settings do I use to charge my battery?
January 20, 2009 by Baja Planet
Filed under F.A.Qs
The first thing you need to do is to look at your battery and collect the following information:
- Battery Technology. Nichel Metal Hydride, Nicad, Lipo?
- How many milliamps is your battery?
Most chargers will have settings for the “Kind” of battery you are using. A majority of the battery packs used in the Baja are Nichel Metal Hydride (NmH) If your charger has a setting for this, set it to the kind of battery you have installed. All the new Baja kits have NmH batteries however some of the original RTRs did use Nicads. Double check and make the proper adjustments toy your charger.
Many chargers will have a setting for the Milliamps. Most of the Baja 5B RTRs and the 5Ts come with a 3000 ma battery installed. Its a good thing to check this before charging just to be sure. If you have an aftermarket battery look to see the Ma rating and remember what it is. If your charger has a setting for the Milliamps, go ahead and set it to match the battery you have. Some chargers do not have a setting for this and will auto detect this.
Your battery pack is a 5 cell battery pack If your charger has a setting for this you will set it to 5 cells.
Now the fun part. How many Amps do you set your charger to? This topic is a never ending debate. I will explain briefly. Rule of thumb is to not charge the battery over 1C. Keeping it simple this means if your battery is 3000ma dont charge it over 3amps. If it is a 4000 ma pack do not charge it over 4amps. Your standard choices are 1amp, 2amps, and 3 amps. The higher the number the shorter time it will take to fully charge. The lower the number, the easier it is on the battery but will take longer. Take your pick on the amps to set your charger at but unless you know more about all this stuff, doent exceed the 1C rule of thumb.
If you would like more information or to ask question about this topic, please visit our forum.
