Be aware of battery and charger inconsistencies!

[Michael Hill]

Originally Posted by GearsOfFury

At the week 1 event I inspected at, our LRI (Al) specifically asked us to look for chargers that operate above 6A, and instructed that they WOULD NOT be allowed, regardless of how you told us you would "program" or use them. OP there is no way for us to enforce that you are following what you are suggesting. I would highly recommend you bring other (i.e. legal) chargers to your event and consider leaving these at home.

I don't agree with inspectors not taking a team's word for it. As mentioned previously, the rule states that we shouldn't charge more than the manufacturer's spec charge rate, which is set at 5.4 Amps. If that's the case, why are you allowing chargers that go up to 6 Amps? If we're adhering strictly to the rules (and FIRST has a tendancy to do that), we shouldn't be charging at 6 Amps either. Most chargers have a selectable charge rate from 2 A, 4 A and 6 A. To satisfy the rule, we would have to charge at 4 Amps. But right there, you're taking the team's word for it that we're going to charge at 4 Amps. The rule doesn't say that chargers that are capable of charging more than that are against the rules. The rule states that teams shouldn't charge more than the recommended maximum charge rate. It's a subtle, yet important difference. If we ruled out all chargers that are capable of charging at greater than 5.4 Amps, then most every team in FRC will need to get new chargers. Take the team's word for it and be done with it.