Backup/EDUBot Battery

[Phil_Lutz]

Can someone tell me the mah of the 7.2 volt batteries?
If not at least the Rating of the charger for it?

Thanks,

Phil

[dez250]

Originally Posted by Phil_Lutz

Can someone tell me the mah of the 7.2 volt batteries?
If not at least the Rating of the charger for it?

Thanks,

Phil

http://www.innovationfirst.com/FIRST...004-Jan-14.pdf check page 5, i hope that helps.

[edit] http://www.innovationfirst.com/FIRST...electrical.htm you can buy the charger there. [/edit]

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Phil,
I am going to go out on a limb here...
I have tried determining the maHr rating but have little succes so far. I am guessing from the size of the cells that we have a 1300-1500 maH battery. I have a little more investigative work to do today and I will let you know if I find something different. What I am hoping for is a relaxation in the robot rules to allow a larger 7.2 volt battery on the robot. If anyone is running a servoes they are going to deplete that little one pretty quick.

[Phil_Lutz]

Originally Posted by dez250

http://www.innovationfirst.com/FIRST...004-Jan-14.pdf check page 5, i hope that helps.

The only info here is the current draw and voltage. The mah figure I'm looking for would be the milliamps per hour (mah) discharge.

We finally found our charger for the EDUBot, so I'm okay now. Rating in 500 mah

I have a Quick charger that I use for charging my R/C Plane b\atteries. By knowing the rating of the battery you can charge the battery "Peakcharge" and get the most out of the battery.

btw you Peak charge NiCad batteries at 2C If you have a 500mah battery you set the charger to 1000mah and when it's finished you truly have maxed the capacity of the battery with no damage.

Thanks,

Phil

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Originally Posted by Phil_Lutz

btw you Peak charge NiCad batteries at 2C If you have a 500mah battery you set the charger to 1000mah and when it's finished you truly have maxed the capacity of the battery with no damage.Thanks,
Phil

Phil,
I examined our kit and found a tag that said 800 maH. A lot smaller than I thought. If you have a 500 maH then there may not be any consistency in what has shipped with the EDU kits. The good news is that the rules allow you to use any 7.2 volt battery for the backup. In reference to the Peak charger...That is one in which there are pulses applied to the battery at 2C not continuous at the higher current, right? I have read that charging above 1C is OK for the battery for the first 70% of charge but that degradation sets in after that due to the heat and venting.

[Phil_Lutz]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

Phil,
I examined our kit and found a tag that said 800 maH. A lot smaller than I thought. If you have a 500 maH then there may not be any consistency in what has shipped with the EDU kits. The good news is that the rules allow you to use any 7.2 volt battery for the backup. In reference to the Peak charger...That is one in which there are pulses applied to the battery at 2C not continuous at the higher current, right? I have read that charging above 1C is OK for the battery for the first 70% of charge but that degradation sets in after that due to the heat and venting.

I guess you got lucky with the 800mah.
The charger I use is the same one I charge my sialplane batteries with. It handles 1-12 cells and 200-2000mah. It does protect the batteries by switching to trickle (10%) after 90 minutes. I have yet to have a battery go bad using it. Check out www.HobbyPeople.net it's the PF-12 charger. (PF = Park Flyer

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Originally Posted by Phil_Lutz

I guess you got lucky with the 800mah.
The charger I use is the same one I charge my sialplane batteries with. It handles 1-12 cells and 200-2000mah. It does protect the batteries by switching to trickle (10%) after 90 minutes. I have yet to have a battery go bad using it. Check out www.HobbyPeople.net it's the PF-12 charger. (PF = Park Flyer

I checked out the site and the charger does look pretty good. It appears to have the right idea in that it cuts back after a set time. I like that it can charge two batteries at once. The description implies that it is checking the battery for peak charge and then switches to trickle. If that is what it does, that follows what I have read is recommended practice. Thanks!

[Kit Gerhart]

Originally Posted by Phil_Lutz

Can someone tell me the mah of the 7.2 volt batteries?
If not at least the Rating of the charger for it?

Thanks,

Phil

The battery is ~800 mah. You can charge Nicad batteries at 10% of their amp-hour rating, 80 ma in this case, and leave them on charge at that rate for days without hurting them. The chargers that come with r/c equipment for model planes are this type of "trickle plus" chargers. I've used them for my r/c equipment for almost 30 years with very good results.