battery and charger question

[ParrSt]

first the battery question. When looking into batteries, I keep hearing about "matched sets", what does this mean and how important is it? I have read that if they are not matched you will not have good performance and I have read here that it really doesn't matter. Regardless I want the amp/hour rating the same for all the cells I use, right.

Charger question: I can fast charge a battery at 2 times it's amp/hour rating. Well if I run 3300 or 3800 batteries, that is 6 to 8 amps. and I need to charge to packs at a time. Is there a charger out there capable of such charge rates?

Bob

[rupert]

Matched is not a good word really , it should be grouped. The matchers test each cell and then gruop them accordingly so that the set of batts perform equally. You can get very good performance from unmatched batts as well. It is not nessecary unless you are racing and looking for that last % of power. Regardless you do want to keep the same brand and mah (within 200 mah) for the e-maxx.

For the charger the rate you listed , again is for a serious racer and is considered the max rate on 33-3800's. It is tough to find a singkle charger that can do that. Reducing the rate to 5 or so will let the batts have a bit longer life and also not require a expensive charger. Her'es a few I can think of with their dual capabilty.

MRC 977 superbrain 5 amps
Twin pulse duratrax 3.5 amps
mrc 969 superbrain 3 ampss (4.5 on dc power)
hobbico MKII 2 amps (DC)
hobbico Elite 2 amps on dc power

There are many others too, and to get the rate you listed probably a pair of single chargers will be a nice set-up and may even be cheaper. I have put together over a dozen different dual packages for doing 10-18 cell trucks and the 977 is the favorite for just buying one all ready to go.

[ParrSt]

Any recomendations of a good single charger that can put out 5 - 6 amps. I am also guesing I want a trickle charger.

Bob

[rupert]

Many good singles on the market with the duratrax Ice being my favorite. It has a max of 8 amps. Trickle function is not nessary although most of them have it.

some others

deluxe pulse
digital pulse
ln5014 multiplex
triton
lrp pulsar

there are many more. I just sold a combo with dual digital pulses and a 150 watt power supply that was a nice set-up for chargeing dual packs in a hurry. My favorite is dual ice chargers now with a big power supply.

[razer]

Originally posted by ParrSt
I am also guesing I want a trickle charger.

Trickle-charging isn't good for NiMh cells. It won't necessarily hurt them, but they won't have the same "punch" as they do from peak charging them.

Integy makes some very nice chargers. You can find those at Tower or order them directly from Integy's website.