Team 1202 Build Diary

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Spaceman
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Re: Team 1202 Build Diary

Post by Spaceman »

That fits. The battery has a second three pin connector i assume is for ballancing. Thats the one that dosnt fit. Its a three pin plug and the charger has a socket, its just a bit too big
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Re: Team 1202 Build Diary

Post by Spaceman »

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Re: Team 1202 Build Diary

Post by Spaceman »

Can the battery be charged unballanced?
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Re: Team 1202 Build Diary

Post by Remote-Controlled Dave »

The battery will already be balanced. You can charge that no problem just using the red one. As Gary said before, there's no real need to use the white plug for anything on models this small.
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Re: Team 1202 Build Diary

Post by peterwaller »

As Gary and Dave have said you don't need to balance charge these small 2 cell packs.
Because they are connected in series you are always drawing the same amount of current from both cells so they stay balanced.
If for some reason you brought out the centre point to run somthing of just one of the cells you would cause an inbalance but under normal circumstances that is not a problem.
I always carefully remove the balance connector to save weight.
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Re: Team 1202 Build Diary

Post by Spaceman »

Thats helpfull to know. I will try a charge later. On that note the battery says charge not more than 2c ( which i assume is 2 amp). In terms of charge setting whats a safe ampage to charge it at. The charger has options up to 5A
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Re: Team 1202 Build Diary

Post by EpicentrE »

"C" ratings on batteries refer to a multiplier of the capacity. So in this case, 2c is 350 x 2, or 700ma (0.7a). I'd generally recommend just charging at 1c (350ma), though, as I believe it makes the battery last longer (correct me if I'm wrong on this).
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Re: Team 1202 Build Diary

Post by Spaceman »

Entry 2

After a surprisingly quick charge I wired up the bot and It looked something like this:

Image

I should add this is just to see if the thing goes. after a fairly painless pairing the machine sprang to life:

Image

(please excuse the clips length. trying to find the stop button)

And the weight of the thing is such

Image

there is a lot of wire tidying to do and I can prob loose a fair amount of weight from shortening wires etc.

I found initial the bot is quite slow and lacks traction sometimes. I think the lack of a proper castor is not helping it. I used 200rpm motors but in future may use faster.

But its coming together
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Re: Team 1202 Build Diary

Post by BeligerAnt »

Your traction problem is down to weight distribution. Many people use those wheels and I don't think anyone bothers with a castor on the front. Get most of the weight over the wheels and you will have enough traction to be going on with.

If you do decide to cut the balance charger off of the battery pack, be VERY careful and cut one wire at a time. Also be sure to insulate the cut ends of the wires. Shorting out one of these battery packs can easily result in a fire and/or a burn to your hand if you're holding the battery at the time.
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Re: Team 1202 Build Diary

Post by Remote-Controlled Dave »

Always nice when something moves for the first time!
As you have a fair amount of weight remaining, I wouldn't bother cutting off the balance wires. Just stick a big weight over the wheels for more traction.
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