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This charger was given to me by my neighbor for free (nice guy huh) since he isn't into RC anymore. I installed Deans connectors on it so I could use the discharger funtion. My question is, is it even worth using the discharger (its a timed one) or should I just drain the my batteries with my car on a stand?

Also it has a little display that says DC Amperes with a needle and don't know what it means; like when I plug the battery in it slowly goes to 0 (from like -2).My main question is how will I know to stop discharging? Thanks for any help. The charger uses about a 2 amp discharger load, timer 15 minutes will not fully charge a battery pack may have to be reset 3 to 4 times. The meter is an analog meter that shows the charge rate and will drop as battery reaches peak voltage. Set the adjust knob to desire rate on analog meter, a pack peak needle will drop. Plug in a DVM to be more precise of when pack is charged (DC plug on side for DVM plug) or monitor the pack temperature - isn't always precise cells that are going bad will feel warmer than the rest. If you aren't racing you could make up your own bulb discharger, using 1-10 1157 auto type bulbs rated at approximately 2amp each.

I use 5 for non race packs and 10-15 for race packs. Originally posted by highroller When discharging the needle will be to the left in - minus area, when it nears the 0 area it is discharged. If using NiMh you may want to remove pack when it reach 1 mark and use a single lightbulb then remove that when bulb dims - don't allow it to go out with NiMh - they don't respond well if discharged to low. Thats exactly what I needed to know.But with nicd when should I remove the batt. Also wheres the adjust knob? I don't see 1.

What are you adjusting? I'm only discharging my batteries after using them BTW.

Also I notice that when actually using the batteries, some cells get hotter than the others;so does that mean that those cells are going bad? And lastly; how do I make a bulb discharger? Thanks again. I don't believe there is an current adjust knob on the 702. So that doesn't matter. (not on my old one anyway) And Highroller was referring to a DVM or, digital volt meter. You can pick up an inexpensive one at Radio Shack or out on ebay.

They are key to monitoring the voltage of the battery while charging on those older chargers. I personally would not use that charger to discharge. Far too low a discharge rate. For your situation I would go get yourself a pre-built bulb discharge kit similar to this I found by doing a search for 'discharge' on ebay: (no, it's not mine) It's an ugly example but it is how most work.

Make sure you get one with a cut-off switch because, believe me, you will miss the 'dim' window eventually. I too have a very old Pro Tech 702 charger. There is no current adjust knob on this model. It only has a switch to select between 6 & 7 cell.

I believe this changes the amp rate of the charge but my manual does not indicate what the amps are. I never use it to discharge a pack except to take out the last volt or two after a run. It's all I have at the moment. I take the battery (6 cell, 1500 mAh NiCd Sport pack) down to 5 volts after a run. This is when the battery is somewhat warm so the volts are going to change after the battery cools. It will go up to about 6 volts once cooled. I hook the Digital Volt Meter to the small red & black hookups on the left side of the charger.

My volt meter reads to the.01 volts. The reading here is somewhat false during charging due to the extra volts being generated by the charger that the battery is trying to 'absorb'. If you disconnect the battery from the charger and take a direct battery reading the difference is about 2-3 volts lower. Ignore that during charging. The amount of volts is not as important as the ability to find the peak charge.

While charging I watch my DVM. (Ignore the first 10-15 minutes). The first 2-5 minutes the voltage rises fairly quickly. On my standard pack it goes from 5 to 8.5 volts in less than 5 minutes. Then it rises very slowly for the next 10 minutes.

From 8.5 to 10.3 or so. Then it begins to rise a little quicker as it approaches it's peak. The peak on my packs seem to happen around 10.8 - 11 volts. I use a self-inspired formula.

The voltage will bounce up and down.01 -.03 all throughout the charge. If you consider only the average reading you could graph the voltage increase throughout the charge. It is not a steady reading. My rule is that if the voltage ever drops.04 for more than 3 seconds from it's highest reading then it's done charging. The battery tends to be warm but not what I would call hot. Hot over-rules anything the DVM says.