Good sites/info for battery education?

[cbreaker]

I am getting into some electric stuff. I got a XXX-S Graphite and a Quasar Pro charger. I've got some batteries coming soon.

Anyways, I've been learning how the charger works with some battery packs I have currently, such as my 7.2v pack for the Mini-T and reciever pack for my Storm. It seems pretty easy to charge them (select the cells, type, and hit start.)

I understand about amps when it comes to the rates of charging, discharging, etc, but I can't seem to figure out what the voltages mean and what the peak is representing.

For example, to keep it simple I'm charging my glow plug battery. I selected single cell NiCd, 1300mAh. This matches the battery. Right now it's charging and the screen reads: 1.664V and PEAK 1.667. These numbers keep rising - the PEAK displays the highest voltage number seen. Eventually, the PEAK will reach something like 1.704 and then the first voltage drops down to 1.3V or so. What does it mean? Is this the voltage being sent into the battery or being pulled from the battery? I'm guessing the higher the peak the better the cell?

Basically I'm looking for a few good web sites that explain this stuff, specifically about NiMH batteries I guess but it seems like much of this stuff applies to both types. I've found a few sites about batteries in general, but I already know how a cell works, and I don't need to know formulas and chemical compositions. One informative page on NiCd batteries mentioned "a new type of batteries, NiMH, that show promise but aren't commonly available yet." Needless to say it wasn't very up to date.

And finally, although off the topic of batteries, I'm looking for some set-up suggestions for a XXX-S on carpet.

 

[thedominator]

peak numbers on chargers are basically the surface charge on your pack. Once the pack is subjected to a load the voltage will drop. If you buy a matched pack the voltage under load will be on the labels and the more voltage the better. My charger doesn't display that stuff so i don't worry about it

I also have a xxx-s G+ and its a great car. Can't help you with set-ups though cause i run on asphault.

 

[cbreaker]

So I want the peak to top off high, and that should tell me how "good" the pack is - is that a correct assumption?

I picked these cells: http://www.kinetixrc.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=29

Someone told me that they are really nice packs and the price is good.

 

[Candyman]

The basic idea is that as NiCd or NiMH batteries charge, they slowly increase in voltage. Obvious, right? What peak is looking at is the maximum voltage of the battery or pack during a charge. It's not the amount of voltage applied to the battery. it's the actual voltage of the battery or pack. Now, once the batteries get to full charge, they actually start to lose voltage. A delta peak charger operates by looking at fluctuations in battery voltage. If a battery is charging along and increasing voltage, all is fine. But if the charger detects that the battery suddenly drops a set amout of volts, it assumes the battery is fully charged and will stop the charging cycle. So what you're seeing on the screen is the peak which is the highest level the battery hit, and the other is the actual standing voltage of the battery or pack. The voltage will drop a little once the charge cycle is done, so don't worry about that.

I found this site which may give some fairly basic but useable info:http://www.teammaximus.com/battery/nicd_mait.html