Hmmmm

[swanaldo]

envy seems to have a problem and i cant put my finger on it so i will ask to see if anyone has had similar probs.

there doesnt seem to be any ooomph. it goes ok till there is weight in the robot then it seems sluggish. i have tested the motors and they seem fine. the batteries are charging ok too. could the roboteq reset itself to a different setting perhaps current limiting itself? would the gyro be making any difference? the gyro is plugged in ok but i wonder if they can make a difference if failing. i will plug in the roboteq to see what the settings are and plan to run at portsmouth without the gyro. but any input would be nice please.

[woody]

Hmmmm

I assume it had OOOoomph previously ...changed anything recently?

Batteries would be my first choice as a culprit.

[swanaldo]

Hmmmm

the batteries charge up to 3000ah give or take a little but mostly give. i.e. 3100ah, and the volts read 29v sometimes 30v. the batteries are old ones but seem ok. the problems have been there ever since turb flipped envy at guildford and a lot of the wiring came out because i hadnt tied them down from the trip to Doha. i have been told that the roboteq can still run if a couple of fets are gone but will limit the current. i will take it to bits and check that too.

[Mouldy]

Hmmmm

ive found with nicsds there performance slowly gets worse n worse.. try borrowing a brand new set of someone- or ask them to try your packs in there robot to see if they notice a differance.

[geeza]

Hmmmm

I agree with Woody and Dave. I have the same problem since we built Turb mk2 last year it has never been as fast as the old one even though non of the drive system has changed. I assume that the batteries are going down the pan slowly. Like yours Shane the easily take 3000mAh and have sufficient voltage. But they do loose the ability to give out high currents a few hours after charging.

[swanaldo]

Hmmmm

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

i will check over the roboteq just to make sure then try and get some new packs. they are old packs and if you have had the same prob then odds on its that. some new packs wouldnt go a miss anyway. just a few hundred quid needed now. spent up on featherweight

[psycho_fling]

Hmmmm

changing the subject slightly but keeping it with the same robots, any pictures of your feather weight Shane?

[Ianshock]

Hmmmm

Will and I have been looking at new batts for a heavy...we still cant choose to get SLA or NiMh...we know NiCds would be better...but anyone got any experience of these ?
http://www.component-shop.co.uk/html/large_packs.htmlhttp://www.component-shop.co.uk/html/large_packs.html

[widow_twanky]

Hmmmm

Hydras got really old nicads in it but they still perform reasonably well. Theyre generally discharged before theyre charged when using the big charger we have. Theyre still in rather good condition and are the originals.

Maybe its worthwhile running a few charge and discharge cycles on it as this can do wonders for some old batteries.

As I understand it you should do that as a matter of course anyway. After an event I take Hydras down to 30V using some halogen lamps and recharge from there.

Also have you got the pc lead for the roboteq cos it gives you all the settings in the software. Really easy to use too.

If it has reset itself, the default setting for accelleration is, i think the mid point, and current is 80%. I say this because when i reset Hydras at Guildford it went back to this so it may not be the same on every one. If it has been reset itll be like a dog (from my limited experience).

Andy

[geeza]

Hmmmm

I would say none on those have the discharge needed for a heavyweight. I would stick with tried and tested batteries for a first heavy, i.e. hawkers or bot-packs. Both being expensive, but probably better in the long run.

[terrorhurtz]

Hmmmm

You can do some simple tests - put the robot on the ground, nose aginst a wall; you should be able to spin the wheels easily. Assuming it isnt geared for a high top speed. Now stand on the robot... you should still be able to spin the wheels.

If you cant, measure the battery voltage while youre doing it and see if it drops a lot.

As others have said, cycling the NiCads ocassionally is good practice.

[widow_twanky]

Hmmmm

Its also worth pointing out that if you do cycle them it does say in some of the manuals for the charger that it can take about five times for it to have any effect.

Andy