Spintec ICC charger

[gramey]

:) I finally got delivery of my Spintec charger today but as of yet no PC cable, has anyone already got the cable and more importantly if they have is there a means of converting to USB connection?:)

[spannersatcx]

Don't have the charger or know about it, but if it comes with a serial cable then there are adapters to convert from a serial plug to USB.

[tony-devon]

I have been asking around about the lead, spoke with Erik Jonk about it and got no reply as to when the lead will be available

also the lipo function isnt due to be ready till feb/march next year, so that out me off somewhat as wanted it for lipo and nimh, it will also not have a balancing of the lipo :(

I have done a lot of searching on the web and found a lot of info, sadly not all good about the unit, beleive that the UK price is £270, and most users are still recomending that you use different discharger etc, so not quite the all in one unit I had hoped for

please keep this thread alive with any comments etc you might have as I am interested to see what peoples opinions are of it.

Connection to the PC is serial COM port

[Mr.B]

I have had my spintec for 2 months now and cannot 'Big' it up enough.
I have had no problems charging or discharging my I.B4200's.
I owned a Pro-Trak for the last 10 years and decided to make the move,and have not been dissappointed.
We have the necessary serial lead and have updated it from the website with no problems.
I've been racing for about 18years now and can honestly say the I.C.C is worth every penny.
Paul.;)
P.S. They can be located from abroad through that Infamous auction site,thats where i got mine and paid £220 inc postage from OZ.

[gramey]

:) I received a reply from Erik Jonk stating that Helger had under estimated demand for the cables and ordered less of these than the chargers. He also said that there is an interface in the plug so you cannot use a stock COM port cable. Helger have a new order due in the first week of October so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my cable is in that order.
There have been several reported problems with charging IB 4200's although personally I'm still using GP 3700 SP2's. I charge at 5.00 amps which is fairly conservative, neither I or my son have had problems with speed or run time at this charge rate. Those that have reported problems are usually charging at a higher rate.
Mr.B what rate are you charging at?
I can wait for the lipo upgrade as I haven't had any issues with my GP's, although I appreciate there are apparently benefits with lipo's. I'm sure as the saying goes they are 'the way forward' so we will undoubtedly be going down that route in the not too distant future.
I was in 2 minds as to whether to buy the ICC or the ProTrak and came down in favour of the ICC which I paid £250.00 for from my LHS. I buy a lot of my stuff from abroad but felt happier with such an expensive item knowing that I could get any issues dealt with locally.
So far, from the limited use I've given it, it seems very good although I wish there was a partial charge cycle and the ability to store several different battery profiles as there is with our Eagle CDC's. We run large scale and nitros as well so have varying configurations of cells and capacities and its useful to be able to easily swap between them.
We've got 3 meetings coming up in 3 weeks so hopefully it'll get a good work out in this time and I'll post my findings.:)

[tony-devon]

I have rung round and cant find any at the moment

the comments regarding the ib4200 venting etc does concern me as with them being close on £50 per pack I cant aford to lose them

the lipo function is sort of the make or break for me, I race bikes and the superbike class all run lipo, and I want to get a lipo setup for winter testing etc just for longer run times and to save the ib2400 cells from undue use

a lack of cycle or the ability to equalize then start charging is a bit annoying, but maybe it will be sorted with an update??

I await your comments from the next few weeks with interest

[wotcars]

the ib cells will vent on any charger i heared them vent on the advantage, pro trak , the futaba and the cdc
so dont let this charger put you off they all will do it

[tony-devon]

ok???? now Im worried, does this venting mean that they are knackered??

new to electric and very confused

[Skiddins]

I have had my spintec for 2 months now and cannot 'Big' it up enough.
I have had no problems charging or discharging my I.B4200's.
I owned a Pro-Trak for the last 10 years and decided to make the move,and have not been dissappointed.
We have the necessary serial lead and have updated it from the website with no problems.
I've been racing for about 18years now and can honestly say the I.C.C is worth every penny.
Paul.;)
P.S. They can be located from abroad through that Infamous auction site,thats where i got mine and paid £220 inc postage from OZ.


What settings are you using for your IB4200's, particularly the charge rate?

Thanks
Skiddins

[Mr.B]

The venting is apparently down to their chemical make-up.
The IB's are supposed to operate at a higher temp than GP's.
I did some homework on American forums and they were talking of really hot temps for IB's with no lasting adverse effects.(And i mean temps that you wouldnt be able to hold them!)
The forums were also saying that,once peaked,they are good to go for as long as they are still warm.After that they need re-peaking.
I charge mine at 6amps with only a 5mv drop off per cell,yes they are hotter than GP's done on the same charge,but i've had no probs.And the punch i get from them,over my old 'Oscar' GP's,is in another league.And the capacity is excellent as well i have 4 packs and they all go over 4800 @6 amps.

I think there are some issues with discharging and yes maybe they are a little more 'Delicate' than GP 3700's but 'Routine' is definately the answer.
Paul. ;)

[gramey]

:) I know most of you big boys are onto IB4200's and other high capacity cells but one thing I've found is that the ICC doesn't seem to like the green & yellow GP 3700's, keeps throwing up a power supply error code everytime I try and charge them.
No problems whatsoever with the red & green SP2's, I don't know what the difference is between these cells as they are both GP's and 3700's, anyone that can tell me the difference?:)

[Skiddins]

The venting is apparently down to their chemical make-up.
The IB's are supposed to operate at a higher temp than GP's.
I did some homework on American forums and they were talking of really hot temps for IB's with no lasting adverse effects.(And i mean temps that you wouldnt be able to hold them!)
The forums were also saying that,once peaked,they are good to go for as long as they are still warm.After that they need re-peaking.
I charge mine at 6amps with only a 5mv drop off per cell,yes they are hotter than GP's done on the same charge,but i've had no probs.And the punch i get from them,over my old 'Oscar' GP's,is in another league.And the capacity is excellent as well i have 4 packs and they all go over 4800 @6 amps.

I think there are some issues with discharging and yes maybe they are a little more 'Delicate' than GP 3700's but 'Routine' is definately the answer.
Paul. ;)

Have you set your delta peak to 5mV?
Also, what are your temperature settings?

Thanks
Skiddins

[gramey]

:) We used the charger in anger for the first time yesterday and apart from the previous gripe about the lack of a battery profile memory and the inability to do a partial charge (other than just switching off manually after x no. of minutes) it was a delight to use.
I was initially concerned that the cells were showing a lower peak voltage than on our Eagle CDC's, roundabout the 7.6 - 7.7 mark, as opposed to the 8.3 - 8.4 on the CDC. My concerns appear to be unfounded as there were no issues with the cells dumping during any of the qualifiers/finals. It would appear that although the peak voltage figure is lower that as each cell is receiving a charge, rather than a whole pack, the figures are not distorted by one or two high or low cells. I may have got this wrong as I'm only now trying to understand the electrical side of the cars more.
That said the cells went from showing a match of 85% on initial charge to 93% at the end of the second charge ready for the afternoon finals.
Our cells were discharged, equalised and then charged on Saturday evening and then topped up on Sunday morning prior to qualifying. Each pack was used for one qualifyier and then charged again and used for one final.:)

[Mr.B]

Yes 5mv and 55 degrees.

[rbridd]

ok???? now Im worried, does this venting mean that they are knackered??

new to electric and very confused

My experience is that I have had a cell vent in two different packs.
You can hear the cell when it goes, (A pop and a hiss), bt if you're not there at the time, then there is normally no evidence to show that the cell has vented.

In both cases where my cell vented, the pack lasted one more run before it went very soft.
Graphing on the pro-trak showed that the vented cell had high resistance on the charge, and was giving circa .2v less output on a discharge.

It also loses its charge completely over a couple of days.

In short. Once an IB4200 cell has vented, it's functionally dead, even if you can put a voltmeter across it and get a reading.

[gramey]

:) Is anyone charging saddle packs on their Spintec ICC, 2 x 3 joined by a length of wire? The reason I ask is that we're looking at getting a couple of buggies and several of them use this configuration.:)

[StreetScreamer]

IB cells are very very sensitive!! Max 3 or 4 mV per cell deltapeak only! One guy quite directly related to Corally told me the following: Max temperature of the cell is 42 degrees. In case you are not sue if your charger is doing the right delte peak, charge with temperature gauge and determine at what deltapeak the temperature reaches 42 degrees.
Some racers even do not go further than 35 degrees

Good Luck

[Glenn Atterton]

Has anyone done a discharge comparison (produced graphs) using the same cells and discharger after charging on the Spintec ICC and another high-end charger?

[Smartypants]

I am currently after an ICC Charger does anyone know of anywhere that has one (New or Second hand) ??

[gramey]

:( I'm not sure what the current state of affairs are with Spintec as I was informed that the factory had been broken into and totally cleaned out, and I mean cleaned out. This could explain why I havn't received a reply to an e-mail enquiry I made.
As for second hand ones you'll just have to keep your eye/ears open, if others are as happy as I am there won't be too many 2nd hand ones around just yet.:)

[andyuk99]

If you guy's still after a Spintec(4,5 and 6cell version) I know of one being sold. PM me :)