Datsun 280ZX, get it up and running again?

[Dan1891 180]

On 7/3/2023 at 10:23 PM, Dan1891 said:

Today i'm very sad...I have lost the original Steering servo Rod of my Datsun!

Anyone know the dimensions, lengths and angles of the rod?

So i can make me a rod, i guess it's very hard to find a new original one?

 

 

 

 

Today i felt a bit proud, because i managed to start making me a new steering rod out of an old bicycle wheel spoke i found in my garbage collection

I think this will do:

 

 

[Dan1891 180]

The homemade steering rod put in, i think its gonna work.

Also note the poor mans BEC with 2 very nice soldered diodes, and the very high quality diy steering servo mounting posts!   

Now i have to start building me a Tamiya 7.2V Hump Pack battery.

[Dan1891 180]

Today i found my old Tamiya Hump Pack! 7.2V 1200 mAh NiCad.

Is there any chance at all that you can get life in it again?

The last time it was charged was in 1986-87 or so.....

edit: I measured the voltage in the battery to 2.55V

I was surprised it was any voltage at all in it!

[JimBear 433]

20 hours ago, Dan1891 said:

Today i found my old Tamiya Hump Pack! 7.2V 1200 mAh NiCad.

Is there any chance at all that you can get life in it again?

Perhaps somewhere in Sweden - like this? -> https://batteridoktorn.se - it seems that they make batteries to specification (never used them actually). I had a local shop in Göteborg where they did stuff like this, but it seems to be gone.

[Dan1891 180]

On 7/22/2023 at 4:17 PM, Dan1891 said:

Today i found my old Tamiya Hump Pack! 7.2V 1200 mAh NiCad.

Is there any chance at all that you can get life in it again?

The last time it was charged was in 1986-87 or so.....

edit: I measured the voltage in the battery to 2.55V

I was surprised it was any voltage at all in it!

I charged the battery very gentle at just 0.1A in like 20 min or so, didnt dare more if it gonna explode or something!

And the voltage is now stable at 5V

Anyone have experience in old NiCd, would you dare to charge it more?

[El Gecko 1343]

6 hours ago, Dan1891 said:

I charged the battery very gentle at just 0.1A in like 20 min or so, didnt dare more if it gonna explode or something!

And the voltage is now stable at 5V

Anyone have experience in old NiCd, would you dare to charge it more?

It depends on what has gone on in the life and history of that particular battery, but I think you're on the right track.

Just stick to trickle charging at first to balance the cells. It might take a few charge/discharge cycles before it's back to full power, but I've got some old Tamiya Ni-Cd batteries (and other brands) that still charge up the same as they did 20-30 years ago.

And worst case if the NiCds don't work, just get some loose NiMH cells and solder yourself a new pack.

[Dan1891 180]

16 hours ago, El Gecko said:

It depends on what has gone on in the life and history of that particular battery, but I think you're on the right track.

Just stick to trickle charging at first to balance the cells. It might take a few charge/discharge cycles before it's back to full power, but I've got some old Tamiya Ni-Cd batteries (and other brands) that still charge up the same as they did 20-30 years ago.

And worst case if the NiCds don't work, just get some loose NiMH cells and solder yourself a new pack.

Thanks! Then i think i dare to charge it more

Trickle Charge, is that charging at low current, like i do now with 0.1A ?

[El Gecko 1343]

2 hours ago, Dan1891 said:

Thanks! Then i think i dare to charge it more

Trickle Charge, is that charging at low current, like i do now with 0.1A ?

Yes that 0.1A would be a trickle charge. Something like 1.0A or more would be a "quick charge" and most chargers max out around 4A for their quick charge output.

Since 0.1A = 100mAh, you'd want to charge your 1200mAh battery for roughly 12 hours to get it topped off. And there's no need for any fancy discharging equipment, just stick it in the car or hook a motor up to it and let it run until the motor slows down. Then trickle charge again, and repeat the whole process a few times. You should start to see a bit more power and a bit longer runtime after a few charges.

[Dan1891 180]

1 hour ago, El Gecko said:

Yes that 0.1A would be a trickle charge. Something like 1.0A or more would be a "quick charge" and most chargers max out around 4A for their quick charge output.

Since 0.1A = 100mAh, you'd want to charge your 1200mAh battery for roughly 12 hours to get it topped off. And there's no need for any fancy discharging equipment, just stick it in the car or hook a motor up to it and let it run until the motor slows down. Then trickle charge again, and repeat the whole process a few times. You should start to see a bit more power and a bit longer runtime after a few charges.

Great info! I'm on charging at 0.1A now

The label on the battery says standard charging time 14-16 hours, i assume this is at a very low charging current then.

[Dan1891 180]

On 7/25/2023 at 7:23 PM, El Gecko said:

 And there's no need for any fancy discharging equipment, just stick it in the car or hook a motor up to it and let it run until the motor slows down. Then trickle charge again, and repeat the whole process a few times. You should start to see a bit more power and a bit longer runtime after a few charges.

I hooked the motor up after the first charge (6 hours or so), and the motor ran like 12 min at good speed before slowing down.

Amazing! There seems to be some life in the battery after 35 years not been charged!

edit: second charge and the motor ran 36 min before slowing down.

 

[JimBear 433]

Sounds like you are getting there, @Dan1891! As an aside, I remember hooking up the ni-mh battery to dads' 12V car battery using big alligator clips ... and it took like forever to charge. Some things change, others not so much. 

[Dan1891 180]

10 hours ago, JimBear said:

Sounds like you are getting there, @Dan1891! As an aside, I remember hooking up the ni-mh battery to dads' 12V car battery using big alligator clips ... and it took like forever to charge. Some things change, others not so much. 

Back in my teens in the -80s, i remember i charged the NiCd from a car 12V battery charger! But with a high wattage resistor in the plus wire, to reduce/control the charging current

[Dan1891 180]

Today i did a find that i thought was lost years ago.

The 3 other pinion and spur gears!

The Datsun came with 4 pinions and spurs for different gear ratios, and i was very happy to find the other 3!