I have two 12.0V 2800mAh Rechargeable NiMh Battery Packs (RB-Sta-14 (https://www.robotshop.com/en/120v-2800mah-rechargeable-nimh-battery-pack.html) ) running motors on a robot with four 12V DC Motor 251RPM w/Encoder (RB-Dfr-444 (https://www.robotshop.com/en/12v-dc-motor-251rpm-encoder.html) ). I need to connect the batteries in parallel to the motor drivers on my RaspberryPi 3+ and a Geekworm Raspberry Pi 4B/3B+/3B Full Function Motor HAT (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0721MTJ3P/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) . The charger for these battery packs is a 6V - 12V NiMH / NiCd Smart Charger (RB-Ten-02).
I want to connect the batteries through a switch (RB-Onl-15) using on leg to power the motors and the other leg of the switch to allow charging of the batteries. See diagram below.
Will this work and do you have any suggestions.
Thanks in advance,
RobNov
I don’t see a diagram, but if you intend to run the motorcurrent through the switch, it won’t last long.
Furthermore you don’t have the choice to switch it off. (either run or charge)
A three stage switch (ON-OFF-ON) connected to two relais will do the trick.
Before you connect the two batteries for the first time, make sure they are both charged individually to the same voltage level. Otherwise you’ll see a huge spark and probably melting cables.
Thanks,
didn’t notice diagram did not go through, see below.
I will rework based on you comments. The construction of the robot does not allow easy access to the battery connector plugs so I was trying to do both charge and run to motors remotely so that robot would not have to be opened.
I see, the switch already has a neutral position. That can be important, when the (smart) charger doesn’t like to see a battery at the output, before it has booted up.
Let me know, if you have any further questions
