My LXX won't charge

[Nenox]

My LXX won't charge unless it the Nimh battery is completely dry. The batteries in the charger are brand new. Is this normal?

The way things are now, I'd charge for about a minute (the length of time the charge LED stays on), and play with it for about 5 minutes until there isn't enough electricity in the battery to push the car forward anymore. Then I have to either

1) run the battery completely dry by pushing forward until the wheels don't spin anymore, AND wait about an extra 15-30 minutes before the charge LED will come on when I place the guy on his charge pad, or...

2) not bother running out the remaining electricity and letting the car sit for upwards of an hour, presumably so the battery can drain dry on its own. Only then will the charger allow me to charge.

Has anybody had this problem before? The connection from the charging pad to the car is good, so that cannot be the issue. Does this sound like a battery problem or a charger problem? I am willing to get a new battery or build myself a stand alone charger if that's the case. Will a stand alone charger charge no matter what, as long as there is a car in the charge pad?

In a breaking development, I think my car is getting worse. I just charged it a minute ago, and it charged in a significantly shorter time, resulting in a far shorter play time at nothing near it's max speed. Does this sound like a battery memory problem?

I only have this one car, so it's not possible for me to test other cars on my charger, or this car on another charger to help me determine the cause of the problem. Any thoughts?

[Zakkorn]

I think I know your problem

The LXX controller charges differently from the Bit controller.

Go to http://www.toyeast.com/lxx00.htm

Toyeast has instructions of how to use the LXX.

I found this link thanks to AssPhalt from an old post he wrote.

Give your thanks to him.

[Nenox]

Thanks Zakkorn. This helped a lot!

My car is still running slower than when I first got it a few days ago though. I'm in the process of building a stand alone charger to see if I can pump more juice into the battery, and in turn, the motor. Does that even make sense from an electronics standpoint? I sure hope so.

[DKS]

That is normal for it not to allow you to charge when it still has a slight charge. If the controller reads a certain voltage, it will not charge. This avoids overcharging and damging the cell