Battery Charging

[novagator]

What type of chargers does everyone use for nicad packs, also why does everyone put them on the trickle charge and not the 15 minute charge?

[chips]

I have a Leisure Electronics

I have a Leisure Electronics AC/DC unit. It does quick & trickle charging, and discharges the batteries as well. I've had some NiCad packs almost 5 years. Trickle charging is better for the batteries over the long run - they get a more even constant charge that way. Quick charging can cause the batteries to develop a (short) memory. Over time, the battery won't take in as much mA (charge) as it did when new. This will cause the run time to be shorter. I trickle charge all my batteries when I can. When I'm at the lake, I will quick charge the NiCads, but only a few times per day.



Edited By chips on 1077151751

[anonymous]

Thats weird.
Last time I bought

Thats weird.
Last time I bought a battery charger I was told that the best thing for the batteri is first to discharge it completly of course, and then quick charge it about 40 min with a peak checker or what they are called that way they were to hold longer
but hej I dont know

[ramius-ii]

Hi Guys]http://www.subcommittee.com/forum/icon_smile.gif
I thought

Hi Guys]http://www.subcommittee.com/forum/icon_smile.gif[/img]
I thought you might enjoy an indepth explaination of what's going on with nicads. Hope it's a help.

In NiCads during discharge, turns the Cadmium metal into Cadmium Oxide and vice versa on recharge. Both are solids. In a low discharge, the Cadmium Hydroxide crystals that form are relatively big, and therefore access is blocked to the plates. The result is less and less active surface of Cadmium being accessible for further discharge. Therefore the capacity drops. Deep discharges and subsequent recharges will break the crystals and form a new layer of smaller crystals, thus restoring capacity.

Full discharge doesn't mean you drain the battery down completely. Deep discharge means going below 1 volt, as the nominal voltage is 1.2 volts. This is equivalent to a 60% discharge. Most equipment is designed to stop operating below 1 volt per cell, therefore the user may think that the battery is "fully discharged". NiCads do not "last forever". Their lifetime is about 1000 cycles.

The biggest enemy of anything electrical is heat. Rapid chargers accomplish their task by raising the voltage applied to the battery so more current will flow. This, in turn, generates heat, which can cause the plates to distort and cause an internal short if the plate distortion is severe enough. Many of the newer batteries have a temperature sensor built in with feedback to the charger. Others may have a heat limit sensor that will disconnect the battery at a certain temperature and reset when the temperature returns to a more normal condition.

Best, Ed



Edited By Ramius-II on 1077223189