How to recharge new NiCad battery I bought a new 18 volt cordless drill-driver that has 1200 mAh recharceable NiCad battery. What is the best way to get longest battery life out of it? Alzerimers setting in? Can't remember if you completely discharge first or fully charge to get longest life.
Completely discharging just about any multicell battery will reverse charge some cells and likely ruin them. Fully charge it. Try reading the instructions to be sure.
Bob
What kills nicads is over charging- getting it hot and over discharging when running, when the drill start to slow its dead, let the battery rest a day inbetween charges, just charge it and use it. Im sure your new charger wont over charge it it monitors peak level.
snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@g10g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:
Use it frequently(use it or lose it),recharge after use. Don't put away a disharged battery. Use a fast charger,1 hr lor less,not those 3-5hr chargers. Use a "smart" charger that doesn't overcharge the pack.
also,RTFM.
Note NiCd cells have a self-discharge rate;they slowly discharge just being stored.(thus "use it or lose it")
(1200mAH seems kinda low,most packs are 2200mAH or better)
In my experience, new NiCads generally are sold in an uncharged state. Simply put the new battery in the charger and give it the normal charge procedure.
SJF
Your getting a bunch of different answers, so here's mine: Its been my experience that store bought chargers have one object in mind, to charge the battery fast. They really don't care if your battery dies a year from now. I've had store bought chargers that actually get a battery hot when its charging. I've thrown out my store bought chargers or modified them to charge at a reduced rate. Always start with a discharged battery (don't charge a battery that doesn't need charging) and put it on a timer so you know how long its been charged. I too have just gotten a couple new 18v drills with 1200 mah battery's. These are the first cordless drills I've owned. The charger said to charge for 5 hours and I measured a charge rate around 350 ma. Do the math: 5 hrs at 350 ma = 1750 mah into a 1200 mah battery. Not too bad, but I modified mine with a 13 ohm resistor to get the charge rate down to around 200 ma and will charge them for 8 hours (beacuse I just happen to have a nice 8 hour timer). I'll keep one of the chargers un-modified and use it to quick charge if necessary for an hour or two, but the 8 hour one will be what I use most of the time.
"Dan K" wrote in news:oKCdnWTDdJU36A3ZnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:
Which is best for them. Those slow chargers don't measure battery temp or any parameter;they are just current sources,and can overcharge or undercharge your battery pack.Uusally overcharging them,shortening their life.
Which is normal,if not overdone.
How do you know how long to charge it? How do you determine the pack's amount of depletion? Modern smart chargers(all fast chargers) measure deltaV/deltaT,and know when to shut off the charge.
When you buy the new Lithium-ion packs,they will have their smarts built right into the pack,to insure the proper charging.
BTW,the cheapo drill/drivers are the ones that come with 3-5hr chargers,that shorten battery life,and good battery packs have mAH ratings of far more than 1200mAH. That's puny for a sub-C cell.
I have read that fast charging definately costs battery life. You are right that uncontrolled cheap slow chargers can damage the batteries. A quality "slow" charger should be best in my understanding.
Bob
Fast charger more likely to electrolyze the water in the cells. Thus killing Them.
Smart chargers better. Slow chargers better.
There is no water in nicads, stormin..
There are peak reading slow chargers.
"Stormin Mormon" wrote in news:J2Kkg.45898$ snipped-for-privacy@twister.nyroc.rr.com:
Fast charger knows when to shut off,slow chargers don't. Fast charger detects when time to shut off based on state of charge,slow charger has no idea of state of charge of cell,nor does the operator when setting any added timer. Smart chargers best,but they all charge FAST at first,then slow as needed depending on programming and type of charge measurement.
snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@r2g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:
You *have to* charge the cells at a higher than rated voltage,you don't charge a 12V pack with a 12V supply. Typical charge V for NiCds is 1.55V per cell. Measure some good packs that are fully charged,you will find that they read higher than 12V.(my Makita 9.6 packs charge to ~10.4V)
That's why you want a smart charger or a fast charger that actually monitors the pack,not the slow chargers that are just a simple current source with no feedback control.
You NEED a timer shut-off if you use a slow charger,to prevent overcharging,and then the charger may discharge the cell if left connected,it depends on the charger circuitry.
Actually, there is. The electrolyte in a NiCd cell is potassium hydroxide in water. In the typical NiCd cell, there's not much - hence the concern about burning up what little there is to begin with.
Thank you for ammusing Ransley for us.
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