5 cell charge HELP

[JTHXXXN/T]

can someone please tell me how I should be handling a brand new 1200MAH 5 cell hump pack, Starting with first charge. I have a reedy pro charger.
thanks john

 

[Çh®i§tiªñ]

Settings:

5 Cell
6 Volt Pack
Nimh
1.2 Volts for the Charge
1200 MaH ( I divide the MaH by 1 and get the charging voltage)
3mv cutoff per cell

When its done charging, disconnect then reconnect and set it to charge again. It will actually peak a second time.

Then, take it out and run it to death. Then, peak it twice again. And fully discharge.

From there, use as normal.

I would suggest cycling it on the charger, but, I found cycling to only work effectively for NiCd's.

-Chris

 

[robriguez]

Yeah it is NOT recommended to deep cycle or completely discharge then recharge NiMh batteries. I've read a ton of articles saying this is bad for your NiMh cells.

 

[militarymaxx]

Yes, rob is absolutely correct. Never discharge a NiMH battery. In fact, they should be kept with a 50% charge on them when not in use. My charger has a 1 maH selection on it that I use when charging my hump-pack. The important thing to remember when charging NiMH's is temperature. Watch it closely, don't cook them.

 

[big kal]

Hmmm....I guess everyone has a different way of charging their hump pack.

Christian-I have a Reedy NiMh 1100mah 5-cell hump pack. The battery came with an insert and it says never to charge the pack with no more than 0.5 volts. I charge my pack on an MRC Superbrain 959 at 0.5 volts and set the voltage threshold at 25mV. What are you thoughts on that?

 

[militarymaxx]

Different chargers are going to have different charge settings.
My Duratrax twin peak charger has only two options, 3.5 or 1.0, so naturally I go with the lower setting for my small humpback.
Regardless of what rate you charge NiMH batteries at, you really have to watch the temp. There is a link I will try and find that talks about NiMH charging rates and temps.

 

[Çh®i§tiªñ]

My thoughts are this for 6v hump/flat packs.

If the mAh is 1,100 then charge with 1.1 volts. If the mAh is 3,000 then charge with 3 volts. In following that guideline I have never had a battery pack even get hot.

When I discharge my NiMh's I do it by driving the vehicle under normal conditions, NOT cycling or charger discharge. My second discharge statement didnt go on to elaborate like my first one, sorry about that. I only do this for the first 2 full double peak charges. IMO this truly does help the batteries realize their capacity.

I only cycle my NiCd's and the Reedy does a GREAT job of doing so.

I set all my batts to overpeak cutoff at 3mv. Just my personal preference.

I store my Nimh's at a 100% charge. Not 50%. This again is a debated issue so I ride with my gut which is 100% charged. I stored 3 packs for the past winter this way, and even re-peaked them about half way through the season, and my battery packs do just as good as last year.

I like to double peak my batteries as it is common for them to false peak. If the charger continues to pump ANY mAh into the pack after you restart a charge, you can bet it false peaked. Just my 2 cents.

Lastly, I ALWAYS monitor the warmth of my battery packs and have NEVER had a problem with charging by the above method. It has worked fine and I will continue with it until I hit a speed bump.

The good ole addage, "If it aint broke, dont fix it!"

You will find from person to person, charging techniques will vary. Even with the Pro's

 

[militarymaxx]

Çh®i§tiªñ - I agree with storing the NiMH's at 100%. What I should have said in regards to my 50% rule was never store them with less than a 50% charge. You're right and personal preference usually dictates. So where 50% might be good,
100% is even better.

(Thank Bill Gates for cut/paste. It's so much easier to write your name using that function)