On Sunday 09 December 2007 13:11, Craig wrote: > I think an ideal battery charger would first discharge the battery (or > batteries) almost completely (under controlled load) before starting the > charging cycle. Ham radio operators have designed several such chargers > (many of them back in the NiCad days) and those designs should be out > there somewhere. The best way handling NiMHs isn't the best way of handling NiCads, as mr Isodor Buchmann at BatteryUniversity.com. He puts it like this: * Do not leave a nickel-based battery in a charger for more than a few days, even on trickle charge. * Exercise nickel-cadmium every 1 to 2 months and nickel-metal-hydride every 3 months. Running the battery down in the equipment may do this also. MY comment: And then he continues like this - ATTENTION EVERYONE: * Do not discharge the battery before each recharge. This puts undue stress on the battery. * Avoid getting the battery too hot during charge. The temperature should only rise for a short moment at full charge, then cool off. Modern fast chargers contains fans, some have temperature sensors, some advanced types of battery packs have integral temperture sensors and voltage monitoring, built-in! More info at BatteryUniversity.com! A good comparion of the various types available Buchmann gives us as well - there are further types availble today, but those are not very common, yet: http://www.batteryuniversity.com/partone-3.htm Tord > > The disadvantage to a "good" battery charger is that it's probably not a > "fast" battery charger and that's what seems to be driving the market. > The discharge cycle would take extra time and probably the best charge > cycle (which would be in stages in order to control heat buildup) would > also take extra time. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Sun Dec 09 2007 - 12:23:33 PST
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