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NiMh Battery Charger Help Pleaaase

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NiMh Battery Charger Help Pleaaase

Old 09-25-2015, 12:55 AM
  #26  
flyinwalenda
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Originally Posted by chuckk2
Have you cycled the batteries several times?
I found that that can help.
The OP stated in the first two sentences of his post that he is having trouble trying to cycle them.
Old 09-25-2015, 05:38 PM
  #27  
secret_squirrel
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The 6320 is an exact replica of the hitec x4, except the 6320 blows. I paid good money for it a couple years ago and to be honest, I have never really been happy with it. At the time, vista power claimed to have the best delta v algorithms for safe charging, which is what sold me and made me pay more than the hitec x4. That plus I couldn't find a single bad post about the charger on the Internet. I may have just gotten a dud.

Originally Posted by jmiles1941
I use hitec x4 it charges all types of batteries little pricey but it does a great job just my 2 cents worth
Old 09-25-2015, 05:43 PM
  #28  
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Yes, you are more than likely right but over the past two years, I have tried just about every thought, suggestion, hint, you name it.......my accu-cycle elite came into today. See below for more.

Originally Posted by bjw4072
There is probably nothing wrong with your existing fast charger. It is false peaking because the cells are not balanced.
As has been mentioned above, the best way to charge NiMH packs is with a simple constant current 1/10C charger.
Use this non-peak charger at home before flying. Then if you need to occasionally fast charge at the field your peak
charger will probably work fine as the cells tend to balance out when most of charging is done at the
constant 1/10C rate.
If you are using 2000mAH packs as I do, Maxx Products sells a charger CH96N for $18 that will charge 4 or 5 cell packs
at 200mA.
Old 09-25-2015, 06:11 PM
  #29  
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I will make you a deal. I will pay shipping and instead of throwing those batteries away, you ship them to me. I can't remember the exact cycle life of a NiMh but you are wasting at least 100s if not close to a thousand flights on those batteries. Look, it is your hobby though, if you are comfortable with your routine, stick with it. I know a lot of people who do what you do, to me it is just throwing money down the drain I could be spending on something I need. :-). (I need another plane/engine like I need a hole in the head )

peace.

Originally Posted by John_M_
My inlaw and I both dispose of our a123 and NiMh cells at the end of a flying season... we get about 60-70 flights a season, maybe a bit more if weather and time permits... the batteries are cheap enough now days, its not worth the hassle of predicting when good is good enough... back in the early days of NiCad's I had more memory issues causing sudden voltage drops, than I care to admit too... I was even cycling them regularly with an Abacus battery cycler... of course, A123 LiFe and NiMh don't exhibit memory issues, but I still at the end of the days flying discharge them to a safe voltage, and then slow charge them back up to storage voltage until the next weekend of flying and then hit them with a faster charge to bring them up to full capacity just before going out flying again... after 3 flights, they're charged back to a full charge again... I also vary the charge rates, just so not to get into consistent ritual of managing the batteries, mix it up keeps them alive and kicking.



John M,
Old 09-25-2015, 06:13 PM
  #30  
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Ok, I typed a whole long response about my accu-cycle and my iPad crappec the bed during the posting phase. Will redo tomorrow. Peace and God bless everyone.
Old 09-25-2015, 06:30 PM
  #31  
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I'm not sure I would dump my batteries after one season either. But the catastrophic failure rate goes up tremendously after 2 to 3 years of use. So for the guy who just wants to buy and fly without doing all the monitoring and testing, replacing you batteries every year is cheap insurance. If you want to do testing and monitoring, every 2-3 years is a safe bet.
Old 09-26-2015, 06:51 AM
  #32  
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Yes agreed for NiMh/NiCd. Here is something I found on the web for A123. Cut these numbers in half for safety and 60-70 flights is just a ridiculous waste of money to me. Like I said though, planes are like the stock market. You have to do what allows you to sleep peacefully at night/have a good day at the field.

In 2006, two A123 cells were put on a 100 percent depth-of-discharge (DOD) test at 23 degrees Celsius at a 1C/1C charge/discharge rate.
The results? After more than 20,000 full DOD cycles, the cells still have about 65 percent of their initial capacity remaining. To put this in perspective, if a battery is fully changed and discharged once per day, 20,000 cycles is equivalent to approximately 55 years!

Originally Posted by P-40 DRIVER
I'm not sure I would dump my batteries after one season either. But the catastrophic failure rate goes up tremendously after 2 to 3 years of use. So for the guy who just wants to buy and fly without doing all the monitoring and testing, replacing you batteries every year is cheap insurance. If you want to do testing and monitoring, every 2-3 years is a safe bet.

Last edited by secret_squirrel; 09-26-2015 at 07:06 AM.
Old 09-26-2015, 07:05 AM
  #33  
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Ok, so a quick update. Yesterday my Accu-Cycle Elite arrived. I owned one of these prior to the Q6320AC but one day at the field, the display would not come one. Guessing heat just took its toll. I was really sad to see the Accu-Cycle elite go but, I also knew it would be a great excuse to purchase a new quad charger with more capabilities, enter the Q6320AC.

It was like being reunited with an old friend yesterday. Added bonus, the Accu-Cycle Elite can acctually be powered by one of the Q6320AC ports so no mods need to be made to the wiring in my car ;-) Last night I was really happy, clicked a few buttons and the Accu-Cycle Elite was off and purring, cycling two batteries with the temp probes installed (Another nice suprise, I believe the temp probes will work with the Q6320AC). When I woke up this am, one of the batteries was rather warm and in the cool down phase between charge/discharge routines, and the other battery had completed 3 cycles with numbers like discharge=300 mAh and Charge numbers around the same. I was a little disappointed. I started doing some reading a found out that I needed to set the temp cutoff....DUH. Anyway, I changed the temp cutoff setting and the battery that was warm is actually doing a discharge now, and the other battery successfully charged and cutoff when it got warm. It is also in a discharge routine now.

Where am I now? Hopefully I can mod a majority of my planes to have access to the batteries so I can fast charge with the temp probes when needed. I think on a regular basis though, I will begin charging my NiMhs with a wall wart for some sort of balancing.

Sound like a good plan?

Last edited by secret_squirrel; 09-26-2015 at 07:07 AM.
Old 09-26-2015, 09:52 AM
  #34  
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+1 for Acc-Cycle Elite out of Tower Hobbies. I have been using one for over a dozen years and it always performs flawlessly. Very easy to program also....
Old 09-26-2015, 01:27 PM
  #35  
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Originally Posted by secret_squirrel
Yes agreed for NiMh/NiCd. Here is something I found on the web for A123. Cut these numbers in half for safety and 60-70 flights is just a ridiculous waste of money to me. Like I said though, planes are like the stock market. You have to do what allows you to sleep peacefully at night/have a good day at the field.

In 2006, two A123 cells were put on a 100 percent depth-of-discharge (DOD) test at 23 degrees Celsius at a 1C/1C charge/discharge rate.
The results? After more than 20,000 full DOD cycles, the cells still have about 65 percent of their initial capacity remaining. To put this in perspective, if a battery is fully changed and discharged once per day, 20,000 cycles is equivalent to approximately 55 years!

Two things do in batteries, cycles and time. The reason for getting rid of batteries reguardless of the cycle count is time. Batteries start to break down over time, and will have a catastrophic failure at some point. This point gets much more likely after 2-3 years of use. The A123 cells may last much longer but unlike NiCads we don't have much data. The other thing is alot of people are runing LiFe batteries and calling them A123's which they are not. Those batteries such as Hobbico LiFe are not nearly as robust.
Old 09-26-2015, 06:18 PM
  #36  
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Originally Posted by secret_squirrel
I will make you a deal. I will pay shipping and instead of throwing those batteries away, you ship them to me. I can't remember the exact cycle life of a NiMh but you are wasting at least 100s if not close to a thousand flights on those batteries. Look, it is your hobby though, if you are comfortable with your routine, stick with it. I know a lot of people who do what you do, to me it is just throwing money down the drain I could be spending on something I need. :-). (I need another plane/engine like I need a hole in the head )

peace.


My brother inlaw just threw out a couple NiMh sub c packs and A123 cells... someone already offer to take them off his hands at our flying club, but he declined, and so do I... they get fully discharged, crow-bared and tossed in the recycle bin... I make up my own packs and can get hi discharge sub c NiMh cells for around $4 bucks each, and genuine A123 cells for about $8 bucks a piece... so for about $60 bucks a season, I can replace all the packs, receiver, servo, and ignition batteries... its just cheap insurance to replace them, rather than to store them.




John M,
Old 09-26-2015, 06:22 PM
  #37  
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Originally Posted by qwerty3
...the overnight wall-wart type charger is probably best..... A good LiFe pack is a lot less hassle, IMHO.
+1
I've been using NimH's for the last 10 years, trickle-charging them overnight before I fly the next day. Never had a problem. I use 5 cell Hydrimax 2000 mah NimH's. Why is it necessary to charge a NimH at the field?

However, if NimH's are left unused on the shelf for months they will self-discharge and die. I will have to agree that LiFe's are a great way to go. But old habits die hard and so half of my planes still have NimH's. Tried and true and reliable. My jet, however, has dual redundant LiFe's.
Old 09-27-2015, 11:04 AM
  #38  
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Originally Posted by oliveDrab
+1
I've been using NimH's for the last 10 years, trickle-charging them overnight before I fly the next day. Never had a problem. I use 5 cell Hydrimax 2000 mah NimH's. Why is it necessary to charge a NimH at the field?
Do you check your battery voltages after each flight... if you fly several flights in a day, its a good idea to know what capacity is left in the battery packs... it all depends how hard you fly the aircraft, how long each flight is, etc... I always check the battery voltages in between flying, and top up the batteries after a few flights, so I'm always flying with fully charged batteries, doesn't matter if they are 500 mAh, packs, or 3000 mAh packs, I always keep track of the voltages, and recharge after a few flights... my ignition battery is the one that gets the most depleted, depends on how hard I run the engine.



John M,
Old 09-27-2015, 02:45 PM
  #39  
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Originally Posted by John_M_
Do you check your battery voltages after each flight...
John M,
Both of my Hitec radio's display the receiver battery voltage on the transmitter display. I always know what the receiver battery voltage is.
Old 09-27-2015, 05:16 PM
  #40  
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So I am looking into buying some wall warts. Just moved and threw like 5 of them away.....I was like I will never need these....now I want them back for my Nimhs. Anyway, i want a 150 Mah one for my 1650 Nimhs but they all say 5.8 VDC. The 100 Mah one say 4.8 VDC. I know a wall wart is a wall wart but can the 5.8 VDC ones charge my 4.8 volt batteries???

Originally Posted by P-40 DRIVER
Two things do in batteries, cycles and time. The reason for getting rid of batteries reguardless of the cycle count is time. Batteries start to break down over time, and will have a catastrophic failure at some point. This point gets much more likely after 2-3 years of use. The A123 cells may last much longer but unlike NiCads we don't have much data. The other thing is alot of people are runing LiFe batteries and calling them A123's which they are not. Those batteries such as Hobbico LiFe are not nearly as robust.
Old 09-27-2015, 05:25 PM
  #41  
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Originally Posted by oliveDrab
+1
Why is it necessary to charge a NimH at the field?
Some of us don't have the luxury of knowing when we are going to fly. Wife, kids, weather.......sometimes I go to bed friday night thinking I am going to fly on Saturday and it doesnt happen. Like you said, old habbits die hard. I have just gotten into the habbit of plugging all my stuff in before I leave to the field and buy the time I get there, 90% of everything is charged.

So forward movement today. For the last several months, I have plugged my stuff in and started driving to the field only to have to stop three or four times for false delta peaks. Today, I plugged in two A123s, and three Nihms. Each time the timer went off I checked and it was one of the A123s finishing its charge :-)

So far love the Accu-Cycle. I imagine some of my charging habits were bad but fact of the matter was I just didnt trust the Q6329AC. I am slowly trusting the Accu-Cycle. Once you start trusting your charger, you start to look at the battery instead of the charger when things go outside the norm. That just wasnt the case with the Q6320AC.

If you are using LiFe, you really should look at A123s. Same but not as volatile and apparently last a lot longer. Although they are new, I love them!!!
Old 09-27-2015, 05:28 PM
  #42  
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Originally Posted by oliveDrab
Both of my Hitec radio's display the receiver battery voltage on the transmitter display. I always know what the receiver battery voltage is.
Yes I do too... I have the futaba 14SG, but it only allows you to monitor the voltages of up to two battery packs, so I monitor the receiver and servo buss... I use it just as a monitor to alert me if something suddenly changes with one of the batteries while in flight... I still plug in my iCharger in between flights, and check the voltages, and top up as needed when I see fit... when I get home from the weekend day of flying, I plug the iCharge back in and discharge and cycle each pack to storage voltage, so the batteries get a good work out over the course of a flying season.


John M,

Last edited by John_M_; 09-27-2015 at 05:49 PM. Reason: Added Quote

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