kgeb

Does anyone know of a good overnight wall charger suitable for 6 Volt Nicd RX airplane packs?
I have two Triton chargers and a Cermark CH82 which is suppose to charge at 60Mah and 125Mah. After charging for 2 days with the ch82 the battery pack reads 7.2 volts, which is probably charged good enough. If anyone has some suggestions, I would like to hear them.[sm=what_smile.gif]

1 Pitts Special 1

I make my own packs a use a MaHa charger. If you are charging for 2 days that seems to be over kill. I dont know of any battery producer data sheet telling of 2 day charges. In fact charging that long damages the cells. I dont use NiCd's any longer. You can pour a bunch of amps into them for charging but damage does take place. There are specific rules to be followed by the manufacture for the chemestry of their cells. No matter the type NiCd, or NiMd, they have certain parameters for charging. I typically get 800 to 1000 charges from a pack of cells using the correct charging recommendations. To many abuse their cells and packs by over charging, by to many hours or far to much amperage. NiCd's can be recharged at the about 3 times the cell capacity for 1 hour. Fast charge its called. But it does damage the cell, no matter what one may claim you will not get the full benifit of recharging times doing it. NiMd's can be charged in about 1.5 hours charging at the rated capacity of the cell. 2000mAh cell charged at 2000mA for 1.5 hours will give a nearly full charge. Better yet is to use 10% of the rating of the cell for 15 hours. NO LONGER. If you dont have a timer get one or a MaHa charger will cut back to a trickle charge to a programable amount I set. Why so many RCers spend big bucks on other things and hardly nothing on correct battery charger and cell packs I dont know. One fellow at the field uses a toy charger, that is basicly a resistor and cables connected to his car battery and wonders why he is always haveing to relplace packs and cells. I dont waste time explaining it to him any longer. As well far to many worry about charging trying to get every last drop of energy for a cell or pack. I am telling you that .1 amp makes no difference at the field. You will not notice it. But the battery next time may charge up .2 amp the next time higher. Do allow this bother you. Discharge your packs to a certain point and no more. Recharge you packs at lower rates and cycle them on occasion. It helps to prolong the cells. Do not over charge, it is as much a danger as under charging and not knowing it. Once you get the correct equiptment and experiment with it you will understand the general guidelines to follow. Then you will not worry yourself all day long wondering if I have enough to fly or race 20 more minutes. Also take in mind that packs for electric motors are charged at killer amps and are for different needs. Another story all together. All the best