Shortman

My Feedback: (21)

and i got my 1650mah NiMh pack for $18 bucks shipped as you payed 10$, do you think the 8$ was really worth that trouble?

RickVB

My Feedback: (24)

<sigh> OK, one more time for the cheap seats. What is 1800mAH/10? 180, right? So while 200 is about 10% more than that, I've also been told that 200 is close enough to 180 for the purposes of a forming charge. WELL, I FORM THEM ON MY ST SET TO A 200mA RATE!!!! THIS HAS WORKED FINE BEFORE ON A DOZEN OTHER NiMH PACKS! Admittedly, sometimes it has taken more than one forming charge to stabilize them, but it always worked before. A C/10 rate is a C/10 rate, regardless of what charger is producing the C/10 rate.

Did you read the last paragraph of what you just quoted? "We've had many customers write us saying 'I've cycled this pack 3 times now and it has not come up anywhere near where it's rating is.' " Well, mine charged ON THE ST to MORE THAN THE RATED CAPACITY THE FIRST TIME. So this missive, while usefull, doesn't apply to my situation. Now, do YOU understand?

RickVB

My Feedback: (24)

Now THAT I can't argue with.

RickVB

My Feedback: (24)

Hmm... well, actually I paid $11.83 per battery for 3 batteries that are higher capacity than yours. Given that I've yet to buy "brand name" high price NiMH, and generally pay 50-60% of the high end prices, and this is the first bad experience I've had, yes, I'd say it's worth the trouble.

Actually the $35 isn't that big of a deal to me... I just hate to waste anything unneccessarily, and am really trying to understand the failure mode here. To be truthful, I think Red had it nailed last week. I'm going to point it out to the OnlyBatteries guy if they are defective, 'cause they sell CRAPLOADS of batteries and probably want to know if they've suddenly got a bad source.

RickVB

My Feedback: (24)

OK, I followed the advise of all you guys insisting that the ST was just unable to form these packs. I discharged one using the ST, then hooked it up to my handy-dandy 55mA Hitec wall wart, and waited over 48 hours (didn't really mean to wait that long, but I actually forgot it). Took it off, waited an hour, then cycled it on the ST at 1A discharge, .9A charge. I got 1508mAH discharged, 1548mAH charged. Note again that this pack is rated at 1800mAH, and has been cycling at 1650 before. Any further thoughts?

elevator_up

You asked "Any further thoughts? " - I've never seen Red wrong yet.

Batteries are not supposed to be so complex to charge to capacity, even if not done perfectly. Save any further aggravation and follow Red thinking. If they where not new and you were not considering returning them, I'd be tempted to rip them apart and see if it's just one bad one in the bunch messing up your readings.

Flying Geezer

My Feedback: (14)

Don't really want to get in the fray, but, I been reading this thread for a week.

I've been told that the "we've got every battery in the world" retail stores buy the bottom runs, even when they buy brand names. When the manufacturer makes a run of batteries, they test them, and grade them, and designate them for use, depending on how well they test out. So, if you buy from a retailer that wants to play low ball, that's how they do it.

People who don't have specialized uses, like radio control, don't know the difference.

I have found this problem with both NIMH and NICADS. But it seems more pronouced with NIMH.

I suggest you just charge (and discharge) the heck out of them. Make them or break them. If they don't come up, return them. If you can't return them, don't fly them.