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Is never used NiCd Rx battery still good?? - 10/11/2012 5:33 AM   
Blueyonder


 

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From: Denver, CO, USA
Status: offline 		Hello,

I bought an Airtronics flight pack 8 years ago and haven't touched it since. I am now wanting to get back in the hobby. Would the 700mah, 4.8 volt NiCd battery that came with the flight pack still be okay as far as normal charging and holding a charge etc after sitting dormant for 8 years?

Joe

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RE: Is never used NiCd Rx battery still good?? - 10/11/2012 5:37 AM   
alan0899


 

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From: AttungaNSW, AUSTRALIA
Status: offline 		G'day Joe,
I personally would not trust it, battery packs are not that expensive, but planes are.

Cheers

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RE: Is never used NiCd Rx battery still good?? - 10/11/2012 10:28 AM   
Steve Percifield


 

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RE: Is never used NiCd Rx battery still good?? - 10/11/2012 12:02 PM   
Rodney



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Status: offline 		Maybe, maybe not. NiCad are quite durable. The only way to know for sure is to first inspect it visually to make sure there is no corrosion at any of the cells (check the end caps) or wiring. If all okay, just charge it up at 0.1C for 16 hours and do a discharge test. Discharge at about 0.33C down to 0.9 volt/cell. You should get at least 500 mah out of it. Repeat the slow charge again and test, if the mah is now close to 650 mah chances are the battery is usable. Charge it again and let it sit unconnected to anything for at least 24 hours and test again. If it is within 95% of what it was after the second test above, it is good to go. I have had some NiCads work very well for over 10 years but they were all properly treated (never overheated by overcharging with a fast charger or letting any one cell become reverse charged by to deeply discharging as a pack). If you are not willing to spend the time and effort to thoroughly test them before use, throw them away and start with new batteries. Remember, do not throw in the trash, return to a recycling place (many places accept batteries for recycling), as NiCad can be harmful to the environment due to the heavy metal content (cadmium).

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RE: Is never used NiCd Rx battery still good?? - 10/11/2012 2:53 PM   
KW_Counter


 

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From: Lake County, CA, USA
Status: offline 		I agree with Rodney!

KW-Counter

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RE: Is never used NiCd Rx battery still good?? - 10/11/2012 3:21 PM   
JohnBuckner



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quote:

ORIGINAL: Rodney

If you are not willing to spend the time and effort to thoroughly test them before use, throw them away and start with new batteries.




Rodney is absolutely correct in whats required to safely examine and use an old battery (unused or not) and remember inspecting the wiring as well as checking the cells end/ terminals for corrosion is normally gong to require cutting the battery open and replacing the shrink wrap just to inspect.

Also the quoted line above is so true and the true cost of possibly using an old battery is actually a major investment in Time. So much so that yes in the past I have used some old batterys but now those types of batterys just cost to darn much, especially now in a time when a new packs like that are so cheap.

So now always my advice to the new folks is do Not use packs such as that, instead find other uses such as simply using on the bench for firing up rx's on the bench or using in servo drivers (what you don,t have a servo driver for the bench yet ). I would much rather be choppin Lagopus Ochroma

John

< Message edited by JohnBuckner -- 10/11/2012 3:48 PM >

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RE: Is never used NiCd Rx battery still good?? - 10/12/2012 5:40 AM   
Blueyonder


 

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From: Denver, CO, USA
Status: offline 		Thanks all for the great feedback! Looks like a new battery may be the safest way to go.
I like the idea of keeping the old battery just for testing servos etc.

thanks again.

Joe



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RE: Is never used NiCd Rx battery still good?? - 10/12/2012 1:34 PM   
Lamoilleriver


 

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From: northern, VT, USA
Status: offline 		A new battery pack is worth maybe $20, a new 8 year old battery pack is worth maybe $2, what is the value of your airplane?

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RE: Is never used NiCd Rx battery still good?? - 10/12/2012 4:18 PM   
aspeed


 

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Status: offline 		The value of some of my planes is likely $20.  Just thought I would mention to check the negative wire for the dreaded green rot.  It can go into the receiver board and transmitter too if it was left hooked up.  I have got 19 years out of a battery pack by charging once every other month.  The transmitter and receiver packs both gave up at about the same time.  I've had many nimh packs that were only good for a year.  I would at least cycle the pack a few times and check it for self draining over a week or so.

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RE: Is never used NiCd Rx battery still good?? - 10/12/2012 9:28 PM   
frequent flyer



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From: Redondo Beach, CA, USA
Status: offline 		Nicad's were invented by NASA for deep space flight. If  you read about them they  are quite remarkable and I have personally used some of my NICAD"S over 30 years. Even when they stop taking a charge it merely takes tapping that cell a few times with a power source 3 times it's voltage rating and it is like new again and last for years again.  However if you have a leaking cell it s no longer good. Do an say what you want. It works for Nicad's only. I've done it on my power tool paks also. Works for years. I have revived paks many times and each time the what seemed to be dead pak worked like new for many years without a problem.  

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