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Breaking-in New NiMH Batteries - 12/2/2012 4:14 AM   
BillinIndiana


 

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Status: offline 		  I charged a 2000 mah battery at  .2 amps or 200 ma.  Should I discharge it with my charger to get this up to full capacity?  I have a new cheaper charger from Value Hobby, the GT Power A606  Seen here.
www.valuehobby.com/power-systems/chargers/gt-power-a606-d-50watt-6a-6s-balance-charger.html

  This charger charged the battery to roughly 1000 mah I believe..  This is what the "Charge Capacity" number read when the charger said it was done charging.

 If I should Discharge the battery, what rate should I use? I can set the amp/ma and volts I think?

 Thanks




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RE: Breaking-in New NiMH Batteries - 12/2/2012 4:49 AM   
Hossfly



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Status: offline 		There is a Batteries and Chargers forum right under the ClubHouse, top of the list.

I don't know didly about this stuff. I have asked questions there and received excellent answers. I suggest you check it out.

Good LUCK!!

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RE: Breaking-in New NiMH Batteries - 12/2/2012 5:14 AM   
BillinIndiana


 

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Status: offline 		 Cool, I'll try there...

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RE: Breaking-in New NiMH Batteries - 12/2/2012 11:15 AM   
jaka


 

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Slow charging is best with NIMH batteries. A 2000mAh battery pack is charged with 200mAh (0,1C) for 16-24 hours . Need no cycling at all! Just use it and charge whenever you intend to use the radio.

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RE: Breaking-in New NiMH Batteries - 12/3/2012 3:54 AM   
BillinIndiana


 

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Status: offline 		 I actually have this 2000 mah for my receivers.. Is this too much ?



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RE: Breaking-in New NiMH Batteries - 12/3/2012 5:49 AM   
Hossfly



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quote:

ORIGINAL: BillinIndiana

 I actually have this 2000 mah for my receivers.. Is this too much ?




NO. The mah is capacity. How long can it go? Voltage is flow pressure. How much can flow. Bigger the flow, quicker the MAHs escape.
If you have too much voltage, it may hurt your receiver and servos depending on typ, etc. Voltage regulators are available. I use several of them on my machines with Lithuim Ion. batteries. Charge to 8+ volts but limited to 5.5 to 6 for the receiver and servos. Much More stable than LiPos.

Hey You are less than an hour from AMA. Call them up. My bet is that you can get someone there that will go over all your problems plus you can fly until your heart's content. 1000 acres about and lovely place.

DO NOT miss visiting the Museum. Wonderful place to see, learn, think and wonder.

I-69 south until 28 then a few miles east. Or take 3 south and about 67 you are very close. Call 'em.

Enjoy.

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RE: Breaking-in New NiMH Batteries - 12/3/2012 5:55 PM   
Simul8R


 

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quote:

ORIGINAL: BillinIndiana

  This charger charged the battery to roughly 1000 mah I believe..  This is what the "Charge Capacity" number read when the charger said it was done charging.

 If I should Discharge the battery, what rate should I use? I can set the amp/ma and volts I think?



I have a cheap Accucell 6 charger for my Rx batteries and small LiPos (3S 1300mah) and it does just fine.

First time you use the NiMh it may be worth cycling them a couple of times. I think I use 0.4amp discharge on my 2000mah packs. Just leave it running overnight.

When the charger said it had charged to 1000mah that means that it put 1000mah into them. They were probably half charged. if you cycle them then you will see how much total charge they took from fully discharged. 

I made a mistake with mine in that I kept topping them up without using them and failed one of the cells. You might want to fully charge them either the night before or the day of flying but don't keep topping them up.


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RE: Breaking-in New NiMH Batteries - 12/3/2012 6:43 PM   
Gray Beard


 

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Status: offline 		A little something I have noticed for about the last four years is the new nimh packs require about four cycles before they will go to there full capacity. Whenever I get a new pack made up I start going through the cycle until the pack hits or is close to the full capacity before I use them, the average seems to be about four times. I have read about this in magazines too, something to do with not getting the top of the line cells these days? Been a while sense I have read about it so not 100% sure what it is.

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RE: Breaking-in New NiMH Batteries - 12/3/2012 11:07 PM   
BillinIndiana


 

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Status: offline 		 Is there any way or tool that will measure the mah's left in a battery ? Do less mah's mean the battery will produce less volts or does it still pump out the 4.8 volts, in my case, till it's dead?

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RE: Breaking-in New NiMH Batteries - 12/3/2012 11:30 PM   
acerc



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Status: online 		The battery will be fine, volt wise, up to 2000mah of use (approximately) at that point it will be at the critical point, depending on who you listen to, of 3.8-4.2v.  At that point you will be too low on volts and will lose service to the radio, providing the reciever work's on 4.8.


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RE: Breaking-in New NiMH Batteries - 12/3/2012 11:35 PM   
acerc



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Status: online 		There's no way to measure the mah remaining. Only what has been used via recharge and see. When I start with a new battery and am not sure of it's characteristic's I will hook it up on the bench with an electric motor and run it thru a meter, see picture below,  and watch what it is doing during discharge.

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RE: Breaking-in New NiMH Batteries - 12/4/2012 1:46 AM   
Gray Beard


 

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Status: offline 		I use a charger/cycler to measure the amount of draw. When the packs are about 80% of there rated mah I take the pack and have a new one made for me. Most of the better chargers we have these days will cycle.

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RE: Breaking-in New NiMH Batteries - 12/4/2012 3:38 AM   
acdii


 

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Status: offline 		I condition my packs using a Thunder AC680 charger, set to discharge/charge for 3 cycles. After that, then just normal use. You can adjust the amount of draw and of course amp in.  Right now I have a 12 V pack for a starter on the charger getting some cycles in it since it has sat unused for a few years.   The first couple cycles got them live, just not quite enough to start a cold .52. It started it once it was warmed up, so hoping a few more cycles will get them back.


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RE: Breaking-in New NiMH Batteries - 12/4/2012 6:29 PM   
BillinIndiana


 

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Status: offline 		OK, so I'm still learning how to work with my new charger.. I can't get it to cycle.  I'll figure it out, but this raises my next question. I think I discharged a pack two times in a row. Can you discharge a NiMH pack too much and damage it?

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RE: Breaking-in New NiMH Batteries - 12/4/2012 6:48 PM   
Rodney



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Status: offline 		If you reverse charge a Nixx cell it risks being damaged (highly likely) but just a deep discharge will not harm them. What happens if you discharge cells hooked in series is that, when the weakest cell goes to zero volts, the others are still discharging through it which results in a reverse charge on that weak cell. This of course usually ruins it. On NiCad (and most likely on NiMh also) it will not hurt the cell to be discharged to zero volts. In fact, at one time NASA recommended that all NiCad cells be stored at zero voltage with a shorting bar attached across each cell. When ready for use, remove the shorting bar and charge at 0.1C for 16 hours. When you cycle a battery, just do not do it so fast that it heats up internally to a point where damage occurs, usually 0.33C or less is very safe discharge rate. Also, when cycling a battery, do not use a peak charger. Charge at 0.1C for 15 to 16 hours after a discharge for best results with no adverse effect on the battery.

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RE: Breaking-in New NiMH Batteries - 12/4/2012 7:02 PM   
Simul8R


 

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Status: offline 		There is a lot of discussion on charge remaining in other threads but when you measure the voltage the battery is putting out, through a load of course, the voltage drop is not linear with the %charge remaining. It will initially drop from the charged voltage quite quickly and then the voltage will plateau as the battery continues to discharge. When it is almost out (~20% remaining) then the voltage will start to drop off again quickly.

You need to get used to how long you have used your battery and how much charge goes back into it to get an idea of the total usage time.

I test mine before every flight. I didn't get a dedicated load tester I just use a normal multimeter and I have a set of leads with a resistor and pushbutton connected between them to give about a 2 amp (I think?) current when connected. That way I can be sure that the battery is able to deliver current. A damaged battery may still show full voltage across it when it is not connected to any load. 

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RE: Breaking-in New NiMH Batteries - 12/4/2012 8:30 PM   
Gray Beard


 

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ORIGINAL: BillinIndiana

OK, so I'm still learning how to work with my new charger.. I can't get it to cycle.  I'll figure it out, but this raises my next question. I think I discharged a pack two times in a row. Can you discharge a NiMH pack too much and damage it?

your OK, most chargers won't allow a discharge when a pack is already too low. They go right to charge. These days the chargers are pre set and keep us from making mistakes. My favorite old charger is now starting to show signs of age. It charges then goes into trickle charge but for some reason when I turn on my radio the battery is below it's operating voltage. Trickle is now discharging?It charges just fine though. You pay all that money and 20 years later the charger starts to poop out on you, nothing seems to last these days!

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RE: Breaking-in New NiMH Batteries - 12/4/2012 10:30 PM   
GaryHarris



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Status: online 		With a 2000 mah battery, I wouldn't be afraid to charge them at 1 amp. Us car guys would charge them at 5 amps, but were looking for punch, not long run time at low amp draw applications like running servos. I would also store them at ~40% capacity unlike nicads. I would also cycle them at least 4 times just to be safe.

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RE: Breaking-in New NiMH Batteries - 12/5/2012 7:52 PM   
BillinIndiana


 

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Status: offline 		I;m so knew at this I had to look up what .1c is ?  Got it now I think. 1/10th of capacity ... Anyways this is what I've been charging and discharging at.. .  .1c which is 200 mah of my 2000 mah battery... Which is .2 amps on my charger...

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RE: Breaking-in New NiMH Batteries - 12/5/2012 10:17 PM   
Rodney



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quote:

ORIGINAL: BillinIndiana

I;m so knew at this I had to look up what .1c is ?  Got it now I think. 1/10th of capacity ... Anyways this is what I've been charging and discharging at.. .  .1c which is 200 mah of my 2000 mah battery... Which is .2 amps on my charger...

Correct!!

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RE: Breaking-in New NiMH Batteries - 12/6/2012 12:00 AM   
acerc



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Status: online 		Bill, what battery is this one? 200mah seems pretty low nowadays.



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RE: Breaking-in New NiMH Batteries - 12/6/2012 12:24 AM   
GaryHarris



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Bill, what battery is this one? 200mah seems pretty low nowadays.




I'm confused to. His first post was 2000 mah and that made me wonder why he is charging at 200 mah. I would charge at no less than 1 amp and discharge at 1/2 amp. There is no reason to cycle that slow.

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RE: Breaking-in New NiMH Batteries - 12/6/2012 12:33 AM   
acerc



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I have several 4 and 5cell 2000mah batteries from two different makers and they can be charged up to 1.2amp.




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RE: Breaking-in New NiMH Batteries - 12/6/2012 2:45 AM   
BillinIndiana


 

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I;m so knew at this I had to look up what .1c is ?  Got it now I think. 1/10th of capacity ... Anyways this is what I've been charging and discharging at.. .  .1c which is 200 mah of my 2000 mah battery... Which is .2 amps on my charger...
It is a 2000 mah battery ^^^^^


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RE: Breaking-in New NiMH Batteries - 12/6/2012 3:54 AM   
acerc



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