John Murdoch

My Feedback: (11)

I've got three or four transmitters that I don't use... They're just hanging around. I pull them out of the box every now and then and put a fresh charge on them just for the heck of it. My question here is.. Is it better to store the TX with the battery charged or discharged, and, if charged/discharged, how often should one charge/cycle the batteries. Or, maybe I should just get rid of them and allow someone who would use them to worry about the battery condition.

JPMacG

My Feedback: (2)

I have the same problem. I keep mine in the freezer. I do not periodically charge them.

When someone in the club needs a pack I offer to give him one, although most would rather pay for a new pack.

JohnMuchow

For longest life, and to make it as quick and easy as possible to get them going again when you want to use them, you should store them discharged down to approx. 0.9V/cell. NiCd's in particular are subject to large cadmium crystal formation if left to self-discharge which can cause higher internal resistance and lower capacity. No real problems if that happens but you may have to cycle the pack one or two extra times to bust up the crystals and bring the pack back up to spec.

Every 4 weeks or so, charge and discharge the pack again. If this isn't done, it can take more cycling of the pack to get it going again if it's been stored for a long time.

I don't recommend putting them in the fridge or freezer as the lower temperature really doesn't help you much since you'll be cycling the packs every few weeks anyway. But, the lower temperature can slow the self-discharge rate and help prevent cell reversal if the pack is being stored for many, many months. As a test, we stored three discharged NiMH packs (higher self-discharge rate than NiCd) for 8 weeks at room temperature and all the cells were still above 0.9V. So, IMHO, you don't have to deal with the trouble of sealing up the packs when storing them in the fridge or freezer (to prevent condensation when you pull them out). Just store them in a cool, dry place.

Geistware

My Feedback: (16)

I would remove the battery, put it in a zip lock bag, then store it in the vegetable crisper of your fridge. They will last a very long time that way.

BillyGoat

How old are batteries they now and how old do you think they will be when you place one or two of these Tx’s back into service?

Personally I wouldn’t put much trust in a pack over five years old. You might be better off just planning to use new packs when your ready to use the Tx’s again.

What ever you decide definitely disconnect the packs from the Tx’s

Here is some very good reading to you help sort this out. Be sure to read, “black wire disease” and “Storing your R/C packs?”

http://www.rcbatteryclinic.com.