ORIGINAL: Rodney
Roo Man, If I were you I would get a better source for my information on batteries as the comments you relate to him are quite a bit in error. The below references are all quite good and will give you a much better bit of facts to contemplate on.
http://www.hangtimes.com/redsbatteryclinic.html
http://www.camlight.com/techinfo/techtips.html
http://www.whenshtf.com/showthread.php?t=2153
http://www.srbatteries.com/nimh.htm
http://dansdata.com/gz011.htm
http://users.frii.com/dlc/battery.htm
ORIGINAL: Roo Man
Madmike10,
One of our club members is a technician for the local Batteries Plus store and he insists that both Nicad and Nimh batteries used in RC applications get cycled every 4 to 6 weeks especially if they are used frequently. Most RC batteries do not get discharged enough to prevent the memory effect which will reduce the amount of charge a battery will take, He suggests discharging at 500 MAH down to 1 volt per cell and then recharging at 500 MAH.
If you are using the new Nimh hybrids, they cannot be fast charged, we never go over 500MAH on charge. I have one in a plane and plan to replace all my Nicads when it's time. These new Nimh hold a charge when not in use like nothig I have ever seen, I have a new one that is not yet in a plane that is about 6 weeks old and it is still almost fully charged, could fly it without charging. They are also lighter than Nicads and cost much less; a 2100 MAH cost me about $15.00 [this includes our club discount].
As far as chargers/cyclers go, they are all over the board cost wise, I just bought a Turnigy Accucel 6 from Hobby King [Hong Kong] for about $24.00 plus about $12 shipping [took about 10 days to arrive] and it works like a charm, much better than my old Hobbico Accucel that would never get to a full charge.
Gary
Rodney,
I was referring to the "NEW" Nimh, I call it a Hybrid, it is also known by several oyher names. I reviewed most of the info you provided and all I saw was referring to the older Nimh. The new style does hold a charge for extended periods and is in fact lighter and smaller than a comparable Nicad. And like suggested in most of the info you provided, slow charging is the preferred method. Several of the articles were several years old and were published before the Nimh upgraded batteries were developed.
GHry