Voltage of battery packs - I am confused - why so high?
10-23-2004, 08:43 AM
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Voltage of battery packs - I am confused - why so high?
Ok, I have several battery packs, and two good voltmeters...
3 of my packs are your standard 6 cell type that you use in RC Cars, or in my case my roto-start...
Recently I decided to get a peak charger (dynamite peak 2), to make sure I am correctly charging my packs.
So I measured the voltage on them.
They all read over 8 volts on both meters!! I think it was like 8.6!
Shouldnt 6 cells times 1.2 = 7.2v??
I even tried dis-charging one of them down to 6 volts, then let it peak charge (charger was on the 6 cell setting), and it again reads way up there at 8.somethign volts!
Oh, these are all NICDs.
Then I have a couple 5 cell NIMH packs. So these should be like 5 * 1.2 = 6v right ??
At least thats what it says on the package...
They read more like 7+ volts!
I even have a set of 8 rayovac nimh 15 minute rechargable AA's, they say 1.2v on them...
When I stick all 8 in my JR radio that has a voltage readout on it, it reads out like over 11 volts when they are first charged!
Should be like 9.6 right??
Soooo WHY are these voltages so high? Should I be concerned??
3 of my packs are your standard 6 cell type that you use in RC Cars, or in my case my roto-start...
Recently I decided to get a peak charger (dynamite peak 2), to make sure I am correctly charging my packs.
So I measured the voltage on them.
They all read over 8 volts on both meters!! I think it was like 8.6!
Shouldnt 6 cells times 1.2 = 7.2v??
I even tried dis-charging one of them down to 6 volts, then let it peak charge (charger was on the 6 cell setting), and it again reads way up there at 8.somethign volts!
Oh, these are all NICDs.
Then I have a couple 5 cell NIMH packs. So these should be like 5 * 1.2 = 6v right ??
At least thats what it says on the package...
They read more like 7+ volts!
I even have a set of 8 rayovac nimh 15 minute rechargable AA's, they say 1.2v on them...
When I stick all 8 in my JR radio that has a voltage readout on it, it reads out like over 11 volts when they are first charged!
Should be like 9.6 right??
Soooo WHY are these voltages so high? Should I be concerned??
10-23-2004, 10:18 AM
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RE: Voltage of battery packs - I am confused - why so high?
When you fully charge a 1.2 volt cell, it will read as high as about 1.4 volts. So 11.0 v on your TX readout is normal. If you are not reading about 1.4 volts per cell after charging, something is wrong. A 4.8 v pack should measure about 5.6 volts fully charged. A 5 cell 6 volt pack should read about 8 volts fully charged. The reason is that the the 1.2 volt labeling on the cell is the nominal voltage, not the peak voltage.
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