tjaf

Hi,

I recently bought an Apache Smart Charger 2030. This is a charger capable of charging 1-8 cell NiCd/NiMH or 1-3 cell lipo. I had no problems charging my 2s lipo. But when I charged my 7 cell NiMH birdseed pack (AAA 8.4V 750mAh) I encountered some problems.

I hooked it up as stated in the manual (I set the jumpers on NiCd/NiMH and a charge current of 750mA). All the right leds were lit (green power led, green NiCd/NiMH selection led and red charging led). After a while I could hear the battery venting and some moist came out of it. But the charger was still quickcharging (red charging led in stead of green full charge led). I unhooked the battery and let it cool down. Apparently it is still OK (since I could fly my heli like before). But it was my understanding that the charger should automatically switch to trickle when the charge is completed.

Has anyone encountered this before? Is my charger defective? Or can it be that the problem lies with my battery?

JNorton

My Feedback: (2)

If these were a brand new pack you must do a formation charge of C/10 on them for 14 to 16 hours before attempting to quick charge. It is quite common for chargers to miss the "knee" that determines a pack is fully charged and thus an overcharge occurs. Venting of the pack means it's life will be short. Not good.

John

tjaf

These weren't new packs. They have been charged at least 10 times with C/2. Is that maybe still to high? Is it any good if I try to charge them a few times now with C/10, or will it not matter now? The packs still work (but their lifetime will indeed be far shorter now )

JNorton

My Feedback: (2)

Cycle the pack a couple of times and charge at C/10. It should help to balance the pack. C/2 shouldn't have been too high but was this done with a smart charger or a timed charger? It sounds like the pack got unbalanced.

Did the charger ever properly terminate? If it did the charger should be okay. If not I would suspect the charger being bad. Check the charger again after you cycle the packs to balance the pack. It should terminate properly.

John

tjaf

They have been charged with a timed charger only. I'll try to balance them, good idea.

My new charger never terminated properly. I'll try your suggestions, thx.