Glen Wearden

I'm sure this question has been asked before, but here goes. I've been using a Futaba 6YG-FM radio system for the last five years, or so. I decided to replace the NiCad Rx battery in one of my flight packs with NiMH, so I ordered a Hidrimax Ultra 4.8V 1450mAh battery. My question: Can I use the charger that came with the radio to charge this battery? It is a wall charger that will charge the Tx and Rx batteries at the same time, if I want to. As I understand it, it brings the battery to a full charge and then goes to trickle as long as it is plugged in. There is a big warning on the NiMH battery to NOT charge with a NiCd peak charger. I don't want to have to buy a special charger unless I have to. Any advice? Glen

mrasmm

yup, it will work just fine.

The peak chargers are the fast chargers, and the difference between the two is mainly the sensativity in the peak detection, you wont have to worry about that though because your charger is a slow charger.

The one concern you might have, is depending on how many mAh the charger is rated at, it may be too slow, but probably not with that size of a pack (if it was bigger than it definately would). If it's 50mA, then you are looking at something like a 46.4 hour charge, which is definately getting up there. If it's closer to 100mA, then the better off you will be. About 140 to 150mA is ideal for this size of pack.

Glen Wearden

Thanks a bunch! I can't remember the rating on the charger, but I'm positive it's well over 100. The note on the battery says to charge for 16-20 hours at 150mA, so I think I'm OK. Thanks again!! Glen

mrasmm

yup, no problemo, glad I could help =)

Capt Lou

Glenn:

I am no expert in this area so what I got to say is only things that I have read in magazines articles or on web sites. Most of what I have read cautions against using the chargers (usually 50 mah) that come with the standard R/C system. I have read that above a 1100 mah battery pack, these chargers take a long time to charge and may not get them upto peak. My advice to you is to contact the battery manufacturer and ask them your question. There is a battery manufacturer, SR Batteries, on whose web site I have seen a caution about these larger packs and the standard charger that comes with an R/C system. If you want to go totheir web site, it is srbatteries.com

I had the same concern as you as I have gone to batteries in the 2000 mah range. I purchased a Hobbico Accu Elite charger. This charger handles all kinds of batteries (Nicad, Nimh, Lipo, etc) and all ranges of mah. The investment in the charger is certainly cheaper than replacing a plane.