Leaving the wall wart hooked to the battery
 

Hi,

Will leaving the wall wart hooked to the battery but not plugged into the wall
discharge a NiXX battery?
The circuitry would put some type of load on the battery, probably not much,
so I would think it would cause a discharge.

Thanks,

KW_Counter

(Sure hope Rodney chimes in here.)

RE: Leaving the wall wart hooked to the battery
 

yes it would discharge it,

RE: Leaving the wall wart hooked to the battery
 

Differing opinion. I think the diodes in the wall wart would be reverse biased basically disconnecting it. Easy to check with a ma meter though you'll have to split the connection to the battery to insert the meter. I'd use an unwanted servo extension to insert the ma meter.
John

RE: Leaving the wall wart hooked to the battery
 

I have a HiTech TX with nicad batteries that is plugged into a wall wart at all times. The wallwart is plugged into a kitchen timer (rotary dial type) that comes on for 2hrs a day, and is off 22 hrs. The timer is plugged into a regular wall socket always. I have used this system for more than 6 yrs at least maybe more with no problems. After flying I charge the battery overnite and then use the timer. Tx is always charged and ready to use. The original batteries lasted for more than 4 years, and maybe would have been OK but I just bought a new set for safety sake.....

I'll bet there are isolation diodes in the wall wart so no DC current can be drained from the battery pack....

Happy flying
Bob M.

RE: Leaving the wall wart hooked to the battery
 

I have left a couple of my planes plugged in to the charger with the charger unplugged from the wall and it has drained the battery, these were mainly Futaba and Sanyo 4.8v 600mah and 800mah square packs. But this was like a whole week while I was out of town, I don't think it would happen overnight.

RE: Leaving the wall wart hooked to the battery
 

Depends upon the construction of the wall wart. Most just use a center tapped full wave rectifier which should have very low leakage. If it uses an electrolytic capacitor as a filter it will have more leakage depending upon the capacitor.

Which is why I suggested to simply measure the leakage current. DVM are cheap today. U Tube has videos on how to read current. Then you'll know for sure.
John

RE: Leaving the wall wart hooked to the battery
 

Yes, most will discharge the battery but at so low a rate that, unless you have an ammeter that will respond to microamperes, you will not see any deflection of the meter. It also, as mentioned above, if a capacitor is used to smooth out the flow of current, the leakage might be high enough to read on a regular ammeter if it has a low enough range. All diodes will have some leakage but it is usually very small, in the pico amp range.

RE: Leaving the wall wart hooked to the battery
 

There are so many opinions on the Internet it becomes a contest on who is the most believable. Look at this post for example. I try to encourage people to think, use math or test equipment to verify. Rodney's one of the good guys.
John