Will a 6V battery charge (fully) with a standard 4.8V wall wart?

I 'think' I know what your asking, but the question is not clear.

I never had much success using the 4.8 with my 6v.

Here is a link to an article from Red's RC Battery Clinic that discusses using all sorts of wall warts for RC applications.
http://www.hangtimes.com/id36.html

Short answer... It depends on the wall wart. Many put out enough voltage, but, the charge time will be very long because a charger that delivers 50ma to 4 cells will likely deliver 40 or less to 5 cells.

It is a futaba and it says the Rx side is 4.8V and 100 mAh so I assume that the answer is "yes"??

and from the link provided, seems I could "safely" us the Tx with 9.6V too?

You know as much as I do if you read the battery clinic page so I can't say "yes" or "no" with any high confidence level.

I would say that the odds of it fully charging the 5 cell pack are pretty low with any wall-wart charger for 4.8 volts. That's a nominal charge voltage. The typical fully charged 4 cell is over 5 volts and the normal fully charged voltage for a 6 volt pack is somewhere close to 7 volts.

You are better off using a proper charger for the 5 cell packs. There are many on the market for reasonable prices. I have three: An ICE, Triton, and the Hobbico Accucycle.

CGr.

I use a Futaba 4.8v wall-wart for my 1650Mah 6v battery. I have had no issues getting a full charge in to my battery. I have been doing it this way for many months, and many flights. I ALWAYS check the battery with a loaded voltmeter before each and every flight to ensure proper voltage.

Never had luck using a JR 4.8v wall-wart to fully charge a 6v (5cell pack). Discharge test nowhere close. Just not safe IMHO.

A couple years ago I tried using a Futaba wall charger (4.8v - 100mah) for a 6v-1700mah pack. Didnt work well at all. Just wasnt enough output for an overnight charge and it never would peak the pack.
My impression is that a lesser capacity 6v battery would have probably worked ok. Thou I havnt tried it since at that time I was switching to mostly 6v Rx packs and went ahead and bought a nice high end charger.

Theres no way Id risk charging a 6v battery from the 9.6v side of a wallwart. As CGr said, 6v packs normally peak around 7v.

Cheers.

CG, is that an ACE charger?? If so what model?? My old unit only went up to 1500mah and even if I charge my 6v 4500mah battery I have to put it on my peak field charger to get it to top up. Have you found the same thing with the bigger packs??
Gene

The so-called 4.8 V. wall warts will top out a 4 cell batt. at around 5.5-5.8 volts, meaning they top out somewhere around 6V. Marketing people have methods to satisfy folks to purchase stuff. If your batt. was only charged to 4.8 V, the rated voltage, you would be out of juice very quickly. I have checked some JR chargers at 17 Volt output for the Tmtr side. Labels are there to satisfy the buyer. [sm=confused.gif]
OTOH there is not adequate Voltage to top off a 6V rated pack. Remember your 5 cell battery goes down faster than a 4 cell because of the pressure pushing more ma through the servos.

My suggestion is to visit radio Shack and check their small batt. chargers. I have a bunch of chargers and some were absolute steals. I hardly ever use them but sometimes they come in handy. I have two that charge NMIH and NICADS from 2.4 to 12V packs. I can set the voltage, and each has adapters for either JR or other Transmitters and charge a transmitter or in-flight batteries. They are different but they do the job. On one sale I got 8 NMIH cells, an 800 mah set and a 1500 mah set plus a charger for LESS THAN $1. You just have to go see.

I have adapted several chargers by soldering leads to the tin contacts and thus use them just like any charger.

I also have a couple regular chargers to cycle Nicad/NMIH batteries.

I charge my 5 cell batteries with the Futaba wall warts all the time. Yes it takes longer but always gives a full charge. I use them with up to 2200 mah batteries with no problems, in fact this is much easier on your battery and will give you longer battery life (number of charge/discharge cycles) than you will get using peak chargers. Do read the referenced site mentioned above as Red's battery clinic gives very good advice on how to use wall warts.

I wouldn't make an assumption.

I would get a digital multimeter and measure the voltage and current of the wall wart while charging the battery pack.

The way I read the "Battery Clinic" info, if it's around 7 volts it should fully charge a 5 cell (6 volt) pack. But, the current might be so low it takes several days to do it.

The voltage of the charger needs to be a bit higher (about a volt) over the battery rated voltage to peak charge a battery.
Thevoltage is what pushes the current (amps) into the battery, if the charger isonly putting out 5.4 volts then it will only ever chargeahigher voltage battery to 5.4 volts

no voltage differential equals no current flow.