I recently ordered an MPI wall charger to charge my transmitter pack.... i hooked up a multimeter to it, and yes it does put out 200mah which is exactly what i want, but it does it at 14 volts..isnt that too high for my 9.6v pack?

i wanna make sure its safe before i charge my trusty transmitter

NOPE! Your transmitter pack, nicad or nmhyd (?) will charge to 10.5 to 11.5 volts, then drop off considerably after some use.

Regardless of the stated output on the charger, the output for a 9.6 rated wallwart will be 14-17 volts. With a 200 mah output you can charge 2000mah packs. If your pack is less than that, simply monitor it and your charge will be much quicker. I fast charge my stuff then keep them on a pulse charger for being ready to go when I want to go. OTOH if they have been on pulse for a month or so, I will hit it an hour or so with a fast charge, like using a 300-500 mah output for a 1500-2200 mah pack.. Works fine for me.

If the charger was not stronger than the battery's rated voltage, then the charger could not stuff all those little ma thingies in the pack!

Edited to add: One can find all sorts of good chargers at Radio Shack and Walmart during sales. I have way moore than I wil ever use, some bought as low as 95 cents. Sometimes leads need to be changed. Some have variable voltage output at 200 or 300 or 500 mah output. A couple have varied fittings so I can charge a JR Transmitter or a Futaba Trans. Almost none cost over $5.00.
So many options on good chargers, so few batt. packs!

thanks for the in depth reply Horace

Yeah, what Hossfly said. You have to FORCE those little ma thingies into the battery. If the output of the forcer is not greater than the forcee, the forcee just kind of sits back and laughs at it. Automotive batteries are 12 volt (right), but if you don't have something that puts out at least 17 volts, you will never fully charge that puppy should it ever need charging. You gotta make that battery submit to your wishes.

These wall warts have a rather high internal impedance. To see what the current really is when you are charging a battery is to put an ammeter in series with the charge leads. If you measure the voltage while it is hooked to the charger, you will find that the voltage drops appreciably as the current flows from the charger into the battery. Also, this voltage may be only a rectified AC (with no filtering) so the actual RMS (root mean squared) voltage as measured with the typical voltmeter will indicate roughly 1.414 times higher than the equivalent DC voltage when you measure without any load on the charger.

At some time in an RCers life, you have to get away from Walwarts and step up to a programable charger with LED readouts.

There are several of those on the electric work bench. Yet, having the models connected to a wall-wart that is connected to a pulser keeps nicad and nmhyd batteries very happy. I also have chargers for the Lithium Ion that I have in several bigger planes.

I don't have electric powered planes so I don't need that stuff. I hope your "....stepping up..." satiesfies your social needs to be above the common folks. [sm=devious.gif]