secret_squirrel

Hey all,

I spent several hours researching trickle charging NiMh las night. I believe I have come to the conclussion that it is ok as long as you use c/50 to trickle. I would like to hear from anyone that is currently trickle charging NiMh with success. I have never used NiMh but may be forced to start using them since Nicd are getting harder and harder to come by at my local hobby store.

Here is my process now using Nicd. After flying, I put my Tx and Rx batteries on a Hobbico Accu-Cycle Elite Battery Cycler that takes the batteries back to full capacity. I then hook both of them up to the charger that came with the radio. On this charger I have installed an "add-a-trickle" inline trickle charger (see pics) that always stays in trickle mode. This way my planes are always ready to fly.

Question 1: will this process work with NiMh?
Question 2: Does anyone know the C value of these "add-a-trickle" devices (see pic)

I have heard of a process that uses a timer to kick the charger on for 30 minutes a day. Seeing as I might have both Nicd and NiMh will this work for both?

I am thoroughly confussed with batteries and how they work. I never had an issue in the past by using the trickle charge method but I have recently had two planes go down and suspect either Tx batteries or someone else turning on their Tx on my channel.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

thanks
Dan

secret_squirrel

Looks like the images didn't upload. i will try again

secret_squirrel

OK....one more time sorry..............It waas the image on my hard drive that was causing the issue and not the actual upload process.

Charlie P.

Not familiar with those chargers. I use Futaba's wall-warts which output 50 mA. When I do my NiMHs of 1450mAh and 1650mAh I go 45 minutes instead of 1/2 hour on my daily power-strip-plugged-into-an-appliance timer method. The NiMH packs I have call for 100mA of charge input, so I either use a charger where I can select that current or charge longer. As I have both types of charges on the same 12 outlet timed strip I opt for 45 minutes. So far I haven't killed, cooked or been disappointed by a battery when it comes time to fly. About every other month I discharge cycle each of my packs if they haven't flown in that period.

feihu

Sounds like you're really confused about batteries since you had two planes go down. Sounds more like battery problems rather than interference.
I use nicads in my tx and nimh power batts w/ bec for the rx; I charge them at C/10 for 8 -10 hrs the night before flying.
You might consider using an expanded scale voltmeter (ESV) to check your battteries before flying.
feihu