battery charging
 

I am ordering a bunch of [link=http://cgi.ebay.com/24-AA-NiMH-2600mAh-Rechargeable-Batteries-and-6-cases_W0QQitemZ390062797990QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_D efaultDomain_0?hash=item5ad18df4a6&_trksid=p4634.c 0.m14.l1262&_trkparms=%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A2%7C294%3 A30]Tenergy 2600 mAh NiMH AA batteries[/link] for my transmitters and receivers and wanted to verify a couple of things with the electric experts in the bunch.

First, as these are 2600 mAh batteries, I assume the ideal charging method is 2.6 amps for 1 hour. I also assume I could charge a little slower at 2A or a little faster at 3A if I can not do exactly 2.6, and it will be fine. Am I correct?

Second, am I correct that the first charge would ideally be at 260 mA for 15 hours to give them a 150% charge at a lower rate?

Next, someone once said I should get a "good digital charger" for charging batteries and getting good capacity and life. If what I said above is correct, can you get a charger where you can set the charge rate at 2.6A or 260mA or whatever rate you want? And can you set the charge time so it will overcharge to 15 hrs at 260 mA? I want to ensure I know what I need in a charger.

Finally, I understand that I can charge them 4 at a time by putting them in a standard 4 cell AA battery holder with the proper adapters from its connector the the charger's connector. Correct?

Any guidance on the charger or correction/comments about the batteries I am looking ta would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Bryan

RE: battery charging
 

i use 8 energize rechargeable 2500mah and two energize travel wall chargers that each takes 8 hour to charge a set of 4 batteries. (180mA per battery)
and after a full charge they last forever, i havent recharged them for couple month now they are still pretty full.

RE: battery charging
 

Hi Bryan,

You want to charge at a lower rate, 1.5 amps for a longer period, most digital chargers are peak chargers and will turn off when finished. I charge my hump packs and holders like you want to do at 1 amp. You will heat up the packs way to fast at anything above 1/5 amps.

I have the brain from mrc and i can set the amps, amount of batteries, etc. Our himoto charger (thats still in customs) have all these adjustments too.

Yes you can charge them in a 4 pack holder.

RE: battery charging
 

OK... are those batteries 1.5V (like typical throwaway alkalines) or 1.2V (like typical rechargeables)? If they are 1.2V, do I need 5 in a receiver and 10 in a transmitter?

I was thinking I could just put these in place of the alkalines.

I'm so confused![:@]

RE: battery charging
 

no, you can use 4 and 8. Just make sure they are fully charged. You wont get the same speed from your servo's since its less voltage but they will work fine

RE: battery charging
 

I have never used Tenergy, but I was looking in to them. I thought at one point they had 1.5v AA sized rechargeables, but I never could find them. they were probably lipo's in AA form or someone's custom order. I'd rather buy the 6 cell hump myself. Eddie, how do the 1.2's work in the Tx? same performance, or less range/speed?

RE: battery charging
 

i never have had any issue using rechargables in a tranmitter, range all seemed fine. I have heard of rechargable 1.5 but never used or actually seen them.

RE: battery charging
 

They work fine.....I use em in all my Transmitters, AND in the 4 cell receiver pack (Idont use hump packs in Everything).
Saves me a TON of $$, compared to using Duracell throwaways.
I use a Quick charger for my rechargeables. 30 minutes for 4 of them, and I have had no problems at all.

Now,,,,for the Hump packs or any other expensive battery,,,,slower is better if you want them to last longer.
Hump packs small batteries (sub C's) should not really be charged at high current capacity.

6,7, and 8 cell Stick Packs and large Lipos CAN be charged at high (1C) capacity as long as you DO NOT leave them unattended.
At the track when running my Slash,,,I charge my 7.4 v,,,,3800mah pack at a charge rate of 3.8 amps (1 C) and dont have any problem.
I realize this will shorten the life of the battery,,,,but thats racing...:)

Like Eddie says,,,, a Good Charger supply is fully programmable. Current, Voltage , charge/discharge rate, etc, are all programmed to YOUR specifications.
Eddies Brain is a nice Charger. I have a Duratrax ICE,,,which I like Very much.

RE: battery charging
 

speaking of charging batteries....I was doing a lil running the weekend before this past weekend...I plugged a venom 1600 hump pack onto a 1amp wall charger while I was running my rxb....totally forgot about it I guess...was still plugged in last night...lol

RE: battery charging
 

Will a failsafe like the Himoto "add on" or a built in failsafe like in a 2.4GHz system see 4.8V from 4 rechargeables as low voltage looking for 6V?

RE: battery charging
 

they should, most failsafes kick in when its below 4.8. Rechargables dont loose their voltage until the end of the cycle, alkalines loose their voltage over the life of the battery. Thats why a rechargable will run in a car the same for a while then drop off all of a sudden where an alkaline will slowly loose power over a period of time.

RE: battery charging
 

Also.....
1.2v is the Minimun charge voltage. They actually charge to to 1.3 to 1.5 volts

I have never had my failsafe actuate when using rechargables in the receiver pack.

However,,,,I never use rechargables in cars that have High Torque servos either.

RE: battery charging
 

the rechargeable alkaline is 1.5V, they are a lot cheaper than the 1.2V nimh too. but wikipedia says they need to be recharged before they get lower than 75% otherwise they will not be recharged full next time; other than that they last pretty long on a full charge.

RE: battery charging
 

Yes, alkaline, nicd can take a memory also where nimh does not have the memory effect.

RE: battery charging
 

I came across this article in the Batteries & Chargers forum (thanks richrd for the link). Pretty good info on charging. And it's what Tom told me, but in writing since I could not remember everything he tried to teach me!).

[link=http://www.powerstream.com/NiMH.htm]http://www.powerstream.com/NiMH.htm[/link]