3wExtra

I just got my new RE12s w/charger. now the charger is for Nicad and the transmitter has a Nickel Metal,,,,,, what is it going on....

Highflight

My Feedback: (4)

The main thing to know about the difference between CHARGING Nicads and Nimh batteries is that if you're using an automatic charger, it has to be able to choose the correct cut-off point by determining the correct point in the curve in order to be able to do that properly.

If you're using the wall wart that came with the EVO, there is no problem because it only puts out a 60mah charge and the output voltage is only at what would be considered the float point for the battery in the radio.
While soldering up the DIN plug to use as the connection so I could use my Alpha 4 charger with the EVO, I needed to check the polarity of the pins coming from the wal wart charger to make sure I did the same thing. I don't remember exactly what the voltage read, but it was only about 9 or 10 volts which is barely enough to "push" a charge into the radio battery.

The bottom line is that the charger that came with the EVO is good for the purpose. When the battery gets fully charged, it's voltage will just match the output voltage of the wall wart so what you are then doing is "float" charging and nothing is going to explode. But it's not really a trickle charger at that point either so I wouldn't intentionally leave it on for weeks at a time.

Note that at 60mah at the wall wart's max, you're not much above trickle charger (that would be 30mah for a 1500mah battery). What that means is that your looking at around 30+ hours for the wall wart to bring the EVO to a full charge. That's ridiculous, but safe.
Get yourself a good quality auto-detect charger that will handle Nimh batteries (like the Alpha 4, but they're hard to get), and then you'll be able to do all sorts of good things like safely fast charging in a little over an hour (the EVO manual says the battery can be fast charged up to C/1), cycling the pack every once in a while to check it's condition over time, and be able to have a proper trickle charge when you want.

Other's may follow me with recommendations for other good brands of chargers that will work well. Start by checking out the Alpha 4, and then look at all the others and put the EVO wall wart back in the shipping box where it can live happily ever after. You paid over $500 for the EVO, so you can afford to get a good battery charger that will keep it healthy.

Highflight

EDIT: I thought I'd come back here to add this: Go to http://home.att.net/~LitcoSys/a4faq.htm and look at paragraph's 1.7 and 1.9.
While specific to the operation of the Alpha 4, there is a lot of general information about Nimh batteries as well that might increase your understanding of the differences between Nicads and Nimh batteries.

3wExtra

Thank you, Highflight-RCU, where did you get the DIN connector. I checked at Radio sh... and they did tell me that they have never seen something like this. Hum from what planet the come from... so then i went to another pseudo electronics shop and almost the same answer. I do not want to cut the the one it comes with the wart because of the warranty.
I do have a couple (or more) of good chargers, schultzes isl8. and orbits. the schultze does not officially charge nimh but i do all the time. i am being just a bit cautious. but i do not want to blow a Tx that I waited for almost 6 months!
thank you
Astolfo

Highflight

My Feedback: (4)

Funny you should mention that about Radio Shack. I tried there first myself and the guy looked at me like I was nuts; he also said he had never seen one of those plugs. Sheesh, it's just a standard DIN male plug for crying out loud, and Radio Shack is supposed to be an electronics store. I think nowadays, they're not much more than a glorified toy store for "batteries not included" type merchandise.

After Radio Shack, I went to my local electronics surplus store and they had them in 3, 5, and 7 pin flavors. You want to use the 3 pin DIN because even though you won't use the top pin at all, it will prevent you from plugging the connector upside down in the EVO since it will bang against solid plastic if you try.

Highflight

3wExtra

yep.... these people... what are they thinking din connectors are most likely are the most universal conector...[sm=bananahead.gif]