After an "unfortunate flying incident" the topic of battery types, chargers, and maintainance came up in my Snipe thread. People had some valuable advice to offer. But I thought it might be worthwhile to start a new thread where scale modelers could give their opinions and recommendations.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_48...44/key_/tm.htm

My own battery maintainance practices are cmpletely haphazard. I've always just charged with the standard "power block" charger than came with my radio. Until recently I didn't know the difference between a NiCd and a NiMH and used the same charger with both. The way things usually worked was that I'd have a (vague) plan to go flying the next day, so the day before I'd plug in the Tx and Rx (usually charging 2 TXs and 2 Rx batteries at once). Sometimes, the weather wouldn't cooperate or sometimes I got busy doing something else, so I wouldn't go flying as planned. Sometimes I'd remember to disconnect the chargers. Sometimes I didn't and I might remember 2-3 days later. I never did anything to condition my batteries.

Yes, I've been a VERY BAD BOY. And now I'm looking to mend my evil ways. I understand that the first step to (battery) salvation is to get myself a real charger. Mode One mentioned both the Accu-cycle and the Hanger 9 Sure Cycle.

http://www.hobbico.com/cyclers/hcap0260.html
http://www.hangar-9.com/Products/Def...ProdID=HAN9525


Seth recommended that I get one of the SR battery packs (maybe the 4-cell 800 packs) and the general concensus seemed to be that NiCd was better than NiMH.

http://www.srbatteries.com/rxpks.htm

Anyway, I'd welcome any equipment recommendations. But I'd also like to hear about your practices for keeping your batteries ready for that "unscheduled" trip to the field.

Don,
for two years now I use this one: [link=http://www.multiplexusa.com/RC-comp/Chargers/LN-5014.htm]Multiplex 5014[/link]
perfect, read the specs,
Charge/ Discharge Nicad and NiMH, auto stop when battery is full, no timers needed etc. , simple to handle (four small buttons)
With this one you don't have to know about battery's: connect, switch on and walk away fully charged the next day!!
Can not do without it, it is small and not that expensive,

Frank

http://www.siriuselectronics.com/ind...=index&cPath=1

I have the Sirius charger and Battery Test. I like the tester but the charger in my opinion charges too harshly for smaller batteries like 600mah. With regular batteries it false peaks. I think fast charge cells would not have this problem. With larger mah batteries it works great.

NiMH battteries have about double the rating of nicads ,so AA size batteries can have 1200 or more mah so more battery for same size(peace of mind), or with scale getting a 600mah NiMH you can have a battery 1/2 the size to get in small spaces.

Never leave the factory charger on the battery after it is charged; trying to keep it topped off this way will ruin it.

But you still have to know what kind of battery you have, right? From what I can tell, there's not auto detect.

The perfect set-up in my mind would be something like those "always ready" flashlight chargers. You just always leave it plugged in and then you just grab it when you head out the door. I don't suppose anything like that exists for RC batteries.

I have had some very good results with the [link=http://www.eneloop.info/]Sanyo Eneloop[/link] NimH-batteries for use as Tx and Rx batteries. They are AA sized with a capacity of 2000 mAh and differs from ordinary NimH batteries in that their self discharge is very low.
This is a real advantage for me during winter time when the time between flying sessions can be anything from a couple of days up to more than a month.
With the Eneloop batteries I charge the batteries after each flying session and then just leave them until next time. There is no need for trickle charging or topping up the batteries before use as is the case with ordinary NimH or NiCd batteries.

The only problem is that it is dificult to locate assembled Tx- and Rx-packs. I have bought loose cells and asked the shop to assemble them into packs for me.

We tend to use our batteries to an industrial standard so you have to be a passing expert to get the performance. Those auto flashlights are actualy cooking the batteries slowly you dont notice or care because its a flashlight, but the life of those wold be extended if they were cared for like we care for the planes. The auto function can be misleading it can false peak making you think it is fully charged but it is actualy dead.