2000mah Battery
 

I have one of the 2000mah (green) Nimh batteries that came with my metal version HL Tiger I. It is only about a month old, and has barely been used (just for testing). I charge all of my batteries on my Triton Charger. However, I have cycled this battery numerous times (at least 6) and can only get it up to around 1275mah. I understand these are not high quality batteries, but is this normal? I also have 2 1700mah (yellow) Nicd batteries (at least 2 years old purchased with my Tiger I and Pershing) that take a full charge. Might just be luck, but I barely used them as well. Just curious if this is the norm. I most likely will be investing in a pair of 3600 Nimh batteries from TH. Take care, Stacy.

RE: 2000mah Battery
 

the NiMh should take more charge than that.. do you have a standard old style charger ? i would suggest trying to charge the pack with an old school charger(something thats not automatic and not digital) . Charge it till it's fairly warm to touch, NOT hot.. Use the battery till it's drained then charge it again but wait a day before charging..

RE: 2000mah Battery
 

Hi it's very hard to tell how much capacity the battery is getting put in it chargers are not correct with this because to truely test this out the battery would need to be totally dead...but they are never totally dead they always have power in them so you never get a accurate reading when doing so.

RE: 2000mah Battery
 

Does any one cell get hotter then the others while charging? I wouldn't worry about it too much, spend your time getting the better ones. The only things I use my OEM batteries for is to power the airbrush compressor.

RE: 2000mah Battery
 

Thanks for the replys! Well, I am use to Lipos, and it has been a while since I messed with Nimh and Nicds. The Triton charger discharges then charges the battery (or however you have it set up). I did charge it with the old school way first. Will probably hook it up this weekend and let it run till it dies, then try charging it that way. I try to get the most out of what I receive, but in the end I will probably just purchase a new couple of 3600 batteries. Thanks for your help!

RE: 2000mah Battery
 

That's the problem if you over use the NIMH batteries run them so low as the voltage is low in them you then ruin your paqck you should never come even close to fully draining a NIMH pack if you do so you will damage the pack...this may be why your pack don't hold full capacity now....this is why NIMH chargers have a cut off voltage setting that is spacific to NIMH cells..... I believe my ICE is set for 5.9V total for a 6 cell NIMH pack..... if you go any lower pack will get damaged.

RE: 2000mah Battery
 

Shenloco is right, unlike NiCd's you do NOT want to totally discharge your NiMh's. I've also found that even with a good peak charger, it will shut off and give you a false full charge indication. This called a false peak. I usually put my batteries back on the charger for a few minutes. Also, I agree with Swathdiver, feel the cells after charging, they should be warm, if you notice one that is significatly warmer than the others, you may have a bad cell. I was lucky, I've been into RC for a long time and have several 3300mah's lying around I can use. Look around on the internet, you can find great deals, I paid less than $30 for two 3300's, 4 years ago and there still working great.

RE: 2000mah Battery
 

Thanks for the help guys. The pack gets warm, but I don't notice any one cell being hotter then the other one. I charged it twice last night. The initial charge was 1275, the 2nd charge was 290 and the 3rd charge was 275. So adding that up I am getting closer to the '2000' mark. Think I will be able to get it close to full charge in the long run. And thanks for mentioning about price shopping. When I am ready, I found 2, 3600's on Flea-Bay for $30. So that isn't too bad. Been charging Lipo's for so long, forgot about Nicd's and Nimh's. Take care and hope you all have a great weekend.

RE: 2000mah Battery
 

Hi Another way to tell if your 6 cell pack is a goner is if when charging it's voltage shown on your charger reaches like 10Volts this is a indicator that the battery is not to good anymore and you need a new one.

RE: 2000mah Battery
 

sjgusmc21, just be careful when putting your batteries on the charger several times, monitor both the charger and the batteries closely. If either gets hot stop imediately. You probably know this, but I thought it was worth saying. If your battery is going bad, you may damage the battery or the charger trying to "stuff" the entire 2000mah into the battery.