Charging/Discharging Battery Help!

[Hatori]

Hello,

I am looking into buying an extra battery for my AEG. I am currently using a 8.4 1100 mah NiMH battery charging with a small wall charger (http://www.007airsoft.com/products/htm/consumables.htm about half way down).

From the research that I have found, using this wall charging is acutally damaging my battery, and if I am buying a new battery (nimh again) I want it to have the best battery life possible.

My question to you are:
Is the recharger I am using actually damaging my battery/ recharging it properly?
Are there rechargers specifically meant for NiMH seeing how on the website it says for NiCD for the recharger I have?
What recharger do you recomend me purchasing for my NiCD and soon NiMH batteries?

Thanks for the help, this battery information confuses me, seeing how my battery seller never explained any of this too me.

=D

[Kos-Mos]

check one thread above yours...

[dpvu]

You're probably not damaging the battery too badly as long as you're not overcharging it by leaving it plugged in for too long. The thing with those chargers is they're dumb and have no way of detecting when the battery is full and it's easy to overcharge one using one of those. NiMH and NiCd batteries can be charged by the same chargers. One of the advantages of NiMH is you don't have to discharge it before recharging as there is no memory effect.

airsoftparts.ca has batteries and you can also pick up the NPT charger there for $35. It's simple but it's fool-proof and will do the job. If you want a more high-end charger and more control, I've heard many people recommend the TLP Fuzzy Logic one. Personally the NPT one has never let me down.

[Hatori]

Thank you for your great help!! I really appreciate it! I think I will have to pick up one of those NPT Smart Chargers!

[Styrak]

Originally Posted by dpvu

NiMH and NiCd batteries can be charged by the same chargers.

False, I'm pretty sure. Some chargers can charge both, but you need a specific charger for a specific type.

[Drache]

Originally Posted by Styrak

False, I'm pretty sure. Some chargers can charge both, but you need a specific charger for a specific type.

MOST chargers can do both but they will SAY on them if they can. There are chargers that will only do one or the other. The Tenergy Smart charger Ive got will do both and it was not a bad price.

[Styrak]

Originally Posted by Drache

MOST chargers can do both but they will SAY on them if they can. There are chargers that will only do one or the other. The Tenergy Smart charger Ive got will do both and it was not a bad price.

That's what I meant, thanks.

[Drache]

Originally Posted by Styrak

That's what I meant, thanks.

no problem, I knew what you meant so I just added onto it

[Hatori]

Is the Universal NPT Smart Charger from airsoftparts.ca able to charge mini and large type batteries? It doesnt say if it comes with a femal large connector, or I just simply cant read and retaine information.

Also, with my NiCD will it be damage severly if I do not discharge it at all?

Thanks

[dpvu]

It has an adapter so it can charge both. It also has alligator clips to charge other batteries.

As for discharging your NiCd, yes, you should do it everytime. It can be as simple as connecting it to a PC fan.

[Kos-Mos]

The clips are to plug it to a 12v power source. Read the papers that come with it.

As long as the charger is under 2A, you can charge anything used in Airsoft.

Any Ni-Mh charger will also charge Ni-Cd packs without damage.

Any Ni-Cd charger will overcharge a Ni-Mh pack.

Delta-V for Ni-Cd is around 0.07V, Ni-Mh is around 0.05V.

[dpvu]

I did read the documentation. It says the alligator clips are for "charging any battery pack". It's basically a female tamiya to alligator clip adapter.

[Kos-Mos]

ok, so maybe they dropped the 12v input since I last had one... maybe 3 years ago...

[kalnaren]

Don't worry about discharging a Ni-Cad pack every charge. Doing that will accomplish nothing other than shortening the life of the battery. Battery technology has improved so much that the memory effect in Ni-Cads has almost been eliminated. If you are using the NPV charger, discharge your Ni-Cads maybe once per season and that should be fine.

I know people who have never discharged their Ni-Cads and they still perform fine. More batteries are wreaked by people using crappy chargers and incorrect long-term storage than anything else.