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June 15th, 2006, 06:59
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#1 |
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Overcharging a battery
Ok, I'm a noob, I've done the searches and I found out that you can kill your battery by overcharging it. So don't flame me.
I had to work, so I started charging my battery before I left for an 8hour work shift. I left the responsibility of unplugging the battery when it's "warm" to my brother. When I returned home after work, I found that my battery was still charging. So, I know for sure I've overcharged it. As I should only be charging it for about 5hours. I have a 2400mah, 7cell battery and I was using a 500mah output charger. My question is, just how dead is my battery, is it still usable? if so, how long can i use it for? if its not usable, is there anyway that i can "fix" the battery(though i doubt it, i thought i'd ask anyways). And what are the effects of overcharging a battery? |
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June 15th, 2006, 07:30
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#2 |
 A Total Bastard
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At 500mah at 8hrs for a 2400mah battery, thats only a half an amp charge per hour, I don't think that will kill the battery.. 500mah is 20% of the battery capacity and well under the danger zone - was it too hot to touch when you got to it or just warm? If just warm, your okay.
Ultimate test is to put it in your gun and try it. Is is NiMH or NiCAD? NiCADs can take far more punishment. Get yourself a charger with autoshutoff on full charge. Even those ones will continue to trickle charge the battery at 50mah-100mah after the battery is full... |
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June 15th, 2006, 07:52
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#3 |
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You should also invest in a simple multimeter to confirm the charge. They tend to sell for around $10 at Canadian Tire.
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June 15th, 2006, 10:09
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#4 |
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Guest
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I wouldnt worry. I seen a battery that way overcharged...it caught fire and burned really nice...
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June 15th, 2006, 12:49
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#5 |
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Scotty aka harleyb
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Educate yourself: http://www.batteryuniversity.com/
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June 15th, 2006, 13:29
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#6 |
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Banned
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hey i also need help in charging my 8.4v 3000mah NI-MH...i was wondering how long do i charge it for???...plus i dont understand the numbers on the charger...i charge it between 3.0 and 4.0...i have this charger
 DTXP4120 Features "Negative Delta V" peak detection for NiCds and "Zero Delta V" peak detection for NiMHs 0.5A-6.5A fast charging for NiCds AND NiMHs Automatically selects detection method Detachable AC power supply w/built-in fan 2A or 10A discharging Twin built-in cooling fans Also available as DC only (DTXP4119) thanks for the help |
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June 15th, 2006, 13:45
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#7 |
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http://rcepi.com/battery_charging_tips.htm
Jar|-|ead the numbers 0.5-6.5 refer to the amperage and it looks like the max you should charge your 8.4V 3000mAh is 3 amps. |
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June 15th, 2006, 17:48
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#8 | |
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Quote:
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June 15th, 2006, 18:07
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#9 |
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A Total Bastard
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No, thats not too bad. Worst case scenario you shortened the overall life a little.
If it too hot to touch and the battery casing becomes distorted then you are in trouble. If a battery gets too hot during charging a chemical reaction can occur that cases gas to accumulate in the battery. The gas will distort the position of the various elements in the battery reducing or eliminating its capability to store or discharge electricity. Thats about as dumbed down as I can put it. As I said, NiCADs are much more resilent to peak charging (which is effectively what you did) than NiMH. Best test is use it and see for yourself how it performs. Don't worry, batteries are pretty cheap. |
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June 15th, 2006, 18:42
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#10 |
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Thanks a lot Scarecrow. I'm going to test it today and see how many rounds I can put through it. Cause I've read that you can get abour 2000rounds on a 1700mah battery, so with my 2400mah battery, I'm expecting a little over 2000rounds on a full charge. Depending how many rounds I get through my battery, I should be able to determine just how damaged it is. Is my theory flawed?
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June 15th, 2006, 19:02
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#11 |
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June 15th, 2006, 22:45
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#12 | |
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A Total Bastard
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Quote:
There are ways to tell these things but they involve load meters (I have one that I use to test upgrades and power loads) and will tell you just how much power and amperage you're drawing when you pull the trigger, as well as the resting voltage and amperage. This information is the penultimate data you need to assess these things without putting a lot of rounds through the gun to establish a baseline and you can tell if its the load or the battery. As Greylocks suggests, a multimeter will give you some information, but, thats only voltage. What you really need to know is how the battery behaves under load - that you cannot get from a multimeter - its possible to have a battery that shows a full voltage, but then the battery has no stamina and dies after a few heavy load draws. As you can see the question you ask can be very complex in finding an answer for without the right equipment. BUT if you have a baseline and know your gun, you can extrapolate what your battery life *should* be based on past experience. |
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June 16th, 2006, 02:55
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#13 |
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Well, I put my battery into my gun. Nothing. So I assume that the battery is dead. I got a new battery, charged it, and I found out that the fuse blew. Better the fuse than my gun. But, I don't know if the blown fuse is caused by the old battery or the new battery. Btw, I found out that the old battery was leaking battery acid and it was also making a bubbling noise during a charge, I bought it used. Lesson learned, never buy used stuff.
So, tommorow when Canadian tire opens, I'm going to buy a new fuse. And see how this new battery performs. Thanks for all the help guys. |
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June 16th, 2006, 07:51
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#14 | |
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A Total Bastard
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Quote:
Buying used it okay so long as you know what your buying and trust the buyer and get the proper price for something that is used. Used batteries is like buying someone's half roll of toliet paper. Unless you get a stellar deal or its rolled in with a gun, I'd buy new batteries or get a new battery to go with a gun just to make sure I am getting the best performance and reliability possible. |
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June 20th, 2006, 06:58
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#15 |
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Ok, now I've encountered a new problem. New battery, new fuses. The stock fuse I had was a 20A, 32V fuse. Replacement fuse I bought were from The Source and RP Electronics. For some reason, I kept blowing all the fuses from The Source. But the fuses I bought from RP Electronics are fine.
So I THINK I just got a bunch of lemon fuses. But I also installed the fuses from RP with gloves. And the fuse didn't blow. Does anyone know if you're supposed to wear gloves to install fuses? Because I thought the oil from my fingers must've caused the previous fuses to blow. Testing my hypothesis, I took out my current fuse without any gloves and reinstalled it. It didn't blow. Now this has me totally confused. The fuses I bought from the source could've been lemons, but what are the chances of a whole pack of fuses turning out to be lemons? If gloves need to be worn to install the fuses, why didn't my current fuse blow after I uninstalled/reinstalled it with my bare hands? The last possibility I could think of was that from a freshly charged battery, the output may have been too high at that time. Which seems weird, because an 8.4V battery is only supposed to output 8.4V. Although I have my gun up and running, I'm very curious as to why the previous fuses blew and why this one didn't. Any thought on that guys? |
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