[NSRCA-discussion] NiMH Question

[vanputte at cox.net]

> 
> From: "Anthony Romano" <anthonyr105 at hotmail.com>
> Date: 2006/02/24 Fri PM 03:10:06 EST
> To: nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org
> Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] NiMH Question
> 
> 
> If you can check on a buddies cycler. The original Hobbico Accucycle was 
> woefully inaccurate. Or just replace them all. Packs are cheaper than 
> airplanes.

I must agree with Anthony.  I don't like to knock products, but, as a hobby 
dealer, I have tested some very poor Accucycles that customers have brought 
in for me to evaluate over the years.  This is unfortunate, because most of the 
chargers/cyclers that Hobbico sells are fine products.  I hope that the newer 
Accucycles are better than the original ones.

Ron Van Putte

> >From: "Michael Cohen" <precisionaero at comcast.net>
> >Reply-To: NSRCA Mailing List <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>
> >To: "NSRCA Mailing List" <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>
> >Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] NiMH Question
> >Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2006 21:38:32 -0700
> >
> >I have 4 cells on each pack.  I am using the Hobbico Accu-Cycle Elite 
> >charger.  I know when I got the packs at first, I did a 0.1C 
> >charge/discharge cycle several times to get the packs up to their full 
> >potential.  I forgot who recommended that, but it seemed to work great.  
> >After that, I never did cycle them again until this season.   As far as the 
> >other data, after this next round of cycling, I'll let you know.
> >
> >
> >
> >----- Original Message ----- 1
> >   From: Grow Pattern
> >   To: NSRCA Mailing List
> >   Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2006 8:58 PM
> >   Subject: Re: [NSRCA-discussion] NiMH Question
> >
> >
> >   I don't think that there is any value or advantage in cycling down an 
> >NiMH pack because they do not display any memory behavior. (Like a 
Nicad)
> >
> >   On the other hand I guess you/we will always need to know how much a 
> >battery has left in it.
> >
> >   I was told that you should not take an NiMH battery down too low. I 
have 
> >killed a few of them by leaving them on too long and once flew too many 
> >times and was lucky to get the plane down with one servo action at a 
time. 
> >The pack would not charge back up!
> >
> >   I am curious as to what charger/cycler you are using. How many cells 
and 
> >what voltage you show after charging and then with a 500 ma load?
> >
> >   Regards,
> >
> >   Eric.
> >
> >
> >   ----- Original Message -----
> >     From: Michael Cohen
> >     To: NSRCA Mailing List
> >     Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2006 9:48 PM
> >     Subject: [NSRCA-discussion] NiMH Question
> >
> >
> >     I am cycling my batteries and getting ready for the flying season.  On 
> >my initial 5 cycle run at my NiMH batteries, both my 1650 mAh packs 
cycled 
> >very low.  One pack that I have not used since end of November only 
cycled 
> >up to 850 mAh and the other pack I have not used since end of 
September 
> >only cycled up to 1000 mAh.  My charger is set to 5 cycles, charge and 
> >discharge are set to .65 amps with a cutoff voltage at 1.1 Volts per cell.  
> >I am now trying 1.00 amp charge/discharge with a 1.0 volt per cell cutoff 
> >and it is looking better, but I have some questions:
> >
> >     1)  Did I damage the batteries by letting them self-discharge too low? 
> >  I know NiMH batteries have a higher self discharge rate than NiCD 
> >batteries, but I am not aware letting the NiMH batteries run down could 
> >cause damage.
> >
> >     2)  Is this a normal behavior?  Maybe NiMH just need a little more 
> >juice at the beginning of the season.
> >
> >     3)  Is the cold garage a factor?
> >
> >     Thoughts?
> >
> >     Mike Cohen
> >
> >
> 
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