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<DIV>If I were you I would keep the C/10 rates to charge and discharge. I always noticed that the life of the batteries goes down when we go over C/10 rates. In any event, the actual discharge rate when you use the batteries is never that high. I strongly recommend that you replace those batteries. Your plane is a lot more expensive. When you get the new ones, keep C/10 rates for everything you do. That is my personal advise.</DIV>
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<DIV>Vicente Bortone</DIV>
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<BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">-------------- Original message -------------- <BR>From: "Michael Cohen" <precisionaero@comcast.net> <BR>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>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<FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>.</FONT></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV>----- Original Message ----- 1</DIV>
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<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=pattern4u@comcast.net href="mailto:pattern4u@comcast.net">Grow Pattern</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=nsrca-discussion@lists.nsrca.org href="mailto:nsrca-discussion@lists.nsrca.org">NSRCA Mailing List</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, February 23, 2006 8:58 PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [NSRCA-discussion] NiMH Question</DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>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)</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>On the other hand I guess you/we will always need to know how much a battery has left in it.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>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!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>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?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Regards,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Eric.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV>----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
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<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=precisionaero@comcast.net href="mailto:precisionaero@comcast.net">Michael Cohen</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=nsrca-discussion@lists.nsrca.org href="mailto:nsrca-discussion@lists.nsrca.org">NSRCA Mailing List</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, February 23, 2006 9:48 PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [NSRCA-discussion] NiMH Question</DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>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:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>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.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>2) Is this a normal behavior? Maybe NiMH just need a little more juice at the beginning of the season.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>3) Is the cold garage a factor?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thoughts?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Mike Cohen</FONT></DIV>
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