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Poll Question : Your preferred airborne pack
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Posted: August/18/2008 at 6:45pm  Quote
 

I am overall very pleased with Ni-MH's but a lot of folks just don't understand the differences. Basically you get higher capacity in the same size cell as Ni-Cd but at a price (just like everything else in life).

1. Ni-MH are less tolerant to abuse (excessive high rate discharge, excessive overcharge, vibration, cell reversal) than Ni-Cd. NEVER charge one above 1C (1 capacity)

2. Do not use a Ni-Cd peak charger on and Ni-MH battery. If ran in "Auto" mode they will overcharge and damage the battery. Make sure your charger is rated for Ni-MH.

3. Ni-MH left discharged for more than several months will most likely never hold their full capacity again or not hold a charge. Ni-MH has a higher self-discharge rate  (3-4%/day) than Ni-Cd (1%/day).

4. Ni-MH capacity falls off with cycling whereas Ni-Cd stays pretty constant. For this reason and since Ni-MH's are generally cheaper I choose to replace them EVERY season. it's a small price to pay to save a model.

Once again batteries are one of those things that modelers are quite opinionated about but all the types we use have their pro's and con's and should be selected by APPLICATION not emotion.  



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Posted: August/18/2008 at 7:34pm  Quote
 

Per Red Scholefield of "The Battery Clinic" and other battery Gurus and experts, memory in NiCds has pretty much been eliminated.  20-25 years ago memory was an issue in NiCds, but NiCd battery development in those same years has pretty much defeated this spector!

I have both NiMH and NiCds in use as airborne electrical power supplys in my planes.  I have had NiMH batteries go bad for little or no reason whereas my failure rate for NiCds is almost non-existant.  I just prefer NiCds.  



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Avatar User Offline rustypep
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Posted: August/18/2008 at 7:49pm  Quote
 

I started using Ni-MH about two years ago.  I felt like the only one left still using nicads at that point.  I just bought my first lipos last year..haha.  I am only going to add two things to what Mike said.

1)  Less margin for error with cheap Ni-MH versus Nicads.  I didn't seem to have as much trouble with generic nicads as I have had with generic Ni-MH.  A lot of the cheaper NI-MH use high impedence cells which are trouble waiting to happen.  Now I only buy better quality cells.  You get what you pay for..I know I know.  Check out No-BS batteries.

2)  Form charging Ni-MH is an absolute must or you will never get the pack to perform to full capacity and it won't last (Your charger will false peak and drive you nuts).

I bought two Ni-MH packs right before my relocation a year ago and they both ended up in the garbage.  As Mike said, a few months of no attention doomed them.  I use two Schultz chargers and I always do the full three form cycles on the walwart.  There is a new generation of NI-MH that that show promise and an improvement in self discharge rates.



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Avatar User Online J_Whitney
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Posted: August/18/2008 at 8:16pm  Quote
 

Quote: rustypep
1)   Now I only buy better quality cells.  You get what you pay for..I know I know.  Check out No-BS batteries.

ditto on No BS - LOTS of information there!



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Posted: August/18/2008 at 8:40pm  Quote
 

I replaced all of my airborne packs this year from No-BS batteries as well.  I elected to go with the NiMh packs to save some weight while still having good performance. I have been very happy with them but I do test all of my packs every 60 days with my West Mountain Radio CBA II, I discovered a NiCd pack this season that was rated for 600mah but even after 3 cycles only gave me 320mah.  Into the trash it went and a plane saved.  More than paid for the battery tester.

David

http://www.westmountainradio.com/CBA.htm



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Posted: August/18/2008 at 10:11pm  Quote
 
Absolutely, some type of cycler/discharger is a must! 

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Avatar User Offline 103/17
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Posted: August/19/2008 at 8:46am  Quote
 

 

 Three of us switched to NiMH's from Dave Thacker three years ago. We all bought Sirius charge pros. They quick charge or should I say all we do is quick charge. I never charge any of my 1650s at home. Three years later all of us are running the same packs and they are routinly tested at 90% to 95%. Friends of mine in the midwest have been doing this with Sirius chargers for the last 5 years with the same results. This charger is unlike anything else you are using. They are not cheap but I wouldnt use anything else for charging my batteries. Check them out for yourself. They are nothing short of amazing.........I have also never read a bad review on any of these chargers. No I dont work for them or sell them, but I do use them with great results.

FAQ:

Q:  Can I charge Nickle Metal Hydride batteries with the Pro Series?
A:  Yes, The Sirius Charge line of chargers are the only SAFE FAST chargers for NiMH cells. The Pro Series is limited to 250 to 1200 mAh NiMH cells, The Pro Plus "Upgrade" allows the Pro Series to charge 500 to 3000 mAh NiMH cells.

 

http://www.siriuselectronics.com/index.php?main_page=index&a mp;cPath=51&sessid=79150b58d4b845d0fa5e20c16e6d3cf5

103/17

 



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Avatar User Offline 103/17
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Posted: August/19/2008 at 10:51am  Quote
 

 

 

Q:  I\'ve heard that fast charging is not good for batteries, especially long term.
A:  That is not true. It was shown 30 years ago by D. M. MacArthur that fast charging actually increases charge acceptance. However, conventional fast chargers tend to ruin batteries by overcharging, and by causing excessive temperature and pressure buildup. The new technology used in SIRIUS CHARGE solves these problems: Peak Predictor tm eliminates overcharge, and  RPCtm eliminates temperature and pressure buildup.
 
103/17


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