New to Electric Charging Questions

[nitroice0069]

Hey! I am going to be getting my first electric soon. I was wondering if you can charge a NiMh battery pack with a charger that stats it is made for charging NiCd batterys? I know this is a stuipd question but I am new to electric and would like to find out before I going ruining something. Thanks for your help!


JamEs

[Pro3/nmt105]

No, NiMh and NiCad packs need diffrent charging methods and diffrent peak detection methods. NiCads are supposed to like to be over charged a little while NiMh packs dont respond well to this and will probabaly overheat.

[gizmoguy303]

If it says it's only made for NiCD's than you cannot use it.

[gizmoguy303]

Oops, you beat me to it Pro3 :p

[nitroice0069]

Thanks for the help guys!


JamEs

[nitroice0069]

Double post delete please.


JamEs

[Grizzbob]

Nitroice, out of curiosity, just what charger do you have? As long as it's a linear pulse charger, then it should at least be possible to charge NiMh cells with it, but it is important for the charger to be able to shut off very quickly after the pack's voltage reaches its peak. And if it has an adjustable peak(which Novak refers to as the voltage threshold adjustment), then you should be able to set it to peak NiMh's without any major problems....

[highroller]

Yes older chargers can be used with NiMh the hype that they couldn't was to get you to buy a new one; however there are certain things you must do to prevent overcharging or damaging them.
1. Charge must be able to charge in a linear (constant current) mode, no reflex or hard pulse. Those must be disabled or turned off.
2. Use a voltmeter (digital preferably) to monitor pack voltage, when voltage stops climbing - do wait for voltage to drop with some types of NiMh by the time voltmeter indicates a drop in voltage cells may get too warm. Plug voltmeter into the charger output voltage jacks or attach to battery somehow. Also used pack voltage as a indicator Panasonics like to be around 115 to 120 degrees, Sanyo HV 122-125, GP3300 about 130 or 135 stay around for 125 for life and durability. With newer chargers it takes some of the time spent watching packs and does allow you to do something else.

I've used a Tekin 100L when NiMh first came out and two 112A. I kept an eye on them the first couple of times I used them with NiMh, until I got used to the length of time, pack temperature and where voltage was when it peaked.