Mag85 Problems - CBP1650 pack on Maha777

In another thread I was informed that brand new 1650s need to be trickle charged for their initial charging. I asked what chargers would do this and didn't get an answer so when I got the 1650s I put them in the FM 9AA to 3D adapter and hooked it up to the brand new Maha 777. In 45 minutes 3 of the 9 were popping and leaking. Oh joy.

So....now one more time...before I throw more money down the Mag85 rathole...CAN ANY CPFER PUHLEASE LET ME KNOW BY WHAT MEANS CAN I TRICKLE CHARGE THESE DAMN THINGS!!!???

IS THERE A CHARGER AVAILABLE TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT WILL DO THIS? IF SO, HOW MUCH IS THE DAMN THING? (please let it be under $100)

AND...

ARE THE 3 LEAKERS RUINED?

sorry about all the yelling, but this Mag85 is taking alot more time and money than I thought it would, even though I bought the light fully assembled.

I charge mine in a Vanson 6988 charger (capacity for ten cells) by using rare heart magnets from Emillion as positive nipples.
The Vanson charge at 250 mah so will take several hours, It have a timer that will stop the "quick" charge at 12 hours but you can leave the batteries in as it will continue with a little trickle charge.
I have charged many cbp1650 and never have had a problem yet with them.

I also have the Maha 777 plus II, I think that it charges at 850 mah and I don't like the way that it HEATS the batteries.
So if I have the time I always use the Vanson 6988.

Thanks Juancho

Trickle charging, which with the CBP1650s should be no more than 80 mA, should not cause the cells to burst. Sounds to me like they were getting hit with at least 1-2 amps - maybe more - to get them to rupture.

That's pretty bad. I wasn't aware the CBP1650's needed to be trickle charged the first time they were ever used?

Furthermore the Maha C777Plus2 only charges at 800mA, maximum. Fixed rate for NiMH cells. The only thing I can think of is that the Maha was set to lithium ion mode, where the cutoff takes place under a different set of circumstances, causing the cells to be overcharged and leak.

Sorry to tell you this but I'm afraid it's over for the 3 leakers.

If you want a light minus the hassle, buy a MagCharger and switch the bulb out for one of the superbulbs - all you need to do is change the bulb the regular way. With custom lights comes both the joy of ownership and the hassle of all the special treatment they need to be given - I guess that's why they remain custom lights.


PS: The MagCharger (MC) is <$100, replacement WA bulb is around $5. You can still 'offload' your Mag85 on B/S/T to offset the cost of buying the MC. As a bonus, the MC has its own charging system, charge-in-place cradle so you can drop it in and have it charge without even the hassle of changing batteries.

Yes, I understand about the trickle charging...what chargers will do it for AA NiMH???

Bill,

I'm surprised you didn't get an answer in your last thread.

First question, and don't take this the wrong way as we all have made this mistake at one point or another, did you have the polarity correct? The positive plug attaches to the end of the adpator that is by the top of the cells assuming two of the three collumns of cells had their top nipples pointed to the top of the holder.

I ask because 45 minutes of charging should not have been enough to cause cells to vent. In the initial trickle of these cells, I find they take at least 1,200mAh. After 45 minutes, even at 850mAh (which would be a fast setting as opposed to a slow trickle), you still would only have put in about 640mAh. By the numbers, they should not have popped.

I would not use the vented cells in the pack of nine for the Mag85. If liquid electrolyte is lost, the cell performance will be permanently changed and the pack will be unbalanced from power delivery and capacity. They may not be dead but they will be different and that makes them unsuitable for use in a multicell pack. Sorry.

9 cells is an odd number of cells for a charger. The Lenmar 8-bay and Vanson 10-bay are the ones that come to mind. Of course there are a number of 4-cell chargers like the Maha and Lacrosse.

Wilkey

There must have been a terrible unbalanced condition with the cells. I use a MH-777PLUS-II at times and used on a new Ni-MH 9.6V 1600mAh pack. It got darn hot because it was the first charge and was unbalanced. I don't think that the temp. cutoff even works and I know for sure that the safety timer doesn't as I have exceeded it many times!

A slow rate is always a good idea for the first time on a pack.

Wilkey,

The Maha 777 has a alarm for wrong polarity. I've heard it before when hooking up the pack "backwards".

I thought I was pretty carefull in putting the pack together, but I'm suspicious I messed it up. I can't know for sure since I've already disassembled it.

I've reassembled it and for right now it appears to be charging normally.

I charged my 1650s at 830mA up to 12.5V (9AAs).. the bench charger clamping the input to 830mA and when the voltage got close it naturally declined the charge current.. i got nervous about over charging when it got to about 1.38v/cell and pulled the charge.. it's pushing like a banshee now.. when i terminated at 1.35 i think i only got 50-70% charge and the 1318 bulbs worked great but the 1185 sucked the batteries down hard and i could watch the light output drop by the second.

I have seen some 'weird' things when charging them fast.. i like C/2 for charging... you really need a DV/DT and DV/DV smart charger to charge at close to 1C.

-awr

Hello Andrew,

Any idea on how Bill got 3 cells to vent when charging his pack at 850 mA?

Something doesn't add up and I would like to know and help him get to the bottom of this.

Tom

Hi Birderbill,

Sorry to hear about your misfortunes that you seem to be having with batteries.
I have a feeling that you may have but a cell the wrong way round in the FM adaptor or screwed the top of the adaptor on incorrectly, thus causing a short.

The reason I say this because I've done it myself /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif
I was holding the pack and it got warm very quickly, so i unscrewed the top of the adaptor. The batteries were all in correctly, so i pressumed i had misaligned the top of the adaptor!!
I have had no issues of charging my 9AA CBP 1650's at 1A on my ProPeak Mercury EX. Yes they get warm but never hot.

Throw the popped cells away, go with piece of mind.
There are numerous chargers out there that will charge battery packs. Here is a link to a recent post. Info

Under my post there you will see a link to the Triton Vs ICE.

Here is a link to the Ripmax site that do the Pro Peak Range RipMax

Another link to infomation about the Triton charger Triton

Unfortunatley they will be slightly over $100.
I see it as an investment for the future, and at the end of the day you only get what you pay for.

Hope this helps.

Keep you head up and stay positive.
At the end of the day you haven't lost anything, you have gained more knowledge and experience. Sometimes this comes at a cost.
Life is a huge learning curve, sometimes steeper for some than others. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Hi Dreamscape,

I would say there's a good chance you are right about the polarity misalignment. I can't verify this as I tore the pack down before considering it. I thought I was careful about this, but probably not careful enough.

However I did reassemble the pack and got it to charge properly. I went against CPF recommendations and used the leakers since I only have 10 1650s. The Mag85 with CBP 1650s is definitely a step above the Powerizer 2300s. Now I'm starting to see what the Mag85 talk is all about.

I know I should of replaced the leaked cells, however, having had this Mag85 for a month now w/o it really being a Mag85 yet, and not having enough extras onhand, I was getting impatient.

I should have marked them but didn't. Is there a way with a DMM to tell which cells leaked?

Hello Birderbill,

The leakers will form a powder at the positive nipple.

Tom

Thanks Tom