Any use for NiCad anymore?

[Bonky]

Hmm.. is there? Or has NiMH trumped it in almost every way?

 

[EngrPaul]

I believe there are still many cordless phones, shavers, etc that continue to use nicad.

I believe it's cheaper to continually deliver a constant charge to a NiCad than it is to properly charge and terminate a NiMH battery pack.

 

[Light Sabre]

Nicads will be around for a long time. They're used a lot in cordless power tools. Nicads can put out a lot more current than NMH's can. Otherwise there really isn't much use for them any more. Especially since they have cadmium in them which is known to cause cancer and they require proper disposal (recycling).

 

[Daniel_sk]

They work better in lower temperatures and don't need special care (they can survive deep discharging without problems). I have some NiCads that still hold a charge after 20 years! But they usually develop a high self discharge rate over time.

 

[qwertyydude]

They are more robust. Can take a faster charge, up to 4C charge capability, giving 15 minute charges. Also when they develop higher dishcarge you can zap them with a battery zapper and this usually reduces the self discharge, I made my own battery zapper and have a 15 year old pack with as much capacity as new, none of my old nimh survived. With the new ultra high capacity Nimh they no longer edge out in burst output. But they are lighter so in some cases a good Nicd will power things like a RC car better because of better power to weight ratio.

 

[Blight]

NiCads can cause cancer?

I had one leak inside a box where I keep all my unused rechargeable batteries. I removed it with my bare hands. Am I in trouble? Do I need to do something with the other batteries inside that box?

 

[Bonky]

so why don't more people use 'em in their lights?

 

[Blight]

I forgot to add that there was some white crud all over it. Not just powder, but sorta bubbled up and like small pieces of styrofoam. Is that white stuff gonna hurt me?

 

[aussiebob]

so why don't more people use 'em in their lights?

I use nicad's in my lights when im camping, i have a small solar charger that i charge them in during the day when the suns out (best time for solar chargers imho) , mostly to put in loaner lights for people im camping with, dont want people discharging my eneloops too much and dont want to waste money giving lithium powered lights, so they get nicads, usually give them a L2D or something to use whitch they are very happy to use, they use it all night then morning, recharge to be use again.

Cheers.

 

[metlarules]

I have been using nicads in my mag 4d. I think they are the best value that I've found. http://www.batteryjunction.com/r1ed-gd7000.html
They have a lower self discharge than my nimh and are only 5 bucks apiece.Also, like others have said nicad can handle high current.

 

[SirVette]

NiCad seems to be best used in items that are in regular use like shavers.
Items charged w/ NiCad batteries & left unused for some time like a year or so can be expected to be dead when needed.

Hence the need for LSD. I recently bought some old stock LSD batteries which worked out of the pkg.

See http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-36.htm

 

[jerry i h]

ALL of my D torches use NiCd's: Malkoff 2D, Quadlight, WOF, ROP. NiMH' s cost 2x or 3x. True, they have double the AH, but also take double the recharge time. Famously, I used NiCd's in my WOF; EL used NiMH to design and test. I got a lot more light, not to mention much more heat. I have not measured, but am reasonably sure the NiCd's are supplying 7+ amps continuously, probably more than the NiMH's are capable of.

 

[Sub_Umbra]

I use NiCds in my brightest throwers and in a few floodies as well. They are cheap and because they've been in use for over 100 years there are a few chargers for them that are very well designed. While they may only have half the capacity of NiMH cells, they may be charged at least twice as many times -- ironic, ain't it?

When it's -30° F charged NiCDs will stay much closer to their speced capacity at warmer temps than NiMH cells will and even when it's that cold NiCDs will hold their charge for six months, which puts them in a whole 'nother class than NiMH cells -- which would be long dead by then under those circumstances.

I'm slowly moving to NiMH LSD cells as they become cheaper and more mainstream but that's going to take awhile for Cs and Ds to be cost effective compared to the great NiCD cells that are available right now at a price point that cannot be beat even by conventional NiMH cells -- let alone the more expensive LSD NiMH cells currently available.

I would also seriously doubt that any satellites have been put into orbit powered by NiMH cells -- it's going to be NiCD or nuke for the forseeable future. If one needs a robust system for any application NiCD will be the choice for some time. In many applications they will also not be replaced by various rechargable Lithium cells which begin to degrade from the moment that they are manufactured -- whether they are being used or not .

So, for those that need what NiCD has to offer the answer is resounding NO -- NiMH has not trumphed NiCD in almost every way.

 

[Nubo]

OMG, this just reminded me that I have packed away somewhere a portable aviation radio, that used either 8 alks and 2 dummy spacers or 10 ni-cd. My last flight was in '91!!

I sure hope I left it with NiCD! I'll have to dig it up and see if there's any life in them.

 

[Bonky]

17 years is a long time

 

[MrAl]

Hi there,


NiCd's are easier to charge than NiMH's because they can take an overcharge longer
without too much damage. A typical NiCd can take a full year of overcharge before
it dies, so that tells me that it can take almost 9000 hours of overcharge before i
can expect it to self discharge too fast to be very useful anymore.
Now imagine that the user of the NiCd took care of his device, knowing that it
would die in 9000 hours if it was constantly overcharged? Well, taking care of
how the cell is charged can make the cell last for years! Of course it also depends
on the total number of charges/discharges, but many times the device is only
used for a short time and then put back on charge, then in a year it's dead and
nobody knows why.
The thing to do is roughly estimate the charge time required to replenish the
charge that was taken out when used in the device the cell was used in. Charge
for this time period and then take off of charge. Imagine doing this and overcharging
by 10 percent each time because the calculation isnt that perfect. If we got
9000 hours of operation on constant 24/7 charge, we could easily get 10 times
that long (10 years) out of it before it died. To be more reasonable since
the device isnt used for long sometimes before it is put back on charge, if we only
charge it once per day (many typical uses of NiCd's) for 1 hour and overcharge
by 100 percent (quite off on our recharge calculation) that will mean we overcharge
for 1 hour per day, instead of 24 hours per day, which potentially could mean the
cell would last for 24 years! This means something else would probably go wrong with
the cell, but at least we didnt kill it by overcharging.

The reason why many people turn to NiMH is because they hold more charge than
NiCd, or at least they are available in higher Ahr ratings than NiCd.

 

[viorel00]

So where do I get some good quality long lasting NiCd AA/AAA cells? I got a Maha C9000 coming in next week, which I got for some eneloops, but I think it will also take care of NiCd, I need to double-check first.

I remember I had some SAFT NiCd back in 1990s, but I don't know what happened to them. That was before I learned that Cd was not so dangerous. If I get some NiCd, I will be careful they don't get lost and 10-20 years down the road I'll remember to dispose of them properly.

 

[metlarules]

So where do I get some good quality long lasting NiCd AA/AAA cells? I got a Maha C9000 coming in next week, which I got for some eneloops, but I think it will also take care of NiCd, I need to double-check first.

I remember I had some SAFT NiCd back in 1990s, but I don't know what happened to them. That was before I learned that Cd was not so dangerous. If I get some NiCd, I will be careful they don't get lost and 10-20 years down the road I'll remember to dispose of them properly.

Here ya' go! :twothumbs

http://www.batteryjunction.com/nireba.html

 

[qwertyydude]

17 years is a long time

17 years is a long time even for nicd's one more year and even Pedobear won't be interested anymore.

 

[Bonky]