Bad Pila?

[Fitz]

I picked up a couple of Pila 150S's a few weeks ago to use in a 1.5X123 Aleph2 that I was planning on ordering. I received the Aleph yesterday and plopped in one of the batteries to try it out and turned the light on/off a couple times. After shining it around for a few seconds the light went out. I stuck in the other battery and to my great relief it lit up again fine.
I figured the battery must need charged, although it was new, so I stuck it in the charger from my Lionheart. It started flashing quickly between red/green, and after about 15 minutes the flashing had slowed to once every second or so. After 2 hours, it was still flashing every 5 seconds. I hadn't used the charger before, so I didn't really know how the lights on it worked and did a search here with no luck, although I know it shouldn't take nearly that long for 1 cell.
After letting it charge for about 6 hours (got busy) I stuck it back in the light and turned it on. It went dead again in about 10 seconds. I stuck it back in the charger and the light was solid green then. I stuck the other cell in and it was solid red and then turned solid green after 10 minutes.
My question is, When the charger flashes does that tell you it is a bad cell? How many others have had a similar problem?

 

[Cones]

One of the five PILA cells I got with my new Lionhearts was faulty. It will light the lights very dimly but is down on voltage and it will not cause the red (Charging) LED to come on, on the charger. I think there may be a bad connection in the electronics causing high resistance in the cell, or it may just be a bad cell.

Seeing as it will cost more to return the cell than it is worth I think I will wait until my 168A tubes arrive and try some of those.

Sound like your cell may have something similar. Can you check the voltage? How does it compare with your other cells?

HTH

Mark

 

[Fitz]

The battery that spent all the time in the charger while it was flashing measures 3.21V after putting in the light and having it die after 10 seconds or so, and the battery that works correctly measures 4.21V off the charger after turning the light on and off a couple of times. Any idea why the charger would flash? I thought I read that the charger was dumb and the batteries were smart?

 

[Cones]

Looks the same as mine. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

I think the charger gives a constant 4.542V output.
The LEDs just change colour when current flows into the charging cell. When it is charged or if it is faulty they do not change to show charge current flowing. If yours is flashing I would assume that the electronics in the cell are allowing the charge to start then cutting it off almost stright away.

I think we can safely conclude that your cell is knackered (US translation Broken) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

HTH

Mark