Heatsink for charging batteries

[TigerhawkT3]

We all know that cells heat up when charging, so why isn't there any sort of heatsink available (to my knowledge)? I've been laying some thin aluminum slats on my charging AA NiMHs, but I can't help thinking "there's got to be a better way."

Maybe a thin finned sleeve to fit around each cell? A charger where cells are dropped into aluminum wells and the charging terminals rest in a hinged lid?

...Or am I stupid?

 

[Brighteyez]

Why do you feel the need to put a heatsink on your batteries while they're charging? Is there something wrong with your charger? Even the 15 minute chargers don't seem to overheat the batteries if all is working as designed.

 

[TigerhawkT3]

I have a dumb charger that gets cells to about 100, and when smart chargers detect high temps, they throttle down. I thought that maybe a heatsink would help. :shrug:

 

[Brighteyez]

Heh! Being penny-wise and pound-foolish are we? A smart charger doesn't cost that much (you don't have to get the high priced "recommended" charger as a response to a forum posting); there are plenty of affordable smart chargers that work fine. The Vanson that is sold by Amondotech and Tenergy locally work pretty decently, handles most battery sizes. Additionally, you can walk right into Tenergy (on Kifer) and just pick one up without having to bother with the shipping nonsense when a vendor is local. Besides you won't have to time the charging your self, you can just drop the batteries in there and leave

I have a dumb charger that gets cells to about 100, and when smart chargers detect high temps, they throttle down. I thought that maybe a heatsink would help. :shrug:

 

[benighted]

Just put a small fan on it if you think they are getting too hot

 

[Ken_McE]

For sheer simplicity, you might consider adding a muffin fan to your charger. When you put in a battery, you turn on the fan, blow air over the battery.

 

[LuxLuthor]

For sheer simplicity, you might consider adding a muffin fan to your charger. When you put in a battery, you turn on the fan, blow air over the battery.

Do you know the muffin fan, the muffin fan, the muffin fan?

Do you know the muffin fan, that cools our batteries?

 

[kf4zht]

I have seen battery heatsinks for RC car pack, to use both after a run (things get d@mn hot) and for charging.

I doubt that you would need it for flashlight batteries though, unless you want to charge them at 5-7amps

 

[TigerhawkT3]

I have a Lenmar fast/smart charger, and it decreases charge current when it detects high temps (supposedly). I still like using the dumb charger sometimes, though.

We have a Vanson at work (that's my influence!), and the cells get too hot to handle.

Oh, and about the following:

Do you know the muffin fan, the muffin fan, the muffin fan?

Do you know the muffin fan, that cools our batteries?

Man, that was definitely worthy of a guffaw or two!

So, in general, the temperatures reached by charging cells is no cause for concern?