Question on "sticks" vs individual cells in SL-20

[JohnnyB]

Question on \"sticks\" vs individual cells in SL-20

I got in on Wilkeys Nimh purchase for my Streamlight SL-20 and I ordered a 5 cell stick. Would I have been better off getting 5 individual cells to charge in my smart charger? The stick will have to be charged in the SL-20 sleve.

Thanks,
John

 

[mattheww50]

Re: Question on \"sticks\" vs individual cells in SL-20

Probably not. The welded cells have very low resistance between cells, and you don't have to worry about dust/grease/dirt messing up the battery to battery contacts.

 

[JohnnyB]

Re: Question on \"sticks\" vs individual cells in SL-20

Thanks for the comment, I was just worried that the SL-20 charge sleeve wouldn't do these batteries justice.

 

[Ginseng]

Re: Question on \"sticks\" vs individual cells in SL

The only issue you'll have is that it will take longer to charge fully. Keep in mind the sticks I'm bringing in are 4Ah versus the stock 2.2Ah. If you think you'd rather have loose cells. let me know. We might be able to swap.

Wilkey

 

[mattheww50]

Re: Question on \"sticks\" vs individual cells in SL

The Streamlight charger for these things is 'dumb', all that happens with bigger batteries, is they take longer to charge. I think they chare at a fixed rate, on the stinger it is 180Ma, on the Sl20 it is probably about 220Ma, so figure it will take about twice as long to charge a 4Ah battery as a 2.2ah. As long as you keep the charge rate below C/10, and above C/30 you aren't likely to do much damage, and you can fully charge the battery, although at C/30 it is going to take days, not hours.

 

[JohnnyB]

Re: Question on \"sticks\" vs individual cells in SL

Wilkey, thank you for the offer, but no, I'm still in for the original stick.

All of this started this week when I bought my first "smart charger". I was really impressed with the way it handled my 10 year old ni-cads and newer Nimhs. Since I was getting this great new stick, I wanted to make the most out of it. I don't care at all about long charge times, I just want to keep the batteries in the best shape possible.


[ QUOTE ]
mattheww50 said:
The Streamlight charger for these things is 'dumb', all that happens with bigger batteries, is they take longer to charge. I think they chare at a fixed rate, on the stinger it is 180Ma, on the Sl20 it is probably about 220Ma, so figure it will take about twice as long to charge a 4Ah battery as a 2.2ah. As long as you keep the charge rate below C/10, and above C/30 you aren't likely to do much damage, and you can fully charge the battery, although at C/30 it is going to take days, not hours.

[/ QUOTE ]

Can you go into a little more detail on your post? What does c10 and c30 mean? Is there a way to test the Streamlight charge sleeve with an electrical tester and figure out the charge rate?


Thanks for helping me out guys. I'm just learning about this stuff.