Should I drain New nimh's?

[voodoogreg]

I know the battery gurus like Mike abcd, and silverfox are sick of my rechargeable batt question's but I have a new one.

I bought some cheap a$$ nimh AAA's at wally world for 4 bucks/4 batts, since I'm too broke at the moment to get anymore eneloops or a good charger. Right outta the package they read 1.274, and I was wondering if I should dis-charge them in a light before putting them in my IC3 charger (my only charger BTW) or charge first? Basically trying to not mess them up, I can't afford anymore VDG

P.s, There labeled "Digital concepts" made by "Sakar international Inc" if this helps any.....

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Voodoogreg,

Charge them and use them.

Tom

 

[LuxLuthor]

Hello Voodoogreg,

Charge them and use them.

Tom

That ladies and gentlemen is what I call "elegant simplicity" !!! :twothumbs

 

[voodoogreg]

That ladies and gentlemen is what I call "elegant simplicity" !!! :twothumbs

So true!! Thanks silver, will do, who knows maybe there actually decent batts. :naughty: VDG

 

[FlashCrazy]

The Digital Concepts AAA's aren't too bad. I have a set I've been using for awhile, and they're performing fine. I haven't noticed a high self-discharge rate or anything. They seem to deliver just as much current as any other AAA that I have, barring the Eneloops. Their capacity is overrated, however...but still inline with most other NiMH AAA's.

 

[macdude22]

My DC AA's are way fat, they dont fit in much of anything that has a tube. I had a pair that developed a fast selfdischarge, but I have a smattering of them that are performing admirably in a couple GPS's and Wiimotes. YMMV but if they fit I don't think they are a terrible deal.

P.S. they are way overrated, my 2500s test out at like 2190 or something. Not really a big deal for the price.

 

[voodoogreg]

Wiimotes.

I get a chuckle everytime I see that word in print. I wonder if nintendo
marketing guys watched to many mafia movies, (of course there is no Mafia ) Hey Gina, hand me the freakin wemote, I wanna watch da game".

Well I hope for the best. Yeah, I thought 1000 mah my backside, but
about the only thing I do know about nimhs is I can put em back in the charger and they live again! VDG

 

[Mike abcd]

I know the battery gurus like Mike abcd, and silverfox are sick of my rechargeable batt question's but I have a new one.

I bought some cheap a$$ nimh AAA's at wally world for 4 bucks/4 batts, since I'm too broke at the moment to get anymore eneloops or a good charger. Right outta the package they read 1.274, and I was wondering if I should dis-charge them in a light before putting them in my IC3 charger (my only charger BTW) or charge first? Basically trying to not mess them up, I can't afford anymore VDG

P.s, There labeled "Digital concepts" made by "Sakar international Inc" if this helps any.....

If you're using the batteries in single cell applications just charge them and use them.

If you're using the batteries in multi cell applications, a few conditioning cycles is a good idea IMHO. New cells often exhibit low capacity for the first couple/few cycles.

From what I've observed this is mostly due to early charge termination on chargers that use -dV. I suspect it's due to the material in the cells not being evenly distributed. As they charge, they heat up, the material redistributes and that shows up as a short term drop in voltage under charge that can cause an early charge termination.

The danger when using multiple batteries together is the potential for large capacity differences can lead to reverse voltage on a cell causing permanent damage. Cycling them a few times individually first can go a long way to prevent that. A single cell light can work pretty well for discharging, allowing you to cycle them a few times first. If you can't do that, keep a close eye on them for the first few cycles and recharge as soon as the multi cell light starts to drop off.

Some still use a 16 hour .1C initial charge but I prefer not to over charge even at .1C. Duracell specifies 120% charge input when charging at .1C. I tested that myself and found I got the same capacity as charging with -dV termination at .75C. Duracell and Sanyo both warn against over charging even at .1C

Mike

 

[voodoogreg]

If you're using the batteries in single cell applications just charge them and use them.

If you're using the batteries in multi cell applications, a few conditioning cycles is a good idea IMHO. New cells often exhibit low capacity for the first couple/few cycles.

From what I've observed this is mostly due to early charge termination on chargers that use -dV. I suspect it's due to the material in the cells not being evenly distributed. As they charge, they heat up, the material redistributes and that shows up as a short term drop in voltage under charge that can cause an early charge termination.

The danger when using multiple batteries together is the potential for large capacity differences can lead to reverse voltage on a cell causing permanent damage. Cycling them a few times individually first can go a long way to prevent that. A single cell light can work pretty well for discharging, allowing you to cycle them a few times first. If you can't do that, keep a close eye on them for the first few cycles and recharge as soon as the multi cell light starts to drop off.

Some still use a 16 hour .1C initial charge but I prefer not to over charge even at .1C. Duracell specifies 120% charge input when charging at .1C. I tested that myself and found I got the same capacity as charging with -dV termination at .75C. Duracell and Sanyo both warn against over charging even at .1C

Mike

Thanks Mike, that's good info as always. I have drained them in a peak single cell light and my daughter's coast 3XAAA. I must have read your mind on the multi cell coast light,, it has terrible regulation (if any) and when it get's to
the end of the first drop off in brightness I switched those three next to the peak light for final draining to about 1 volt. I did this originally because my only charger is a 2 bay ROV IC3 so I could start the charge with all batt's
at roughly the same starting voltage. Now I have a better reason.

Boy I can't wait to get to a few $$'s for a decent charger VDG