Charging time on the rechargable SF 8X?

One more question and that will be it! I promise. How long do I have to charge my 8X for? Is there an indicator light on the charger to indicate when its fully charged or...? Do I have to drain the batt completely out b4 I can recharge it or....??? Thanx for your time.

I have an 8NX and have to charge it for an hour. There is an indicator light on the charger and it turns from red to green if fully charged. You don't have to drain your batt completely. You can put it in the charger if it's half drained because the charger will completely uncharge the battery and then recharge it.
BTW, don't be ashamed to ask, 'cause that's why this lovely forum exists.

Questions are welcome here! Feel free to ask as many questions as you desire and don't be afraid. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Heh, search for my posts. I had questions left and right /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Now, what's this about the charger draining them first? I got the 8AN with charger & two battery sticks, I didn't know I didn't have to drain them myself first. I know it wont overcharge them, but I didn't want to start them 1/2 way though.

Johnnywong:

It's you again! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

The fast charger does have a red/green indicator light on it to indicate charging/charged, respectively. Charge time w/ the smart charger will usually charge a depleted battery in under 2 hours (based on my own charger time).

The older, overnight charger only has a red light to indicate charging; there is no full charge indicator. As its name suggests, it does take several hours to charge a depleted battery. I am unable to be exact, because there is no charge level present on this charger.

You referred to your 8X ... does this mean you have one? I had thought from your previous thread that you were mulling over the purchase of an 8X.

BTW, it is not recommended that you fully disharge the battery prior to recharging ... I believe that doing so can damage the cells and limit its charge capacity on future chargings. I think this was from the owner instructions; if I am incorrect, anyone feel free to correct it, and I will


/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twak.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/poke2.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif myself. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

And as the above posts say, ask away w/ any questions you may have ... this is the place to do it (where you would get a semi reliable answer, anyway /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif ). This is where I come to learn about, and when I can, help with, flashlight information.

Current philosophy for NiCads is that they do not need to be taken down to .9 volts before charging. The claim is that the memory effect has been reduced due to newer technology. Probably more importantly is if the batteries in the stick are not matched up in regards to voltage and current capacity, the runt of the litter may reverse polarity by being drawn down too far.

In a related thought, I had a set of 4 NIMH AA's in a shortwave radio where one died possibly by the same effect. That unit has 1 battery in a holder and three in the second tube. My impression is that the one may drive the clocks and memories. After a few days with minimal use one of the set was dead. This had been a good performing set in one of my DigiCams and no effort has sucessfully revived it. So caution should be taken with high drain situations so as to not kill a cell.

Partial charging with the newer 8/9 series chargers will keep the battery cooler while charging. This is good but it still gets warm and I use a small fan to help keep the battery even cooler. Especially when charging a dead or almost completley drained battery.