What is the recommended method for charging a replacement 1600 NiMh flatpack that I just bought for my glider? I have a Hyperion programmable charger that can charge and balance all types of batteries. Should I use that?

Rio,

I'm no expert on batteries, but these new programmable chargers make me feel like a wizard! I'd say, get out your Hyperion instructions and check it out. I use my old Multiplex charger on LiPos, NiCads, and NiMH without any issues. Just follow instructions and you'll be fine.

Dave

For at least the first charge, charge at 1/10 C (160 ma in this case) for a minimum of 18 hours (24 hours is better).

I have seen many people fast charge NiMh cells the first time and they do not charge to the full capacity.

Using a forming charger is also a good idea if you have one, but the old 24 hour 1/10C is still the ticket for nickel chemistry cells.

Originally Posted by tkallev

For at least the first charge, charge at 1/10 C (160 ma in this case) for a minimum of 18 hours (24 hours is better).

I have seen many people fast charge NiMh cells the first time and they do not charge to the full capacity.

Using a forming charger is also a good idea if you have one, but the old 24 hour 1/10C is still the ticket for nickel chemistry cells.

Agreed! And after that first forming charge, I would run several charge/discharge cycles to make sure you're getting close to the labeled capacity.
Then you can safely fly the pack.

Lenny

We all agree here.

A characteristic to be aware of with NiMh batteries is the possibility of a "false peak" meaning the batteries fool the charger that they are fully charged before they are because the voltage rises very quickly in the early charge cycle.

The better chargers ignore this or allow you to program a time-frame to ignore this spike and keep charging.

With a less sophisticated charger (like the home wall charger supplied for consumer batteries) or to double check your charger...once "charged" I wait a 1/2 hour and put them back on charge. Not once has the charger not continued to charge for up to a half hour.

I use NiMh in my transmitters and always charge twice and I have a nice charger that is supposed to take care of business with NiMh.

24hrs assumes the pack is empty. You can still damage cells @ 1/10C charge rate, especially when you get up to higher capacity like these.
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