Battery Care....

[NamantH]

Question about chargers... I scanned the thread and did not see this answered... id it was I appologize.

 

I currently own a Duratrax Intellipeak charger (the smaller one). it says it can handle 4-8 cells. I currently use 12V batteries for my main gun. I am charging these batteries on that charger, and seem to haveno issues, just longer charge times.

 

Am I going to blow up either my charger or batteries by doing this? I wanna make sure before I go and buy another one of these chargers.

 

thanks

[Liver and Onions]

Can somone tell me what is the difference in size between a "mini" and "small" battery? Will a "Small" batery fit inside a Marui RAS unit for mp5?

 

Thanks!

[Paintchip]

I am getting a FAMAS of of poweredge.com and i wanted to know what would be a good bat and charger to get. I was thinking of a 8.4v 3000MAH-MH sanyo bat or a 8.4v 1300MAH-CD bat. If i got the CD bat i was going to get a charger/discharge and if i got the MH i was going to get a cheapo $7 one. Which choice would be best? I want something that will last for a while, but i don't want to spend to much.

 

 

Cheap charger is 7th down, better charger is 9th down.

 

Chargers

 

The bats are the 1st one and 3rd one down.

 

Batteries

[Guges Mk3]

Ultimately its your decision. Go cheap, get cheap.

[Mouse]

Seriously, don't short it...

 

The whole room fills up with smoke and your wire connectors melt together

 

I've yet to see if the thing still works...

 

Edit: Oh and paintchip, it depends on whether you want things charged quickly or slowly, whether you have a MH or a CD etc... I'd go for something in the middle. Mine was about $65 (or 35GBP for me)

[Paintchip]

i ended up with the 3000mah and cheap charger, it is charging now so we will see how it works

[Shao14]

So, here's the million dollar question: what exactly happens when you accidentally over charge a battery? Does the battery instantly evaporate? Or does it still work like before as long as you don't do it too many times too often?

 

I have just carried out this experiement, but haven't tested the resulting battery yet (I can tell you now that the battery didn't evaporate or burn down my flat ). Wait for my updates after this weekend.

[M4Boy]

so is it true that you have to drain a battery to charge it or it gets messed up?

[Shao14]

so is it true that you have to drain a battery to charge it or it gets messed up?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This thread has become sooo long, and this issue was addressed somewhere in the middle. The good practice is to drain your battery before re-charge, especially important to Ni-Cad (otherwise, yes, it will ruin your battery, i.e. your battery life will become shorter and shorter). However, be careful what you use to drain your battery. Usually, when the battery can no longer power your gun, it's considered drained although if you hook up a light bulb to it, it can still power the light for a bit longer, but it is not good to drain your battery all the way down with low impedence such as a light bulb.

[redguard]

[

 

I purchased my cyma 022 ak47 in june 2005. When i tested the gun for the first time with the batteries charged, the rate of fire was fast but the velocity of the bullet is horribly slow. There seem to be no power in the pellets at all. I even dare to fire a shot into my hand at point blanc range. My battery is a 7.2V 700mAh Ni-Cd version. Is the battery causing my gun to be weak? or does the problem lie in the gun's gearbox?

[Shao14]

[

 

I purchased my cyma 022 ak47 in june 2005. When i tested the gun for the first time with the batteries charged, the rate of fire was fast but the velocity of the bullet is horribly slow. There seem to be no power in the pellets at all. I even dare to fire a shot into my hand at point blanc range. My battery is a 7.2V 700mAh Ni-Cd version. Is the battery causing my gun to be weak? or does the problem lie in the gun's gearbox?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's the main spring along with cylinder and piston, but NOT the battery, that determine how hard your gun shoots.

[redguard]

Thanks for that speedy reply. If the problem is in the spring along the gearbox, what do you suggest that i do? I'm afraid of taking my gun apart because I fear not being able to fix it back again.

[Hissing_Sid]

Thanks for that speedy reply. If the problem is in the spring along the gearbox, what do you suggest that i do? I'm afraid of taking my gun apart because I fear not being able to fix it back again.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There's nothing you CAN do. The Cyma guns have a piddling little spring in a piddling little gearbox.

 

Shoot the gun as it is and consider it a lesson in "You get what you pay for."

[redguard]

is your gun as weak as mine?

[cazboab]

if its a CMYA AK: yes it will be a weak as yours.

 

if its a gun that had more than £2 put into makeing the parts for the gearbox: probably not.

[Hissing_Sid]

is your gun as weak as mine?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Probably.

 

I bought a Cyma P90 to chop up and use as the basis for an F2000 project and I bought a Cyma G36 cos I kinda felt the urge to buy one but couldn't justify spending £200 on one.

[Shao14]

This thread has become sooo long, and this issue was addressed somewhere in the middle. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

You know why? Because people keep getting off topic. Let's stay on battery related issues here, and use other threads for other problems please.

[Sucker Killer]

Wow! This IS a long thread! I JUST got a ca36k and went all out and got a 959 superbrain charger (about $80CAD) it's got all sorts of settings, and also gives a battery read out. Takes all the guess work out of charging so you can get to playing =) Well worth the money, it can charge both types of batteries and have an auto trickle rate after the initial charge and then goes into sleep mode once fully charged.

[gti_vw]

Hey had a question about charging, I have a 8.4v 1100mah battery and a 300mah charger.

 

1100x1.4=1540

1540/300=5.13 hours right?

 

But on Shortyusa.com it says to charge this battery 3 hours and 50mins are they wrong?

 

Edit the battery is listed as a 1050 mah but it came with a 1100mah

1050x1.4=1470

1470/300=4.9 hours and they say to charge for 3 hours and 50 mins.....

[Xaccers]

Hey had a question about charging, I have a 8.4v 1100mah battery and a 300mah charger. 

 

1100x1.4=1540

1540/300=5.13 hours right?

 

But on Shortyusa.com it says to charge this battery 3 hours and 50mins are they wrong?

 

Edit the battery is listed as a 1050 mah but it came with a 1100mah

1050x1.4=1470

1470/300=4.9 hours and they say to charge for 3 hours and 50 mins.....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Looks like they haven't x1.4

[Skarclaw]

Right, I have 2 batterys I need to charge, using a mates charger.

 

The first one is a gp 9.6v 1100 mah nimh.

 

It says standard charge 16 hours at 110mA.

 

The second battery I will have to come back to as I don't know the details.

 

What time should I charge it for?

 

The highest is 8 hours. The battery fast charges then trickles I think. My mA goes from 50 to 100 to 200 and then goes up by hundread each time.

 

Sorry if this in confusing, but I'm stumped.

 

Cheers.

[Canasian]

The UTG MP5.........

 

Finally got mine in the mail. I was so excited and damn the thing is a heavy solid beast since I've never handled a real AEG before. I bought a red dot and a sling for it already and when I go to shoot it... nothing =(. The motor won't go. I charged it for about 5 hours and it was luke warm. Connected the battery wires with correct polarity, switched it to semi-auto and clicked it in. Pulled the trigger, nothing. Full-auto, nothing. Maybe thought a magazine had to be inside, nothing. I'm so disappointed I don't think anyone else has ever encountered this. Still gonna search for silencers though big time =D.

 

Help!! (Oh ya, fuse is fine too, wires look connected and metal contacted etc...)

 

Battery might be the problem... my $30 poop AK had its battery already charged, so I tried doing it with the mp5. Of course it didn't work. I got out the charger, and as I charged the AK battery below the socket I had to flip the 8.4 Ni-mH 1100mah charger upside down. After a few hours the AK battery was warm... but the mp5 one wasn't... =( HOwever the charger was quite warm enough. I'm guessing I could've fried the cahrger? Did I kill the battery too? I turned the thing rightside up finally and let it charge for 5 hours. The Ni-MH battery was luke warm so I plugged it into the mp5. Flip switch to semi-auto, nothing again. SO disappointed did I kill this battery?

 

Also the charger said that it wasn't meant to be put in flipped upside down so I turned it right side up. =/ =/ =D

 

-Canasian Invasion needs a Persuasian of Sensation

[Reptilianoid]

Hi there,

 

I just bought a berreta m93r AEP from WGC. ($178 + £30 customs import fee damnit!)

 

I also bought a step down transformer from Maplins. I charged the battery for an hour and 20 mins, after all it recommends overcharging initially elswhere in this post. After fitting the battery to my gun - nothing happens. As the power pack gets quite hot and the battery gets slightly warm I am assuming that there is a fault with the gun....

 

As I only have one charger, one battery and one transformer there is no way for me to test this or is there?

 

The stepdown transformer I am using has the following data printed on the back

 

ac-ac convertor

model 2po45uk

input 230~50Hz

output AC 110v 45w

 

Am I using the correct step down transformer? Is there any other way to test my equipment? Am I doing this right?

 

Please help!

 

Cheers

 

John,

 

PS the above battery info was most usefull

[Almighty]

So, here's the million dollar question: what exactly happens when you accidentally over charge a battery?  Does the battery instantly evaporate?  Or does it still work like before as long as you don't do it too many times too often?

At least three things happen when one overcharges the batteries:

heat build-up / boilover - nearing full charge, the charging current encounters higher resistance and some of the power is converted into heat. Like any liquid subjected to enough heat, the electrolyte will eventually literally boil. Boiling produces gas - steam - which will raise the internal pressure of the cells. Most rechargeable cells are designed to vent pressure. Unfortunately, venting means a loss of electrolyte which in turn means lesser capacity. If overheating happens often or long enough, the cells will simply dry up. If overheating occurs very rapidly, the vents may not be able to handle the build-up and the cell(s) may explode.

 

electrolysis - at lower charge current, overheating is unlikely, but the excess electrical power has to go into something. What is not converted into heat, goes into electrolysis - breaking down water into component hydrogen and oxygen gases. At the very least, the presence of hydrogen, oxygen and electricity is already an explosive situation. Thus, rechargeable cells are normally provided with gas absorbing compounds. Even then, the absorbers may not sufficiently eliminate gas build-up and internal cell pressure will rise. Again, the vents will come into play and throw out the gases, along with come electrolyte with it. Result will also be diminished battery storage capacity and discharge capability.

 

voltage depression - at the point where the rechargeable cells reaches maximum charge, the voltage will start going down. The point is otherwise known as the voltage "peak" or delta peak - and is what most automatic chargers detect to indicate full charge. Any further charging from that point will only result in the pack voltage going down instead of up.

[Almighty]

so is it true that you have to drain a battery to charge it or it gets messed up?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It would be best if you have yourself a voltmeter, or an electronic multitester. You have to drain your batteries down to average of 1v per cell (ex.: 7-cell 8.4v battery - drain to 7v, 8-cell 9.6v battery - drain to 8v). NEVER drain down to 0v.

 

Not all cells in a battery pack are exactly the same. The "strong" ones store more power, while "weak" ones store less. When the whole pack is discharged all the way down, the weakest cell will run out of power early while the others are still putting out. What will happen is the depleted weak cell will start recharging itself from the current discharge of its neighbors. Unfortunately, the current direction is in the opposite direction, or going out. The weak cell gets recharged by reverse current and thus flips its own polarity. The end result would be much like taking one cell in the pack and putting it back facing the wrong direction - the pack will simply stop functioning properly.