battery

[stateguyt]

Can anybody tell me if I can use rechargeable batteries(1.2v)8of them? Instead of the alkaline (1.5v) in the battery pack.
What would be the down fall?

 

[berkeley bottle boy]

you can. there is no problem with it except that when nimh are out of charge they drop fast -- so not much warning at the tail end. alcs have a more gradual curve.

 

[Chuck@TreasureHut]

Of course you can.....your hunt time will be a little shorter, and as bottle boy said, when they're low, they're a few minutes or so from gone.....but it beats buying tons of alkalines. Of course you could also purchase the 1800mAH battery pack and get about 14 hours or so per charge. And with the NiMH batteries, you don't have to worry about letting them drop all the way down before charging them They will not form a "memory" like the NiCads do.

 

[Rick(ND)]

They have 8 of the Nickle hydride batteries in the pack, so you have 9.6 volts. Now this is for the Explorer, but the Sovereigns series the packs have 10 batteries in them and the alkaline only has 8 so rechargeable will not work in the Sovereign alkaline packs.
The rechargeable will hold a more steady voltage thru out their charge, but like other say when they drop they drop faster than the alkalines do.

Rick

 

[WThesing]

I use rechargeable Eveready 2500 Mah NIMH's exclusively. I am also in the R/C racing and Electric flight hobbies. We use battery recycler / chargers for quicker charging (about $120 -$ 150 for one of these computerized chargers)I charge a pack of 8 AA's in about an hour with a 20% added capacity. My average field time is about 15 - 16 hours with my Exp. II with some use of backlight. The Eveready's can be had for about $ 16 - $18 for a pack of 8 at Sam's Club, Lowe's , Home Depot, and Walmart. For those of you getting loose cells on the web, Sanyo and Panasonic make the highest quality cells. The Eveready cells are re-labeled Sanyos. The Vanson charger that comes with the Exp.II is a basic charger with no sensors or cutoff. If you leave the cells in too long, you will cook them. For the stock 1600 Mah cells set a timer for 14 hours of charge time, and plug the charger into it. For higher capacity cells do the math for increased charge time. 2500 Mah cells will take about 21 hours. These times are for cells at almost total discharge. The computerized chargers are the way to go for in depth battery management. One of the best is the Duratrax "ICE" for features vs. cost. Check out your R/C hobby suppliers.