Excal Charger

[GeorgeinSC]

The "Charger" that Minelab ships with the Excal takes forever and two days to charge the battery. Plus there is absolutely no way to know if the battery is charged or not. I have found one on E-Prey that is advertised as doing the job in much less time. The question I have is will it damage the Excal Battery. Don't want to have to shell out the big bucks for another Battery due to damaging it thru ignorance.

Does anyone have any experience with this charger offered on E-Prey by "Toolbay"

Here is the info they give.

"NiMH/Nicad Peak Charger 7-10 cell (8.4-12v), 115/240vac input. Plugs right into the Minelab Excalibur I & II rechargable pod with 5.5x2.1mm connection

FEATURES:
-Microprocessor controlled negative delta peak detection circuit
-115/240vac 50/60Hz input
-Automatically senses pack voltage
-Red/green LED charge indicator lights
-Charger output 700mA 8.4-12vdc
-Automatic trickle charge mode: 50ma
-Typical charge time for a 1600mah pack 2.5 hours
Weight: 6oz."

 

[foiled again tab hunter]

Go to onlybatteypacks.com.....put in or scroll down the left side & look for minelab excalibur...they sell a charger 12515 for $20.32....I have been using this one for years & have had no problems....it has a red/green light to let you know when the battery is charged up....usually only takes 2 to 3 hours.....hope this helps....Tab.

 

[GeorgeinSC]

Thanks. That is the charger that they are offering on E-Bay for $24.95 shipped. They are just using a different name on E-Bay. I was afraid of damaging the battery by overheating it with the much faster charger.

 

[Gold Nuggets]

Here is another possible option for you to look at GeorgeinSC..........
Battery Tender Junior 12V @ 0.75A - Batterytender.com

 

[dewcon4414]

The only thing i see that could be an issue is the charging to 12vdc. The ML charger is a 14.3vdc charger and it chargers most batteries to its full potential. For anyone who has one of these ...... put a volt meter on it after it charges your battery and the light is green. Let us know what the final charge is. Ive always been one who likes a fully charged battery and i believe i start loosing depth as it moves toward 1/2 charge.

Dew

 

[GeorgeinSC]

My worry is that the charger will over heat the battery due to the speed in which it charges. Heat and Batteries usually do not go well together. I like to know that my battery is fully charged when I go out.

 

[Rick(ND)]

I didn't read this post before, but just did and this battery charger that Only Batteries has seems to be a real good one, but heard the ones on the auction site haven't been lasting that long and wonder if they are different some how. The ones I have used seem to turn off after the battery is fully charged, but like all of them they are not to be left on the chargers after charged , but I have forgot and left them on for a day after charged and there was no problem. One of my guy in our club bought 2 off of the auction site and both went bad after around a month, so I sold him one I got off of the Only Batteries site and that was 3 years ago and last I heard is still going, in fact I have got many for others too and never had a complaint on one yet.
I used them too a few time also and they worked great on my Sovereigns and Explorers, but my main one is a Sun Ray SR 12 charger that will charge and discharge to a safe level and have saved many Ni Cads that had memories. My Charger is around 17 years old and is no longer being made or I would be recommending it. This charger charges at around 450MHa and some batteries do get warm, but not hot and to just charge my Sovereign packs is around 8 hours while the one of Only Batteries seems to charge faster, but not sure on the MHa on it as the batteries do get a bit warmer. This company does make up the battery packs for the Excalibur too you put in your own pods and used to got my Sovereign XS and I had converted my XS2s and the XS2a to use the same set up, but last I heard they may not make them for the Sovereigns anymore. Bought and sold several Sovereigns I checked out and I put these battery in and and added the chargers too before I sold them again, so they had a good set up and never heard a complaint on battery or charger.
Just thought I would let you know what seem to work good for me and yes too fast of charge can ruin the batteries real fast.


Rick

 

[imalookin2]

The fast charger mentioned is a good one. That is all I use and it does not make the battery hot. It will get a little warm when it peaks but not hot. It is setup to plug into your Ikelite connector with red light to show charging and green light to show charged and now trickle charge. You can charge a half dead battery in an hour or so. Well worth the $25 or so. You will never use the old charger again.

 

[Nes (south Coast-CA)]

I'm still using a charger that I bought from SunRay years ago which has a tray for Explorer batteries and just the plug needed for charging Excal batteries. You can also use it in a car using the 12 volt lighter plug. It's a great unit that they don't carry anymore. You can use it to fully discharge batteries and it automatically recharges when the batteries are empty. When the battery is fully charged it trickle charges. Its a fast charge unit. When I got my first excal, I used to keep track of the hunting hours and then recharge overnight with the stock charger that came with the unit.With the new batteries you don't need to discharge and recharge... nes