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Just ordered 8 Pack AA Ni-MH eneloop XX 2500mAh, and a La Crosse Technology BC-700 Alpha Power Battery Charger....
- Thread starter Dano11
- Start date
WaterWalker
Well-known member
Your battery capacity is 2500mAH, the safest rate of charge is 250mA (C/10) the maximum FAST charge that is NOT recommended is 2500mA. Anywhere between C/10 and C/5 is safe and will yield the longest life of your cells. At 200mA the charge is below the C/10 and your charger may not sense the point at which it should change to a trickel charge and if it did the charge time may be as long as 12 hours if your cells are fully discharges, at 500mA you charge should finish in less than 5 hours. At 700mA some where around 3-4 hour charge time should complete the process. The BC-700 will automatically sense the change in voltage and switch over from whatever charge rate you have chosen to a trickle charge and thus no harm will come to your cells if you do not remove the cells as they are topped off.
In short, 500mA setting would be fine. If you are in a rush go to the 700mA setting. My previous charger which is the same charger that comes with the ATX has a charge rate of 700mAH and has worked fine for years of charging NiMH and NiCd cells. Now that you are in the ATX forum I will assume you have one and you will need to charge all 8 cells before heading out. Bummer as the charging time has just doubled ... due to the fact that the BC-700 only holds 4 cells at a time. So, if in a big rush I would use the ATX charger as it is SAFE for your cells. The Duracells that came with the ATX have an Excellent rating (IMO) as do the Eneloops. I would use the Druacells as a spare set when needed if recharge time does not permit recharging the Eneloops. With your new tester you can do as I am doing now:
Here is a post I made a few days ago, it may be on interest to you.
After several hours of looking at YouTube, reading different reports and trying to sort out the good/bad/BS information I am going to:
1) sort my AA rechargeable, keep and use them in sets where the cells are within 10% of each other
2) not use any rechargeable cell in a detector when it falls below 30% of its rated capacity
3) only by cells from a reputable source, at a fair price. There are many reports of cells selling at an unbelievable low price that are indeed labeled with much higher than their actual capacity
4) stay with the standard (non-LSD) cells for now, I use my rechargeable within a week or two of charging them before they need to be recharged again.
I now believe the most reliable measurement of the usefulness of a rechargeable NiMH is its CAPACITY. Each of the listed charger/tester (in my previous post) register capacity. The actual results compared to another charger/tester is immaterial as the cells will be grouped in relation to each of the other cells using one test system. The shown charger/tester probably are not calibrated and as with all electronic devices they have a tolerance and show test results within the units design rated tolerance (if you could find them).
BTW a battery is made from two or more cells. AAA, AA, C D are cells. The rectangular 9V "transistor radio battery" is indeed a battery made up of 6 cells. That is why a rechargeable rechargeable 9V battery only charges to 7.2 volts and will not power some devices. There are a few newer rechargeable 9V batteries with 7 cells and charge to 8.2 but have a lower capacity than the 7.2V battery. The reason for this is that the capacity of a cell is constrained to just how much of the cell's chemicals and parts can be fit into the industry maximum can size for any given cell. That is why I have not seen a cell with test results above about 2650mAH even though they are labeled higher. I have seen some new cheap 3000mAH AA cells test below 700mAH.
In short, 500mA setting would be fine. If you are in a rush go to the 700mA setting. My previous charger which is the same charger that comes with the ATX has a charge rate of 700mAH and has worked fine for years of charging NiMH and NiCd cells. Now that you are in the ATX forum I will assume you have one and you will need to charge all 8 cells before heading out. Bummer as the charging time has just doubled ... due to the fact that the BC-700 only holds 4 cells at a time. So, if in a big rush I would use the ATX charger as it is SAFE for your cells. The Duracells that came with the ATX have an Excellent rating (IMO) as do the Eneloops. I would use the Druacells as a spare set when needed if recharge time does not permit recharging the Eneloops. With your new tester you can do as I am doing now:
Here is a post I made a few days ago, it may be on interest to you.
After several hours of looking at YouTube, reading different reports and trying to sort out the good/bad/BS information I am going to:
1) sort my AA rechargeable, keep and use them in sets where the cells are within 10% of each other
2) not use any rechargeable cell in a detector when it falls below 30% of its rated capacity
3) only by cells from a reputable source, at a fair price. There are many reports of cells selling at an unbelievable low price that are indeed labeled with much higher than their actual capacity
4) stay with the standard (non-LSD) cells for now, I use my rechargeable within a week or two of charging them before they need to be recharged again.
I now believe the most reliable measurement of the usefulness of a rechargeable NiMH is its CAPACITY. Each of the listed charger/tester (in my previous post) register capacity. The actual results compared to another charger/tester is immaterial as the cells will be grouped in relation to each of the other cells using one test system. The shown charger/tester probably are not calibrated and as with all electronic devices they have a tolerance and show test results within the units design rated tolerance (if you could find them).
BTW a battery is made from two or more cells. AAA, AA, C D are cells. The rectangular 9V "transistor radio battery" is indeed a battery made up of 6 cells. That is why a rechargeable rechargeable 9V battery only charges to 7.2 volts and will not power some devices. There are a few newer rechargeable 9V batteries with 7 cells and charge to 8.2 but have a lower capacity than the 7.2V battery. The reason for this is that the capacity of a cell is constrained to just how much of the cell's chemicals and parts can be fit into the industry maximum can size for any given cell. That is why I have not seen a cell with test results above about 2650mAH even though they are labeled higher. I have seen some new cheap 3000mAH AA cells test below 700mAH.
Hi WaterWalker - Thank you very much for the prompt feedback!! I have reviewed all your posts on this subject and found them all to be very informative. I wasn't sure what the best rate of charge should be. Now I do... Thanks for sharing!!! I too have reviewed the youtube vid's and as a result chose the BC-700 as my charger. Knowing the ATX takes 8 AA's I ordered two BC-700 chargers. Thanks again for sharing!!!
Dano
Dano
I have always been told, the overall life of a Ni-MH will be extended with a charging a low mAh/rating. I would go with 200 mAh, unless you need to recharge quickly for emergency use. I am on my second year using Enloops, they work fine, except when the temperature drops quickly down to around zero degrees, in which case they discharge very quickly, in about an hour, typically of all Ni-MH type batteries. The only make that will in fact stand up to extremely cold temperatures are the Energizer Ultra Lithium.I have tried rechargeable alkalines, alkalines, Ni-cads and Ni-MH with all discharging quickly in cold temperatures. My normal cut off for cold hunting is with an ambient temperature of -15C/5F but I have been known to go out at -25 with the wind chill factor.
That's why I have built covers for all my detectors. It extends battery life considerably in cold temperatures when you also add one of those hot pacs. I have not tried it water, although I have no doubt that if you put one or two hot pacs in a water proof bag and compressed the bag against the wall separating the batteries from the outside, you would also get more time out of a set of batteries.
Metal detectors with knobs don't always work very well. The values of shrinkage in the different components sometimes causes the knobs to seize up and un-usable. I couldn't use my First Texas or Minelab detector under extreme cold. Push button controls are much superior under these conditions.
All these machines below had hot pacs in them. Hotpacs stay usable for about 7 hours on average.
That's why I have built covers for all my detectors. It extends battery life considerably in cold temperatures when you also add one of those hot pacs. I have not tried it water, although I have no doubt that if you put one or two hot pacs in a water proof bag and compressed the bag against the wall separating the batteries from the outside, you would also get more time out of a set of batteries.
Metal detectors with knobs don't always work very well. The values of shrinkage in the different components sometimes causes the knobs to seize up and un-usable. I couldn't use my First Texas or Minelab detector under extreme cold. Push button controls are much superior under these conditions.
All these machines below had hot pacs in them. Hotpacs stay usable for about 7 hours on average.
n/t