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Minelab Excalibur recharge times
- Thread starter Waterdog
- Start date
Gulf Hunter
Active member
I plug in 24 hours before a hunt and she's hot and ready to hunt. Even though you may have charged previously, but hung it up in the closet, the charge will be low. Give it a go Waterdog.
GH
GH
Mike (Virginia Beach)
New member
Here's what the manual says.
[attachment 56743 Battery.jpg]
Here's a link to the manual if you need it.
http://members.cox.net/detect/Excalibur.pdf
[attachment 56743 Battery.jpg]
Here's a link to the manual if you need it.
http://members.cox.net/detect/Excalibur.pdf
Stacey in West Palm Beach
New member
n/t
PaPa-Joe-Fla.
New member
Waterdog, I have two rechargeable pods,I charge mine 12 hrs apiece and get around 12 hrs hunt time before the death squeal. I have carried the extra battery pod around for a week to ten days and it still gives me 12 hrs of hunt time. I don't know if the temperature will make any difference or not, mine are never below 50 degrees.
I have 2 rechargeable pods also.....and only get about 6 hours of use. Somehow I think it is the machine itself and the power it may consume when using it. Our beaches are very, very trashy and the Excal is constantly changing frequencies and using a higher rate of power to do so. But that is just my opinion. Also I have found that after several weeks of non use......the batteries will discharge.
Mike (Virginia Beach)
New member
Because if you didn't remove it from the shaft first, BAD things could happen! Like they might have to change that silly statement in the manual about taking it off the shaft first to charge it! 
OK, maybe it's because if it catches fire while charging you can quickly disconnect it to throw it out the window before it burns down your house. Whereas if it was connected to the shaft you'd have to throw the whole machine out the window?
OK, maybe it's because if it catches fire while charging you can quickly disconnect it to throw it out the window before it burns down your house. Whereas if it was connected to the shaft you'd have to throw the whole machine out the window?
Of course, if Minelab just upgrade the batteries to NiMHs and provided a proper charger instead of the hot charger that still comes with the Excal, it would never catch fire.
You're right Mike, it makes much more sense to leave things the way they are instead of moving forward into the 21st century.
BDA
You're right Mike, it makes much more sense to leave things the way they are instead of moving forward into the 21st century.
BDA
Stacey in West Palm Beach
New member
n/t
I did hear about a guy
who was charging his Excal overnight and he had a housefire. He escaped from the house which was now engulfed in flames but realized that the love of his life was still inside so he went back in, he emerged from the burning building with his beloved cradled in his arms, only slightly singed. 
Fortunately, Minelab did the repair work under warranty so no harm done.
The charger wasn't at fault it was a bad electric heater by the way, is that what you meant, Stacey.
BDA
PS - The wife escaped out the bedroom window so she was okay too!
who was charging his Excal overnight and he had a housefire. He escaped from the house which was now engulfed in flames but realized that the love of his life was still inside so he went back in, he emerged from the burning building with his beloved cradled in his arms, only slightly singed. Fortunately, Minelab did the repair work under warranty so no harm done.The charger wasn't at fault it was a bad electric heater by the way, is that what you meant, Stacey.
BDA
PS - The wife escaped out the bedroom window so she was okay too!
I owned a minelabs Excalibur and always charged the batteries per the instructions. After much research on batteries and chargers I discovered the following things:
The excalibur uses a bank of nicad batteries rated at 800 mah and are charged by a safe, slow charger which provides a good charge that does not damage the batteries or cause excessive heat during the charging. These batteries are old technology compared to nimh batteries that deliver about twice the power and have less memory effect. The only advantage to using nicads is they are capable of delivering higher current flow for power-hungry devices like rc race cars. This high current is not needed by the excalibur. I can only conclude the excalibur uses nicads to save money in manufacturing. Both nicads and nimh batteries will lose their charge even when they are not used. They self-discharge to a useless condition over a period of about a month, and must be recharged. Therefore, it is wise to charge your batteries a day or so before you intend to use them.
Nicads and nimh batteries are designed to be charged at about 1/10 of their mah rating. ie: an 800 mah battery should be charged at 80 ma overnight. At that charge rate you will not damage the batteries if they remain on the charger a few hours after they are fully charged. How long it takes to fully charge a battery depends on the charge rate, the mah rating of the battery, and the condition of the battery. The charging time may be longer or shorter than the manufacturer's instructions. The problem with hot chargers that charge the batteries at a faster rate than 1/10 of the mah rating is they can cause the batteries to become hot, which could cause internal gasses to escape from the pressure seal. The heat and pressure inside the batteries can also damage the insulating materials used inside the batteries. The overall effect of overheating nicad or nimh batteries is you will shorten the service life of the battery so it will hold less of a charge than the original 800 mah. There are special hot chargers that are properly designed to back off the power as the batteries charge, and also watch the battery temperature to back off the power when the battery gets too hot. I have found that most of these smart hot chargers do not prevent my nimh batteries from getting uncomfortably hot to handle. For that reason I rarely use any hot charger unless it is an emergency, such as "those dang pirates are digging up my treasure cause my batteries went dead".
Another note along the line of batteries - I looked into these options as an affordable way to upgrade my excalibur batteries to last longer: You can make a cheap, easy replacement for your minelabs nicads with Sanyo AAA nimh batteries and still use the same minelabs charger. While the Sanyo AAA nimh batteries are smaller, they are rated at 900 mah, slightly higher than the minelabs nicads, and they have much less memory effect. Also, if you find a way to squeeze a bank of the larger Sanyo AA batteries into the minelabs pod, you will have 2700 mah, over 3 times the running time as the old nicads in the excalibur. But if you use these 2700 mah batteries, you will need to use a charger with a charge rate of 270 ma to charge them in the same time as the old. They still will charge on the minelabs charger, but the charging time will be around a day and a half. There are many battery stores that will make up a set of batteries for you, including spot welding the batteries together to make a battery bank.
The excalibur uses a bank of nicad batteries rated at 800 mah and are charged by a safe, slow charger which provides a good charge that does not damage the batteries or cause excessive heat during the charging. These batteries are old technology compared to nimh batteries that deliver about twice the power and have less memory effect. The only advantage to using nicads is they are capable of delivering higher current flow for power-hungry devices like rc race cars. This high current is not needed by the excalibur. I can only conclude the excalibur uses nicads to save money in manufacturing. Both nicads and nimh batteries will lose their charge even when they are not used. They self-discharge to a useless condition over a period of about a month, and must be recharged. Therefore, it is wise to charge your batteries a day or so before you intend to use them.
Nicads and nimh batteries are designed to be charged at about 1/10 of their mah rating. ie: an 800 mah battery should be charged at 80 ma overnight. At that charge rate you will not damage the batteries if they remain on the charger a few hours after they are fully charged. How long it takes to fully charge a battery depends on the charge rate, the mah rating of the battery, and the condition of the battery. The charging time may be longer or shorter than the manufacturer's instructions. The problem with hot chargers that charge the batteries at a faster rate than 1/10 of the mah rating is they can cause the batteries to become hot, which could cause internal gasses to escape from the pressure seal. The heat and pressure inside the batteries can also damage the insulating materials used inside the batteries. The overall effect of overheating nicad or nimh batteries is you will shorten the service life of the battery so it will hold less of a charge than the original 800 mah. There are special hot chargers that are properly designed to back off the power as the batteries charge, and also watch the battery temperature to back off the power when the battery gets too hot. I have found that most of these smart hot chargers do not prevent my nimh batteries from getting uncomfortably hot to handle. For that reason I rarely use any hot charger unless it is an emergency, such as "those dang pirates are digging up my treasure cause my batteries went dead".
Another note along the line of batteries - I looked into these options as an affordable way to upgrade my excalibur batteries to last longer: You can make a cheap, easy replacement for your minelabs nicads with Sanyo AAA nimh batteries and still use the same minelabs charger. While the Sanyo AAA nimh batteries are smaller, they are rated at 900 mah, slightly higher than the minelabs nicads, and they have much less memory effect. Also, if you find a way to squeeze a bank of the larger Sanyo AA batteries into the minelabs pod, you will have 2700 mah, over 3 times the running time as the old nicads in the excalibur. But if you use these 2700 mah batteries, you will need to use a charger with a charge rate of 270 ma to charge them in the same time as the old. They still will charge on the minelabs charger, but the charging time will be around a day and a half. There are many battery stores that will make up a set of batteries for you, including spot welding the batteries together to make a battery bank.
Stacey in West Palm Beach
New member
n/t
To be honest Stacey, my priorities would really be Wife, Dog and to Hell with the rest. I lost everything in a house fire almost 20 years ago and it makes you realize that it's just stuff. The only things I really missed were the pictures but not that big a deal, I shot new ones.
Kewl,
BDA
Kewl,
BDA
Stacey in West Palm Beach
New member
n/t