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Older Excalibur Rechargeable Battery
- Thread starter fsa46
- Start date
Critterhunter
New member
Some guys get the alkaline pod or replace old/dug rechargeables in the rechargeable pack with an aftermarket nimh pack, which is also higher capacity than the Minelab one and cheaper. It's sold as a slide in replacement for the Excal batteries in the rechargeable, or you can put it in the alkaline holder. Way I hear it the alkaline holder is only listed as water resistant due to you opening the thing, but if you take care of the seal it shouldn't be an issue. Check the Sov/Excal battery sticky listed at the top of the forum. There are thread links in there to this topic that you might want to read over.
OldBeechnut
Well-known member
Critter I thought the same until I started looking closer....both are from the same molds, but the alk pod, compared to the recharg, different clarity color
The difference between the alk pod and the recharg pod is material the pods are made of... the recharg is heavier..3 alk 3 recharge, same results. I think?
The difference between the alk pod and the recharg pod is material the pods are made of... the recharg is heavier..3 alk 3 recharge, same results. I think?
Critterhunter
New member
Wow, that's something I ain't heard yet. Maybe the plastic is different then? Some of the thread links in the Sov/Excal battery sticky at the top of the forum had info on this that I skimmed over when I dug it up, and the consensus seemed to be the alkaline is only rated water resistant due to people opening the pod to change the batteries all the time. You're pics sure seems to save otherwise. But, wondering...if that plastic used for the alkalines is less strong, I'd suspect that might only apply to diving depths perhaps? If that's the case, then it should be still able to hold up to pressures down to a certain amount of feet maybe? Like perhaps say 10 feet or something? Question being- is the seal the same on both? Do you see any differences in that aspect of it? If you don't then I'd guess the alkaline holder can be used considered "waterproof", at shallow depths anyway? Also, wondering...Are the pods you compared of the same age as each other? Might be older pods turn chalky in color where as fresh new ones are more clear? You'd be the one to know so curious to hear on that. That wouldn't explain the heavier weight though.
PS- One quick and dirty way to test would be to take an empty pod with some led weight inside it and tie it to a string, dropping it down say 10 or 20 feet in the water by marking the depths on the string. Let it set for say an hour and that might indicate just what the alkaline holder can handle? If it depth tests at say 20 feet then I wouldn't be too worried diving 10 feet with it. Beyond all this, obviously the alkaline POD is fine for waiding depths, as many people use that "water resistant" POD in the water neck deep all the time and such without issues.
PS- One quick and dirty way to test would be to take an empty pod with some led weight inside it and tie it to a string, dropping it down say 10 or 20 feet in the water by marking the depths on the string. Let it set for say an hour and that might indicate just what the alkaline holder can handle? If it depth tests at say 20 feet then I wouldn't be too worried diving 10 feet with it. Beyond all this, obviously the alkaline POD is fine for waiding depths, as many people use that "water resistant" POD in the water neck deep all the time and such without issues.
dewcon4414
Well-known member
May be weaker plastic which cant handle the heat produced by recharging. It may get brittal and crack. Looks like plain plastic to me.
Dew
Dew
The sticker on the alkaline pack says "not suitable for rechargeable batteries". I was wondering why too. I've temperature tested by wrapping my hand around the alkaline pack when charging and have not found a noticeable temperature rise. When hunting the wet sand on hot bright sunny days the pod gets a lot warmer than I've experienced when it is inside and charging; heck, the whole detector gets warmed by the sun! The original sword battery pack I have developed hairline cracks and leaked. For two seasons now the alkaline pack stuffed with rechargeables has held together and was a lot less expensive to put together than a factory "proper" rechargeable pack. Heat may be more of an issue using the stock trickle charger and the risk of overcharging rather than a moderate rate peak detecting charger.
I suspect that people wading with an alkaline pack with rechargeables will not have an issue. If you are diving, you may not want to risk it.
I'll continue with the alkaline pack and rechargables.
tvr
P.S. OBN ... dang! It is looking like you have a collection of spares that soon will put the official repair centers to shame!
I suspect that people wading with an alkaline pack with rechargeables will not have an issue. If you are diving, you may not want to risk it.
I'll continue with the alkaline pack and rechargables.
tvr
P.S. OBN ... dang! It is looking like you have a collection of spares that soon will put the official repair centers to shame!
Critterhunter
New member
TVR, excellent info and makes sense to me- Could very well be the rechargeable pod is heat resistant, like the difference between some plastics that shouldn't be used in a microwave or they'll melt, but just the same recharging a nimh or nicad should never get it hot enough to produce that kind of damage. If it is then somebody is charging WAY too fast, because heat destroys batteries, or like you said they are over charging the pack. Even though the stock "charger" is very low in output and is in effect a trickle charge, once the pack has peaked since it's not shutting it off the overcharging might build up enough heat inside the sealed POD to cause an issue.
Another reason why I hate simple wall "chargers" for detectors or say for cordless drills. What good is the thing if you don't have indication as to when the pack is done, and that the "charger" then self terminates based on completion of the charge. I just bought a new drill and was rather cheesed off to see the "charger" is a simple transformer, and in fact it's putting out enough current to do some serious damage to the pack once it's peaked should I leave it plugged in for hours. Again, a heat issue. I've got a collection of various nimh, nicad, lipo, and other chargers that are "smart" chargers and allow various settings, and I plan to rig up some charging leads somehow to charge this stinking drill pack. It's got the battery leads hidden under a slit but I think I can easily get around that with two thin metal plates mounted on a board to mate with the thing.
PS- One quick and dirty way to monitor the state of charge on a battery such as for a detector, is to check the voltage of the pack WHILE it's charging. Write down the voltage. Come back an hour later. Has it gone up? Then it's probably still charging. Once the voltage has dropped in an hour or stayed pretty much the same, then that indicates the pack is charged. To tip off a charger to a nimh or nicad's peak of charge, the pack will start dropping in voltage a bit when it's reached it's peak. Not much though, but a bit, and then pretty much sit there. But, a pack will also rise and dip while charging, so people need to check the voltage in about 1 hour intervals to make sure they aren't catching a temporary dip. Better yet, if it has dropped or is the same (first time seeing that), then check again in about 20 minutes and if it hasn't gone up from there, and doesn't really go up in say another half hour check, then for sure it's done charging.
One of my old cordless drills, I didn't want to muck with mating to my better chargers, so I opened the stock "charger" (transformer) for it and installed a DC jack output. Then when I wanted to monitor it's voltage as it charged I just plugged my volt meter into it here and there, wrote down the voltage, and checked again an hour or so later. Worked like a charm.
Other modern battery technologies can't cheat by doing this dumb charger transformer thing they do with nimhs or nicads, which slowly destroys cells (especially nimhs). They have to monitor the peak with other forms of battery chemistry or risk causing a fire. That's one of the reasons I prefer lipos- they use a balance charger which monitors each cell, and will shut the charge down on each cell as they peak. Since overcharging poses less of a risk with nimhs or nicads (so long as the amps aren't cranking super high), what do they care if they are slowing destroying the lifespan of your packs? They are saving a few dimes by not giving you a real charger that can actually tell when the pack has peaked.
Another reason why I hate simple wall "chargers" for detectors or say for cordless drills. What good is the thing if you don't have indication as to when the pack is done, and that the "charger" then self terminates based on completion of the charge. I just bought a new drill and was rather cheesed off to see the "charger" is a simple transformer, and in fact it's putting out enough current to do some serious damage to the pack once it's peaked should I leave it plugged in for hours. Again, a heat issue. I've got a collection of various nimh, nicad, lipo, and other chargers that are "smart" chargers and allow various settings, and I plan to rig up some charging leads somehow to charge this stinking drill pack. It's got the battery leads hidden under a slit but I think I can easily get around that with two thin metal plates mounted on a board to mate with the thing.
PS- One quick and dirty way to monitor the state of charge on a battery such as for a detector, is to check the voltage of the pack WHILE it's charging. Write down the voltage. Come back an hour later. Has it gone up? Then it's probably still charging. Once the voltage has dropped in an hour or stayed pretty much the same, then that indicates the pack is charged. To tip off a charger to a nimh or nicad's peak of charge, the pack will start dropping in voltage a bit when it's reached it's peak. Not much though, but a bit, and then pretty much sit there. But, a pack will also rise and dip while charging, so people need to check the voltage in about 1 hour intervals to make sure they aren't catching a temporary dip. Better yet, if it has dropped or is the same (first time seeing that), then check again in about 20 minutes and if it hasn't gone up from there, and doesn't really go up in say another half hour check, then for sure it's done charging.
One of my old cordless drills, I didn't want to muck with mating to my better chargers, so I opened the stock "charger" (transformer) for it and installed a DC jack output. Then when I wanted to monitor it's voltage as it charged I just plugged my volt meter into it here and there, wrote down the voltage, and checked again an hour or so later. Worked like a charm.
Other modern battery technologies can't cheat by doing this dumb charger transformer thing they do with nimhs or nicads, which slowly destroys cells (especially nimhs). They have to monitor the peak with other forms of battery chemistry or risk causing a fire. That's one of the reasons I prefer lipos- they use a balance charger which monitors each cell, and will shut the charge down on each cell as they peak. Since overcharging poses less of a risk with nimhs or nicads (so long as the amps aren't cranking super high), what do they care if they are slowing destroying the lifespan of your packs? They are saving a few dimes by not giving you a real charger that can actually tell when the pack has peaked.
goldnugget
Active member
I've had Good Luck in Replacing my Batteries at ( Interstate Batteries ) both for the Soverign X P-Pro2a and the Excalibur,also incresed the amperage for the cells