Steve Gaarder wrote:
I have some of those cells as well. Just finished putting 20 of them into packs and doing a "commissioning charge".
Cool. How are you doing the commissioning charge?
Nicads, as I understand it, prefer a constant current charge; you can use constant voltage, but the voltage to use varies with temperature. Cell voltage rises gradually during charging, and then rises much faster as full charge is reached. If you keep the charge going too long, the voltage will drop again and the battery will overheat.
This is true, and in a way maybe the CV of the Elec-trak system might be right for the job. If they don't charge all the way to 100%, well...
Who cares?NiCDs don't care about things like leaving them partially discharged. I'll monitor the 5 cell blocks using the dynamic battery monitor to see if any of them go low early (indicator of water or balance problems)
One option I can do is to use the DQ as a monitor and have it shut down the charger using a relay if the batteries show the delta V sag or a temp spike. Since it has an overrun counter as well I might be able to just replace the whole E20 timer with a better brain :-)
*nod* I've heard this too. One of the reasons I'm putting these into the E20 is to try and figure out what is myth and what is reality.Also, I have heard that it's ok to parallel Nicads when discharging, but that they should be charged *separately* rather than in parallel.
Good luck on this. I think it will be interesting to see what comes out. It would be nice to be able to blow snow full power in the winter.
Chris