Questions about nimh battery charger charging

Questions about nimh battery charger charging

Q: What is the difference between a quick charger and a fast charger?

A: The comparison of these two kind of chargers is virtually meaningless. In the battery industry, the two chargers are not clearly defined. Therefore, manufacturers often confuse them. One problem is that the time of a battery is dependent on the capacity of the battery that is charged. A AAA nickel cadmium battery (180 mAh) charger that takes 1 hours of standard capacity that may take 8 hours to fill the 1 quarter high capacity Ni MH battery (1500 mAh). The best way is to ignore these differences and roughly calculate the time it takes for the charger to fill the battery.

Q: How long does it take to fill the battery for each time?

A: We can easily calculate the time spent on the charger. With the capacity of the battery, it is simply divided by the charging efficiency of the charger, and then increased by 20% as an invalid working time. For example, the use of a charge rate of 500mA charger takes about 4 hours to full section with a 1600mAh battery, then 1600 mAh/500 mA x120% to  calculate. This example may be applied to the case of a fast charger for the standard 5 Ni MH battery. Remember, if a battery is only partial discharge, it is clear that we only have to take less time to fill it with electricity.

If you think this is too complex, we can use our special battery charging time calculator. You only need to enter the two consecutive values above. Then, press Calculate button, the result will appear immediately in the hours ( hour ) window.

Q: Does the use of a charger damage the battery (will reduce battery life or reduce the use of the battery)?

A: Yes. The most common failure of charging is that the charging time is too long, commonly known as overcharging. A charger is very easy to cause overcharging. Usually it takes more than 5 hours (some 8 hours), and the battery will be scrapped. This charger is the so-called fast charger. The problem with this charger is that there is no charge control device. Most of the fast charging are usually designed very simply, they usually charge at the maximum rate, and the charging time is relatively fixed, usually 5 or 8 hours. Then, you should turn them off, or turn to a very slow trickle rate. If you use the charger correctly, it usually does not do much damage to the battery. If incorrectly, the charger usually shortens the life of the battery in two ways.

First, it is assumed that the battery after the full charge and the part of the charge is put into the charger. But the charger does not know that there is electricity in the battery. So it still recharged the battery completely. We rarely see the part of the recharged battery put into the charger, because it is very easy to confuse the battery, and carelessly put the battery that is full of electricity into the charger. If you charge the battery after many times, the power of the battery will slow down.

In addition, usually, the charging cycle is unstable and easy to be interrupted. We usually pull out the charger and see how the heat of the battery is. Then, put the charger back. Unfortunately, this usually leads to the restarting of the full charging cycle, and the previous charging cycle has been completed. This also often reduces battery life.

To avoid these problems, we can use an intelligent charger, which has a microprocessor control. An intelligent charger usually determines when the battery is full of electricity, and then the charger is completely turned off or turned to a trickle charge depending on the design.

Q:  what is a trickle charge ( Equipment for slow and continuous charging of the battery )?

A: In theory, trickle charge is a charging mode that is so high that the battery is full of electricity and low to avoid overcharging. Maintaining a charge is also a way to describe a trickle charge.

Q: Does a trickle charge damage the battery?

A: Many battery makers have advised not to use a trickle charge for a long time.

If a trickle charge is used, the charging rate will be very low and sometimes intermittent. When the battery is charged, the best intelligent charger can only change the rate of the temporary charging rate. They do not have a continuous low rate charging function. Some battery dealers say that only 1/10 of the battery's energy will not be hurt if a long-term trickle charge used. However, we haven't seen any of the vendors to do such a test.

It's better to fill the battery completely and store it. Do not charge extra trickle charge to aviod accidental damage.

Q: Will rapid charging reduce the battery life?

A: It's not very serious. If you use a proper intelligent nimh battery charger, you can completely charge all kinds of Ni MH batteries in about an hour, and there will be no damage, and the battery life will not be greatly reduced, which may be reduced by less than 10%. Obviously, this is always much better than the use of slow charger. However, only a specially designed nimh battery charger will be used for rapid charging for most NiMH batteries. In addition, the fast charger designed to charge the nickel cadmium battery is likely to overcharge the nimh battery.

Q: What is the difference between nimh battery charger and Ni Cd battery charger?

A: The biggest difference is the charging rate (the charger's charging speed for the battery), and the charge control (when it is decided to stop charging). Many cheap nimh battery charger has been transformed into a nickel - cadmium battery charger after a simple transformation. Usually, a 5 hour nickel cadmium battery has a switch that allows the charging time to increase from 5 hours to 8 hours.  In this way, a 5 hour nickel cadmium battery charger becomes a 8 hour Ni MH battery charger. We are not here to say that the charger is recommended. However, a timing charger is less productive than an intelligent charger. If the battery charges frequently before discharging, that is to say, the battery only takes a very short time and then is immediately fully charged, the timing charger usually leads to over charging or battery damage.

The smart nimh battery charger is actually a special test for when Ni MH batteries are filled. Then switch off the switch or turn to the trickle charge mode. Obviously, this is going to go through more complex circuits. So, this kind of charger takes more time and money. But it may prolong the life of the battery. Some smart chargers only take a little more cost than the timing charger. We strongly suggest that when you want to buy a smart charger, look into its compatibility with Ni MH or Ni Cd batteries.

Q: Can the nimh battery be recharged with the old Ni Cd battery charger?

A: The issue depends on the type of Ni Cd charger. The old Ni Cd battery charger may not be charged to the nimh battery, almost impossible overcharge, or due to the NiMH battery charger (but it may not be automatically processed, the results still have to spend a long time). Let's take a look at the three cases.

Many "old" nickel - cadmium battery chargers are simple timing chargers, and the charging time is fixed. As soon as the time arrives, it will be closed automatically. Unfortunately, because the capacity of Ni Cd battery is smaller than that of Ni MH battery, the charge may terminate earlier when Ni Cd battery charger is charged to nimh battery. It won't hurt the battery, but the Ni MH battery must not be full of electricity, because the timer is fixed early. It's obviously too early to stop charging the battery. The charging cycle will also be shortened.

In addition, among the older Ni Cd battery charger, there is a very common charger, the so-called "all night" charger. The charging rate of the charger is very low as long as the charger is connected to the power supply. This charger can be fully charged for a Ni MH battery, but it can take a long time. An old nickel - cadmium battery charger is likely to take 48 hours to recharge the new and high capacitive nimh battery! This charger is almost impossible to damage the Ni MH battery, unless the nimh battery is placed in the charger for a week, but it is not convenient to use. If you have this type of charger, you should calculate the charging time simply according to the formula above.

But eventually, we might choose an older nickel - cadmium battery charger, a fast charger.  It recharges the Ni MH battery and does not require an extra circuit.  Because once the battery is filled, the charging cycle stops and is recorded. If the nickel - cadmium battery charger is to be fully charged to the battery within 2 hours, it can be said to be a fast charger. The only risk in this case is that the older charger may overcharge the Ni MH battery. If the Ni MH battery becomes too hot, we can't deal with it in time. If it continues for 20 or 30 minutes, the nickel cadmium battery charger will probably overcharge the Ni MH battery, and the life of the battery will be shortened. If the charger is charged for a radio battery that needs to be recharged quickly, you are likely to meet such chargers. We suggest that Ni Cd battery charger is not used to charge nimh batteries.