minolta NiMH, charging times

[darren]

Hi All,

I am using the Minolta 1600MAH NiMH batts.

After charging the batteries for 14hrs, first time use, do i have to keep charging it for 14hrs each time they are flat?

...some shop vendor was telling me that i only have to charge them for 8 hrs after the first time charge of 14 hrs...is this true?

Please Advise.

Darren

 

[Bo Eriksson53548]

I advice to buy a conditioning charger, it will have your batteries ready in 4 hours tops, and keeping them in the charger over a night or even several will actually be good for your "batts". I also recommend keeping a spare set of batteries. There are several good chargers out there for reasonable money, like Vanson that is available in several countries.

In Sweden you can get a more modern and actually better charger from Jula postorder, and also Clas Ohlson, but the latter has 70% higher price! It's a noname charger made in Korea, but it definitly outperforms the Vanson alternatives at even double the price.

Maybe Vanson has something even more sofisticated, but it will start to become very pricey then.

Personally I have two of those noname chargers and 5 sets of 1600 - 1800 mAh NiMh as well as a Quantum QB1c battery-pack (se my separate thread and test).

Best Regards

Bo Eriksson

Hi All,

I am using the Minolta 1600MAH NiMH batts.

After charging the batteries for 14hrs, first time use, do i have
to keep charging it for 14hrs each time they are flat?

...some shop vendor was telling me that i only have to charge them
for 8 hrs after the first time charge of 14 hrs...is this true?

Please Advise.

Darren

 

[henri56123]

An "overnight" type charger like you seem to have are not good at all for NiMH type batteries; for durability , the latter require a kind of chip controlled charger that cuts of when the battery is loaded and does NOT work with a timer; that means also: when you ^put a fully charged battery in a good charger, the latter will NOT start. This being said, there are excellent quickchargers like the Ansmann ore others whhich safely charge your batteries in 2-4 hours. There is alrerady a lot of information on battery chargers in the minotla forum
Henri

Hi All,

I am using the Minolta 1600MAH NiMH batts.

After charging the batteries for 14hrs, first time use, do i have
to keep charging it for 14hrs each time they are flat?

...some shop vendor was telling me that i only have to charge them
for 8 hrs after the first time charge of 14 hrs...is this true?

Please Advise.

Darren

 

[Pabletto]

Unfotunately the truth is that most vendors know nothing about their profession. I bet that we all know much more than them. I ask the same question every time I buy rechargables and they just give numbers such as: overnight, three hours, five hours.... Al this is non-sense to me, especially when they do not know what kind of charger I have. No-one has ever asked me what charger I use. So how is it possible for them to know the exact charging time???? NON-SENSE!!!!

Pabletto

Hi All,

I am using the Minolta 1600MAH NiMH batts.

After charging the batteries for 14hrs, first time use, do i have
to keep charging it for 14hrs each time they are flat?

...some shop vendor was telling me that i only have to charge them
for 8 hrs after the first time charge of 14 hrs...is this true?

Please Advise.

Darren

 

[Mark K]

Hi All,

I am using the Minolta 1600MAH NiMH batts.

Hi Darren: there should be virtually no difference between "Brand" of NiMH rechargeable batteries.

After charging the batteries for 14hrs, first time use, do i have
to keep charging it for 14hrs each time they are flat?

Well this depends on the "charging speed" of your charger. A normal charger takes abouot 14 hours to fully charged a set of 4 AA NiMH 1600mA batteries. If the capacity goes higher, say 2000mA (from Sony), it takes much longer.

There are certain fast charger in the market. In my place there is one from Sanyo and another from Olympus. These charger takes 3 hours to complete the task.

...some shop vendor was telling me that i only have to charge them
for 8 hrs after the first time charge of 14 hrs...is this true?

I am also repeatedly told the same story. In actually life it depends the output current of your charger.

Please Advise.

Darren

 

[darren]

Hi All,

Thanx for the info!

i only have the GP1800Mah and the Olympus 1600Mah avbl here in S'pore.

think i will just go for the cheaper GP and get me one of those "conditioning charger"

regards
darren

Hi All,

I am using the Minolta 1600MAH NiMH batts.

After charging the batteries for 14hrs, first time use, do i have
to keep charging it for 14hrs each time they are flat?

...some shop vendor was telling me that i only have to charge them
for 8 hrs after the first time charge of 14 hrs...is this true?

Please Advise.

Darren

 

[Tony57705]

Thanx for the info!

i only have the GP1800Mah and the Olympus 1600Mah avbl here in S'pore.

think i will just go for the cheaper GP and get me one of those
"conditioning charger"

regards
darren

Hi All,

I am using the Minolta 1600MAH NiMH batts.

After charging the batteries for 14hrs, first time use, do i have
to keep charging it for 14hrs each time they are flat?

...some shop vendor was telling me that i only have to charge them
for 8 hrs after the first time charge of 14 hrs...is this true?

Please Advise.

Darren

Hello,

There is a lot of confusion among the users and sales people too about chargers.

The NIMH batteries are extremely sensitive to overchsrge as well as the internal temperature of the battery.

A good charger constantly monitors the voltage across the battery as well as the surface temperature of the battery. If the voltage increases a small amount (30 - 50mV) above the limit, the charger should automatically reduce the charging current. The same is true for the temperature. A fast charger uses a high charging current (0.5 of the capacity - for 1800AH should be 900mA) while constantly waching the voltage and temperature. When any of the too conditions occor, the charger switches to 0.1 of the capacity (180mA for the 1800AH) and waits for the condition to disappear.

The GP chargers, both the 14 hours and the 4 hours are equipped with a simple timer that switches to a low charging current after 14 or 4 hours. The timer is reset when the charger is removed from the outlet.

If one plugs agaiin the charger into the outlet without removing the "charged" batteries, the charger will keep charging at high current for another 14 or 4 hours, risking to distroy the batteries or shorten treir life time. The manufacturer unfortunately doesn't mention anything about it.

Since I couldn't find a professional charger on the market, I built one myself. But not everybody is en electronic engineer.

Sorry I cannot give you a practical advice, like where to buy a good charger, but knowing how it works helps too.

 

[Leo Terminello]

I have possted this previously as have others. The battery issue being critical . . the Ansmann charger seems to cover all the bases . . . http://www.nexusamerica.com
Leo Terminello

 

[darren]

Dear Tony,

I am very interested in this DIY charger...it would be great if you can send me the plans.

darren

Thanx for the info!

i only have the GP1800Mah and the Olympus 1600Mah avbl here in S'pore.

think i will just go for the cheaper GP and get me one of those
"conditioning charger"

regards
darren

Hi All,

I am using the Minolta 1600MAH NiMH batts.

After charging the batteries for 14hrs, first time use, do i have
to keep charging it for 14hrs each time they are flat?

...some shop vendor was telling me that i only have to charge them
for 8 hrs after the first time charge of 14 hrs...is this true?

Please Advise.

Darren

Hello,

There is a lot of confusion among the users and sales people too
about chargers.
The NIMH batteries are extremely sensitive to overchsrge as well as
the internal temperature of the battery.
A good charger constantly monitors the voltage across the battery
as well as the surface temperature of the battery. If the voltage
increases a small amount (30 - 50mV) above the limit, the charger
should automatically reduce the charging current. The same is true
for the temperature. A fast charger uses a high charging current
(0.5 of the capacity - for 1800AH should be 900mA) while
constantly waching the voltage and temperature. When any of the too
conditions occor, the charger switches to 0.1 of the capacity
(180mA for the 1800AH) and waits for the condition to disappear.
The GP chargers, both the 14 hours and the 4 hours are equipped
with a simple timer that switches to a low charging current after
14 or 4 hours. The timer is reset when the charger is removed from
the outlet.
If one plugs agaiin the charger into the outlet without removing
the "charged" batteries, the charger will keep charging at high
current for another 14 or 4 hours, risking to distroy the batteries
or shorten treir life time. The manufacturer unfortunately doesn't
mention anything about it.
Since I couldn't find a professional charger on the market, I built
one myself. But not everybody is en electronic engineer.
Sorry I cannot give you a practical advice, like where to buy a
good charger, but knowing how it works helps too.

 

[Pabletto]

Sorry I cannot give you a practical advice, like where to buy a
good charger, but knowing how it works helps too.

Then Tony, maybe you can let us know of a brand of charger that does all these.

Pabletto

 

[Pabletto]

Oops!!!! Sorry Leo. I just saw your posting!

Pabletto

I have possted this previously as have others. The battery issue
being critical . . the Ansmann charger seems to cover all the
bases . . . http://www.nexusamerica.com
Leo Terminello