GUIDO defective Li-ion update

[George Marsh]

GUIDO,
You are right there are 12 cells, they appear to be connected 2 in parallel and then the 2 parallel cells in series. Each cell measures 3.25 volts with an exception, one measured 15.82 volts. Without tearing the battery apart, I'm going out on a limb and say that cell and perhaps the one that's in parallel with are open.

The copper colored ribbon coming from the brain box, mother board, has 6 wires and they appear to be measuring the voltage at different points.

Heard last night on the news, Air-buss is dropping it's plans to use Li batteries and going back to Ni-cd's. Any one want to bet that Boeing does the same?

My plans are to NEVER BUY ANOTHER LI.....

I was surprised to see that on ebay, Ni-cds selling for around $25. However they only have about half the amp-hour rating as my favorite, Ni-Mh 3000 ma-hr.
George
George

 

[guido]

Hello George Marsh,

The one cell is bad, I did not know that they gain that much voltage, WOW! That transulates in heat and then Kabum!. Ni-Cads do that , go high on voltage, and go south. Most of the failure on them is reverse polarity. Then a high voltage shock may bring then back, but they will never be the same. Those packs we used for practice ONLY! while we were RC racing.
Those Lithium battery is New technology, NiCads are proven techology. I still like them. I have 3 D size I use in my flash light. They are rated at 4000 Mah, and 20 years old.
I'm sure the sub C NiCad are here to stay for awhile. Its the only battery type that I know of, that charges up better when disharged 100%.
Most batteries don't thrive on that much discharge, including lead acid batteries.
Guido.
 

[George Marsh]

GUIDO,
Don't know what you are doing right to get 20 years out of a Ni-cd. I'm lucky to get 2 years. Perhaps it the charger. My old dewalt charger would never shut off completely. The battery would come out the next day very warm, cooked.

My new 3 way dewalt charger shuts down when battery is charged. May-be Ni-cds would last longer. For the money, $41, it's hard to beat the after market Ni-Mh.
George
 

[guido]

Hello George Marsh,
I have an old charger that I use. I'll have to look at it. It is a Radio Shack unit. The older one I had was from 1974 and went south.
The secret to a long battery life is proper charging for sure. Ni-Cads need to be 100% dead to get fully charged again. I use 10 watt power resistors to bring them down. When there is no voltge measured at the cell, and it is cold, back on the charger.
I'll get the model of charger for you. It charges AA C D and 9 volts cells NiCads only though.I also still have the 10Amp 9 cells charger we used when we raced RC cars.
Guido.
 

[Mark-Mi]

Guido, here is the charger-dis charger I used when I raced pan cars. I have a single cell holder and graded, matched and built all my own packs.
Sure was a lot of fun back then. All but gone around here now. Ah the good ole times.

 

[guido]

Hello Mark MI,

When we started racing (OFF ROAD) WE had an RC10 and 1200MHa SC batteries with a wind up charger.
Stock racing became a joke so we went modify.
Those days the factory drivers were not on the scene. Been at the natianals and saw what money can do. We ran Shumacker cars, and sure had fun! FACTORY SPONSORSHIP killed the sport for many of us. We had one sponsor, just for batteries, but it helped some. I still have some old SCR's 1400 and 170P. My son was the driver, and a played the part of the crew. I built my own power box.
It had variable 8V 6 amp power out for motor testing. A strong 12V out for the charger with capacitor kick, when a/c voltage went low.A 3.5 amp automotive battery charged, and a .2 ohms resistor bank to discharge the packs. I have
Just a few packs of the Ni-Mh. I have a world class off road track in my back yard(1.5 Miles away).
Guido.
 

[Ken Macfarlane]

I've got 12 - 14.4 V ni-cad packs dead on the shelf. They all died within 2 years of new. They were always discharged fully before charging. Between 10 - 100 cycles on them when they died.

In contrast I have 2 li-ion packs I bought to replace them, they have lasted 3 years already, far fewer cycles as they hold their charge when sitting. I used to need to constantly rotate 4 or 6 packs to the two chargers, the 2 li-ion packs handle it now sometimes without even needing the charger.

I won't buy another tool with nicads, Li-ion only here, even if one of the overpriced packs dies, its worth it.