nicad bat. in charger

[lmnebr]

Is it safe and not harmfull to leave a nicad bat. in a charger that is pluged in?

 

[MJMJ]

You would really need to read the manual for your particular charger to get that answer.

 

[guido]

Imnebr,

NO! You can leave it in for a few (5 t0 10) hours only. By doing so the charger will go on trickle mode.

That will equalize the cells voltages. making the pack last a bit longer before it will need to be recharged.

Guido.

 

[Red Dave]

I wouldn't. Overnight is about the longest I leave nicad's in a charger.
Sitting in a charger indefinitely seems to ruin them, at least that has been my experience.

 

[Stephen Newell]

It's safe but harmful to the battery to leave the battery in the charger for an extended length of time after they have reached a full charge.

 

[Mule Meat]

Depends on the trickle charge rate of the charger once the battery is fully charged.

Some can be left on the charger for 6-10 days without damaging the battery.

 

[guido]

MJMJ,

I did, read the manual. That is where I got my information and some testing of my own. MY neighbor has about 10 NiCad packs
to prove that the manual is right. I have built two packs for him so far,
The trickle charger does not automatically go off.


Guido.

 

[Mule Meat]

(quoted from post at 18:19:14 08/21/23) The trickle charger does not automatically go off.


Guido.

Guido
Doesn't most good NiCad battery chargers drop to a trickle rate of about 0.05-0.1C once the battery is full charged? About the same rate as the batteries self discharge rate?

I have not messed with NiCad batteries since the mid nineties before NiMH took over. Used to use them some in RC cars and planes.

 

[MJMJ]

(quoted from post at 21:19:14 08/21/23) MJMJ,

I did, read the manual. That is where I got my information and some testing of my own. MY neighbor has about 10 NiCad packs
to prove that the manual is right. I have built two packs for him so far,
The trickle charger does not automatically go off.


Guido.

Ok?? I wasn t replying to you. Thats why my reply is above yours.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

(quoted from post at 08:02:41 08/21/23) Is it safe and not harmfull to leave a nicad bat. in a charger that is pluged in?

Depends on the charger.

Dumb or fixed time chargers either undercharge or overcharge. Leaving the battery on 24/7 on a dumb charger will just "cook" the battery and shorten its lifespan greatly. Timed chargers will just shut off after the time expires, and leaving a pack connected will do nothing.

The best type of charger for a NiCd is a "peak" charger which detects when the battery is at its fully charged state by measuring a "peak" in the voltage. These chargers shut off automatically so feasibly you can leave the battery on them forever and nothing will happen.

 

[lmnebr]

OK-school me on charging a ni-mh on a nicd charger I'm sure this is a no-no.

 

[Pappy]

Works OK for me. My drill is 19-2 volt Craftsman. The Ni-Cad batteries were poor. I ordered new batteries and they sent NI-MH Batteries. The work great and do not self-dischsrge.

 

[guido]

MJMJ,

I know no harm intended. I was just stating that the manual is your guide. YOu certainly do. No many people
read it. I had one chain saw brought to me that was not starting, the manual was still in the blister pack!

Guido.

 

[1948CaseVAI]

40 years ago we left the nicad pack for RC airplanes and transmitters plugged in for a long time. It shortened the life of the batteries a bit but they were always ready to go fly on short notice.

 

[guido]

Mule Meat,

Yes they do drop to a trickle, but they do not automatically adjust the rate of charging. Contrary to
popular believe NiCads will hold most of the voltage for months. The only time the voltage goes down, is
when a cell or cells loose some of their voltage. Guess what happens if a Lithium-ion pack has a bad cell.

Regardlees of the cell's chemistry the result is the same when one cell goes bad. The famous analogy of
one bad link in a chain aplies here.


When we were RC racing we had chargers that would go to tricklemde,it was a pulse charger, not a linear
charger. It would NOT overcharge the pack.

If the rate of self discharge is less then the charging rate, you will cook the pack. My neighbor has
about 10 packs to prove the manual right.


Take the pack off as required by the manual. That trickle charging mode buy the way, is to be used when
the pack starts to lose capacity. Trickle charging allows ALL the cell to be brought up to the same
voltage..

There a reason why it happens. That's for another post.

There more to it that I can possibly cover here,

Guido.