Batteries Nimh Charging

[bigone5500]

I am in the process of charging my NiMh packs and got to thinking, am I charging them at the correct amperage? I have a 7.2v 6 cell pack 1800mAh. I am charging it at 1A in current limiting mode. The pack is warm and I'm thinking that it's probably ok. But is that charge rate really too much? My logic says not really as the car charger that came with it states 2A on it. I used the same charge rate on the 5 cell hump pack for the truck.

Can the rules for charging LiPo apply to NiMh?

 

[Tony]

Yea, you can push over roles from LiPo's to NiMh's for charging. When I was running those, I was packing over 5 amps into a 3000 and 3300 pack. But, I also packed over 5 amps into a 2000 pack. If I had it, it was getting the max the charger would put out. BUT!!! I was running a push-pull fan config with high rpm, high airflow, high static pressure AC fans at full blast when doing this.

These packs charge with what is called "Delta Peak". That means in your charger, there will be a setting for how much voltage drop you want to see before it kicks the charge cycle off. These packs will charge up fully, and then start to drop off. It's that drop off the charger is looking for. Or Delta Peak. And yes, these packs get warm, even at low amp charge rates. As long as you can comfortably hold your hand on the battery, it's not too hot.

 

[bigone5500]

Thanks!