Battery Draining

[Dumah]

Hey , On average how long would it take for a fully charged 1500Mah nimh to completly drain while not in use? as mine seems to be stopping dead when i try to use it after its been unused for a few weeks .
Its not a old battery pack or been overly used , only charged 5 or 6 times at most.
just need to clear this up.

Thanks

[MajorLandmark]

Re: Battery Draining

NiMH Have a terrible self discharge rate compared to other rechargables. Whether or not it's still usable after a few weeks or whatever depends a lot on its capacity. A 1500mah battery like yours I wouldn't expect to stay charged over a two week interval between games and power a gun for more than a handful of shots. I used to have a 4400mah battery that I could charge every other game with no issues.

Ideally you should really be charging your batteries the day before you need them, or just beforehand if you have the luxury of time.

[jagillham]

Re: Battery Draining

Nihm do drain over time in storage, unlike Lipo. Especially a smaller pack like that, you going to find it more of an issue.

So long as fully charged it holds fine for a day, guess you ok

[Dumah]

Re: Battery Draining

are they really that bad? i was under the impression that Nimh would stay charged quite a bit longer.

[Gaffa]

Re: Battery Draining

They should still be discharged right after use - this will not only prolong the life of the battery but will mean that on the next charge you will get more out of your battery.

[cannon_fodder]

Re: Battery Draining

If I dont use a gun 1 weekend its still good to go 2 weeks later

The self-discharge of NiMH cells is 5–10% on the first day and stabilizes around 0.5–1% per day at room temperature
Generaly after 1 month you have at least 50% of your charge left in a good battery. It shouldn't be completly dead in less than a month

The Key to good battery life is good charging and not letting it get completely discharged.

If any one has the 'free' basic charger that came with your gun they should throw it away as nothing will kill a battery faster. A good quality charger will give you much better battery preformance and life

If you dont skirimsh for a while you should refresh the charge in your batterys after 3 months.
All my small bats are put on the inteligent charger on the Saturday before a sunday skirmish

[North West Outpost]

Re: Battery Draining

Don't be supprised if you charge them the day befor you need them only for them to dump their charge rapidly on a frosty morning.

[MajorLandmark]

Re: Battery Draining

If I dont use a gun 1 weekend its still good to go 2 weeks later

The self-discharge of NiMH cells is 5–10% on the first day and stabilizes around 0.5–1% per day at room temperature
Generaly after 1 month you have at least 50% of your charge left in a good battery. It shouldn't be completly dead in less than a month

The Key to good battery life is good charging and not letting it get completely discharged.

If any one has the 'free' basic charger that came with your gun they should throw it away as nothing will kill a battery faster. A good quality charger will give you much better battery preformance and life

If you dont skirimsh for a while you should refresh the charge in your batterys after 3 months.
All my small bats are put on the inteligent charger on the Saturday before a sunday skirmish

This.

All of this. Thank you for saving me the effort of making these points.

Also; ignore anyone who tells you to fully discharge your batteries either before you store them or before you charge them. NiMH do *not* need to be discharged before charging because they are not effected by the memory effect. NiCAD are, but even thats arguably insignificant.

The only time you should discharge a NiMH is when it's been in storage for a long time (several months plus) then you should cycle charge it a few times, which consists of discharging fully, charging fully and repeating a few times. This helps bring the battery back up to full strength.

[Dumah]

Re: Battery Draining

I gave the battery a charge on wednesday morning but it charged very quick, maybe 1 and half hours at most untill it was finished charging. Last night when i tryed to fire a few shots , the battery was dead again its not one of them free unmarked batterys you get with some AEGs is a VP racing battery. could it possibly be a dud? even tho it was fine for the first few charges?


Also my charger is not some cheap quick charger it is a smart charger and usually took 4-5 hours to fully charge the battery

[Dumah]

Re: Battery Draining

Cant edit so making another post.
i just tryed to charge the battery now and the LED on my smart charger goes green after about 10mins and the battery starts to get warm.

[MajorLandmark]

Re: Battery Draining

Is it a charger that you can set the current on? If so, it should be on a bout 1.5A

I'd consider trying it on a different charger if possible. You could also try cycling it a few times as I described above, assuming your charger has a discharge function. If that dosen't improve the situation it's probably the battery thats at fault. I'd also try the battery in a different gun, just as a double check.