Battery Issues, do they need a slow charge?

[flakjack]

Got a bit of a problem with my batteries.

I've recently bought my first AEG after using gas guns for the most part.The gun I've got (ICS M4) uses NIMH batteries and I bought a fast charger to get me up and running.

After charging the battery for an hour or so (far too short a charge) the charge cycle is completing and the gun fires away for a few hundred shots before the battery dies.

So...I thought old battery, I'll buy a new one, bought a new one and had the same problem. So logically I thought it was the charger, bought a new fast charger. Same problem. So next step, thought maybe the gearbox or motor was playing up, borrowed a friends identical battery and it worked fine in my gun, blasting through a good 1000 rounds with new sign of a let-up.

So after looking on the forums looks like I might need to slow charge my batteries the first couple of times they are used to break them in.

wondering if anyone has had a similar experience? Its also been recommended by another player that I 'break in the batteries' by gently warming them on a radiator....any thoughts?

Loathed to by another charger and as I am skirmishing at the weekend, be a bit pressed to get one in time and allow the 9 hours or slow 'trickle charge' to get them going.

Anyone got any thoughts?

[MisterX]

Re: Battery Issues, do they need a slow charge?

Hello,

In the trade we called that a false peak, ie the charger peaked when it wasnt supposed to.

For new batteries we always recommended that you do a forming charge. using a smart charger.

Forming: Charge at 0.5a, then a cycle, using discharge at 0.5a then charging again at 0.1a.

Then cycle your batteries once evey 3 - 4 month, ie Charge 0.5, discharge 0.5, charge 0.5.


As for slow trickle chargers burn the f**kers, they're just not efficeient enough for the modern needs of airsofting. In my old job (Making batteries and battery packs) we had hundreds of people a month wingeing on about how their trickle chargers arent good enough etc etc. Fact is trickle charging only works efficiently for some applications. I'd tell everyone to get a smart charger for this very reason. I myself have 3 and a battery analyser at my disposal.

It is also possible that your battery pack has a cell down, as in the one cell is buggered, and not charging, as a consquence pulling the rest of the cells down. The way to check for that is to take the battery pack apart, and testing each cell with a voltometer, then replace the dead cell. Normal packs are easy to do, its only when you come to do one in a electric drill that you might become frustrated. Compact bast*rds!

At the same time using these methods, I have been using the same batterys for about 3 years, and prior to that when I was in the RC Model hobby I used the same batteries from when I bought the plane to when I crashed it some 5 years later.

If you need anymore help just post back or pm me.

Cheers