SACair Forum

Hey guys, got a quick charger question. Ok, so i have this charger from AEX, and i was wondering if overcharging, or when you charge your batteries too much and they get really hot, damages the charger too? Because i just got some new batteries and i'm gonna make sure i charge them correctly this time, but i didnt know whether or not i needed a new charger too.

No, you're charger is fine.

You sure? If i remember correctly, the charger got hot too, not as bad as the battery but still hot.

It depends on the charger(auto cut off or not) and battery, NiMH's should never be charged above 3A, I usually charge large cap NimH's at 2A, or if I have the time 1A, the slower the charge the longer the battery will last in the long run, warm is OK hot is not good for either the charger or the battery. Check the charge rate of the charger and match it to the battery, also make sure the charger is set to the correct cell setting ie: 7 cell 8.4v, 8 cell 9.6v etc, standard batteries are 2.2v per cell. Also check the Mah of the pack for example if you have a 1500Mah mini and charge it at 1.5A it will take 1 hour for a full charge.

The charger i linked just has a switch that lets you choose between 1.0A and 2.0A. and I got these specs off of AEX

Use the 2 amp setting for your C cell packs and the 1 amp setting for anything smaller (sub-c, nunchuck, minis). That charger should auto-detect the proper voltage and swith to a trickle charge mode that is, I believe, 1/20th of the selected charge rate. I believe it also has am auto cutoff but forget how long after the switch to trickle that this will occur.

I have mini batteries, so i should leave it on 1.0A. Ok, but do you know whether or not my charger is damaged? Because a while back when i didnt really know about battery care, the batteries would get really hot and the charger would get pretty heated up too.

See the little light on the charger? When you plug in your battery and wait a second, the light should turn red. In 1-4 hours, depending on the size of your battery, that light will turn green. That means your battery is done charging. Leave the charger on the 1A setting for most batteries. You can change it to the 2A setting when you have a large, high MAH battery. If you forget to check things often, charge your batteries next to you. The day before the game, I take my pile of batteries and my charger and put them next to the TV/computer. When I see a green light, I know it's time to change.