Larry G

I seem to be having a problem with my ParkZone NiMh batteries and charger. The battery has been run down to 1-2 minutes from voltage cutoff on the Spitfire. When I put it on the 12V powered peak charger, after about 10 minutes the LED goes solid, indicating full charge. The battery is not warm like it should be. Then I unplug it and plug it back on the charger. The LED starts blinking then it seems to take a "real" charge.

The charger says it will charge 5-10 cell packs and is adjustable from .5 to 1.8 amps. Parkzone says set the charger at 1.4A.

My pack is a 10.8 volt 1000mAh 9 cell.

Questions;

Should I ocasionally run the battery all the way down by hooking it up to a DC light bulb or something?

Should I charge it at a lower rate once in a while? How often and at what rate?

Matt Kirsch

Sounds like this is a peak detect charger. These provide much better charges than the usuall wall warts that come with most RTFs.

What you're probably seeing is what is called a false peak. This is not uncommon in NiMH packs. Try lowering the charge rate a bit (1000mAh packs should be charged at 1.0A) and see if the charge is more reliable. Check for loose connections as well, and if you need to resolder, make the leads as short as possible to minimize losses.