After 3 years of service, Merlins Nicads are in need of abit of TLC. Im going to put new heatsrhink and check links etc. I was wondering whether its worth balancing the cells, anybody have any ideas, is it worth doing?
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After 3 years of service, Merlins Nicads are in need of abit of TLC. Im going to put new heatsrhink and check links etc. I was wondering whether its worth balancing the cells, anybody have any ideas, is it worth doing?
Balancing can help prolong the battery life and indicate if one of the cells is dying. But for the trouble, its probably not worth it unless done regularly.
NiCd and NiMh balance themselves during charging. The cells that are full produce heat. The cells that are not continue charging. If you want to make sure they are balanced before an event, charge them at a low current of about C/10
Just thought Id add a question
If I purches a 24volt ni mh pack but didnt want it to run on 24volts but 18volts.
Can I just remove 5 cells and make it a 18 volt pack? The pack has all ready been charged and ran in its 24volt configuration.
Sorry if it may sound like a silly question but im not an expert and I dont want to damage anything.
Its always better to ask :)
Yes you can, just remove the cells.
Although it may not be a good idea to reassemble them afther you have used them seperatly for a while.
Another thing to look out for is that batteries dont like to be solderd, so if you are attaching a wire, make sure you solder on the bridge, or otherwise use a high power soldering iron and keep the period the battery is hot as short as possible
thank you very much Stefan