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Re:Trickle charge pros & cons - 2007/05/25 05:39
Trickle Charging is a tricky thing.
You need to know the charger's trickle rate.
Remember that a NiMH battery might lose 1 -2% per day. So for a 2500mAh NiMH Battery, that's 25 - 50mA loss per day.
Trickle charging in a charger is normally good for topping up a battery, but long term exposure leads to overcharging.
Here's an mathematical example.
If we calculate everything in milli-Amp Hours, a NiMH battery that loses 50 mA in one day loses 50 mA / 24 hours = 2 mA every hour.
It takes about 1.3 mA input to store 1 mA ( 1.3 Factor rough estimate )
So just to keep this battery topped takes a trickle charge of 2 mA x 1.3 = 2.6 mA ( constant for one hour )
Reality : Chargers with trickle charging capability have rates usually ranging from 25 mA and up ( some times way up ) and is good for topping up a battery that was not completely charged and keeping it topped for a short term.
When I look at the LaCrosse BC900, when in trickle charge mode, I see numbers like 0.12 which translates to 12 mA. This is good.
I will have to check the Maha MH-B9000 Wizard1 for this.
I hope this helps and makes sense. Maybe it's too detailed.
If I were you, I would buy a combination of low self discharge and regular high capacity.
good luck.
gb
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