Hello all:

I have a Standard Horizon HX260S hand-held VHF marine radio which, along
with a supplied NiCad battery pack, can take 6 AA batteries. The NiCad
battery pack takes 15 hours to re-charge. I would like to use 6 AA
rechargeable NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) batteries instead of the regular AA
batteries but my owner's manual says it's 'not recommended'. I couldn't find
anything at their website explaining this further. Has anyone done this?

Thanks in advance.

- Rob Malkin

I would suspect that their warning pertains to theirs charger. The NiMH
batteries have a slightly different charging behavior than the NiCad.

Why don't you purchase set NiMH batteries and one of the 'smart' battery
charges, designed for both NiMH and NiCad..

Intially, when I switched to NiMH batteries, I was very disappointed with
their 'shelf life' (self discharge). However, once I got a smart charger,
I'm very happy with the NiMH batteries.


--
My opinion and experience. FWIW

Steve
s/v Good Intentions

I already have the 'smart' charger you recommend because I just got a
digital camera. I'm going to go ahead and try it. Thanks for the reply.

- Rob Malkin

"Steve" wrote in message
...
I would suspect that their warning pertains to theirs charger. The NiMH
batteries have a slightly different charging behavior than the NiCad.

Why don't you purchase set NiMH batteries and one of the 'smart' battery
charges, designed for both NiMH and NiCad..

Intially, when I switched to NiMH batteries, I was very disappointed with
their 'shelf life' (self discharge). However, once I got a smart charger,
I'm very happy with the NiMH batteries.


--
My opinion and experience. FWIW

Steve
s/v Good Intentions

I think the NiMH are only 1.2V batteries. I have the same radio and when I
misplaced the charger, I bought the 12V charger, so just plug the radio into
the 12V plug in the boat when the batts are low.
Bill

"Rob Malkin" wrote in message
news:Mum8b.425179$Ho3.67600@sccrnsc03...
Hello all:

I have a Standard Horizon HX260S hand-held VHF marine radio which, along
with a supplied NiCad battery pack, can take 6 AA batteries. The NiCad
battery pack takes 15 hours to re-charge. I would like to use 6 AA
rechargeable NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) batteries instead of the regular
AA
batteries but my owner's manual says it's 'not recommended'. I couldn't
find
anything at their website explaining this further. Has anyone done this?

Thanks in advance.

- Rob Malkin

They'll work fine for awhile, but not as long as NiCads or Alkalines. If you
store them, they lose their charge pretty fast. The only way I'd use the
NiMH would be to charge them RIGHT before I used them.

--


Keith
__
Bend the facts to fit the conclusion. It's easier that way.
"Rob Malkin" wrote in message
news:Mum8b.425179$Ho3.67600@sccrnsc03...
Hello all:

I have a Standard Horizon HX260S hand-held VHF marine radio which, along
with a supplied NiCad battery pack, can take 6 AA batteries. The NiCad
battery pack takes 15 hours to re-charge. I would like to use 6 AA
rechargeable NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) batteries instead of the regular
AA
batteries but my owner's manual says it's 'not recommended'. I couldn't
find
anything at their website explaining this further. Has anyone done this?

Thanks in advance.

- Rob Malkin

"Rob Malkin" wrote in message news:Mum8b.425179$Ho3.67600@sccrnsc03...
Hello all:

I have a Standard Horizon HX260S hand-held VHF marine radio which, along
with a supplied NiCad battery pack, can take 6 AA batteries. The NiCad
battery pack takes 15 hours to re-charge. I would like to use 6 AA
rechargeable NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) batteries instead of the regular AA
batteries but my owner's manual says it's 'not recommended'. I couldn't find
anything at their website explaining this further. Has anyone done this?

NiMH batteries are little more tolerant of rapid charging than Ni-Cads
and have slightly better power density. But rapid charging of either
should only be done on a smart charger. I recall having a "rapid
charger" from a certain amayeir radio manufacturer that wasn't so
smart - just had a timer. Problems occurred if the house power went
on and off - constantly resetting the timmer and cooking the cells.

One issue your radio manufacturer may have is reliability with NiMH.
NiMH cells have poorer "shelf life". It can be significant - like
10-15% of the charge per week. If you charge the cells and then let
them sit for a couple of weeks - you might grab that radio and find
out that you don't have as much operating time as you may need.

Which brings me to another question..

As I have stated, I have had a very good experience with the NiMH AA
batteries and a 'smart charger' from Maha..

I have just been looking at replacement battery packs for my two Skil
Proffesional cordless drill. These drills came with two each 12 volt Ni-Cad
battery packs and one each Ni-Cad charger.

After 10 years of heavy and faithful service in building my 38 ft boat, it's
time to replace the batteries..

The replacement batteries for these drills are now only available in NiMH
and cost $82 each. (2.5 ah)..

What will happen if I use these new batteries in the Skill OEM 'dumb' Ni-Cad
charger??

The battery vendor doesn't mention or recommend any battery chargers for
these batteries.

I wish someone would reveal the smart circuit so I could modify my existing
chargers. Were it not for the microprocessor involved, a clever (not me) guy
could reverse engineer it from one of the AA chargers.

Just thinking out loud.

Steve
s/v Good Intentions

Steve wrote:

Which brings me to another question..

As I have stated, I have had a very good experience with the NiMH AA
batteries and a 'smart charger' from Maha..

I have just been looking at replacement battery packs for my two Skil
Proffesional cordless drill. These drills came with two each 12 volt Ni-Cad
battery packs and one each Ni-Cad charger.

After 10 years of heavy and faithful service in building my 38 ft boat, it's
time to replace the batteries..

The replacement batteries for these drills are now only available in NiMH
and cost $82 each. (2.5 ah)..

What will happen if I use these new batteries in the Skill OEM 'dumb' Ni-Cad
charger??

The battery vendor doesn't mention or recommend any battery chargers for
these batteries.

I wish someone would reveal the smart circuit so I could modify my existing
chargers. Were it not for the microprocessor involved, a clever (not me) guy
could reverse engineer it from one of the AA chargers.

You can use existing NiCd chargers to charge NiMH. The difference is - it
will take about twice longer because older chargers use constant current
and NiMH is about twice larger capacity then NiCd.
Another issue is termination once it is charged. At low current (which will
be the case with NiCd charger) it is not as critical as other poster mentioned -
there is just not enough heat development at low current to cause any problems
(not to be mistaken with LiIon battery, where overcharge will _kill_ the battery).

It is indeed better if you terminate charging when full using smart methods
(such as negative voltage drop) as battery will live a litle longer.
But for small currents this methods are not applicable anyway, because
at low current there is no negative voltage drop... so you are back to
the timer.
Terminate charging after batteries get hot, or after time
passed, calculated using formula: cap. of new NiMH * 12 hr / capacity of original NiCd
and you will be OK.

Regards,
Evgenij

--

__________________________________________________
*science&fiction*free programs*fine art*phylosophy:
http://sudy_zhenja.tripod.com
----------remove hate_spam to answer--------------

"Evgenij Barsukov" wrote in message
...
Steve wrote:

Which brings me to another question..

As I have stated, I have had a very good experience with the NiMH AA
batteries and a 'smart charger' from Maha..

I have just been looking at replacement battery packs for my two Skil
Proffesional cordless drill. These drills came with two each 12 volt
Ni-Cad
battery packs and one each Ni-Cad charger.

After 10 years of heavy and faithful service in building my 38 ft boat,
it's
time to replace the batteries..

The replacement batteries for these drills are now only available in
NiMH
and cost $82 each. (2.5 ah)..

What will happen if I use these new batteries in the Skill OEM 'dumb'
Ni-Cad
charger??

The battery vendor doesn't mention or recommend any battery chargers for
these batteries.

I wish someone would reveal the smart circuit so I could modify my
existing
chargers. Were it not for the microprocessor involved, a clever (not me)
guy
could reverse engineer it from one of the AA chargers.

You can use existing NiCd chargers to charge NiMH. The difference is - it
will take about twice longer because older chargers use constant current
and NiMH is about twice larger capacity then NiCd.
Another issue is termination once it is charged. At low current (which
will
be the case with NiCd charger) it is not as critical as other poster
mentioned -
there is just not enough heat development at low current to cause any
problems
(not to be mistaken with LiIon battery, where overcharge will _kill_ the
battery).

It is indeed better if you terminate charging when full using smart
methods
(such as negative voltage drop) as battery will live a litle longer.
But for small currents this methods are not applicable anyway, because
at low current there is no negative voltage drop... so you are back to
the timer.
Terminate charging after batteries get hot, or after time
passed, calculated using formula: cap. of new NiMH * 12 hr / capacity of
original NiCd
and you will be OK.

Regards,
Evgenij

--

__________________________________________________
*science&fiction*free programs*fine art*phylosophy:
http://sudy_zhenja.tripod.com
----------remove hate_spam to answer--------------

Look at Home Depot. They carry some of the older batteries in the tool
corral. My 2 batteries went bad on my 9V De Walt. Just bought another
unit. 14.4V as was $86 for bats for the old drill and the new one with 2
bats and a charger was $160. More power.