Basic Ni-MH Battery Care
Ni-MH packs should be charged at a maximum rate of 4.5-5.0 amps until
warm (not hot), and used as soon as
they are done charging for optimum
performance. If the pack sits for more than 10 minutes you will not get full
performance.
You can “re-peak” a pack that has sat longer than 10 minutes
to improve performance (re-peak only once).
Some may tell you that it is good to get the packs a little hotter for racing
applications. This technique may offer slightly better initial performance,
but the long term effects are detrimental to the cells and is not recommended.
Delta Peak chargers (chargers that look for a voltage threshold to determine
when the charge cycle is complete) are not good for regular use with Ni-MH
cells, as this method causes excessive battery heating and results in internal
damage to the structure of the cell. Pulse chargers should never be used.
We recommend using the Novak Millennium Pro (#4490) or the Novak Ionic
(#4475) chargers in the Novak Ni-MH2 charge mode.
New Ni-MH cells often false-peak the first couple of times they are charged.
This is the nature of the Ni-MH cell. If the battery pack is not warm to the
touch, a false-peak has occurred, and the charge cycle should be re-started.
Batteries Used Weekly
Batteries that are used every week should be fairly easy to maintain. You can
either run the batteries down until the vehicle runs slowly, or discharge the
pack to 0.9 volts per cell (for a 6 cell pack that would be 5.4 volts) using a
quality discharger that has a cut-off voltage setting like the Novak Smart
Tray (#4500--available 3/2004). The Smart Tray is a digital microprocessor-
controlled equalizing
discharger that discharges each individual cell of the
battery pack with no risk of damaging the batteries, as each cell’s discharge
is shut off after reaching the preset cut-off voltage.
When the battery pack has cooled back down to room temperature, it can
safely be charged again for reuse. For the best performance, we recommend
no more than two (2) cycles per day.
Batteries Stored More Than 2 Weeks
If you do not use your batteries weekly, you will get better performance if
some care is taken before storing your packs. After using the packs for the
final time, put about 2-5 minutes of charge back into the batteries and then
store them. When you use the packs again, discharge them to 0.9 volts per
cell and let them cool completely before charging. The discharge before
charging will give the best performance and should help prevent false-peaking.
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Ni-MH BATTERY CARE SHEET
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AD-NIMH-1 • 2/2004
Using Battery Equalizing Trays Before Charging
There are a numerous battery “equalizing” trays available from manufac-
turers
who all have different views on the usage & maintenance of Ni-MH
batteries
. Through extensive testing, we have found that Ni-MH batteries
should not be discharged below 0.9 volts per cell, and that battery trays
can be very helpful in maintaining pack performance and consistency.
We highly recommend using an equalizing discharge tray that has a user-
selectable cut-off voltage like the Novak Smart Tray (#4500). The Smart
Tray also features individual status LEDs to let you know when each cell has
completely discharged. Using the Novak Smart Tray before each charge
will give you the best possible performance from your batteries.
Packs That Continue To False-Peak
Some customers may experience false-peaks with sport packs, receiver packs,
or packs that have been previously abused or are very old. This can be due to
lower quality cells or the construction of the packs. The Ni-MH cells in these
packs are often never discharged properly so the cells can be very problematic.
The first thing that should be done for these packs is to discharge them and
let them cool completely. Next, charge them at a lower amp rate than
normal. When a false-peak occurs, try restarting the charger. If it the pack
continues to false-peak you may need to set the charger up differently.
The Ni-Cd Linear charge mode found in the Novak Millennium Pro and the
Novak Ionic chargers uses voltage threshold to determine the battery’s peak.
For a problematic Ni-MH pack, this may be the only way to get it to take a
full charge. Set the charger at your desired current with the voltage thresh-
old set to 4 mV/cell. If false-peaking continues, increase the voltage thresh-
old by 2 mV/cell. Do not exceed 10 mV/cell. If you reach this setting and
repeated false-peaking continues, you can activate the Trickle charge in the
Millennium Pro by turning this feature on in the Edit Charge mode. If a
false-peak occurs now, the trickle mode will continue to charge the pack at
a very slow rate. Let the trickle charge continue for about 10 minutes, then
restart the normal charge cycle. When the pack finishes the normal charge,
the trickle will start again, so make sure that you remove the battery from
the charger at the end of the main charge cycle (after it peaks) if it has
successfully charged and did not false-peak. Remember to turn off the trickle
charge function for future use.
