charging time for battery?

[oldairsofter1962]

i just got my airsoft gun 2 days ago!! its an ics m4a1 i love its my first airsoft gun that ive purchased, came with battery,charger,300rnd metal high cap,manual(that sucks),& a cleaning rod.

i have one question because this is my first gun & i dont whant to mess up something.

it came with an 8.4 volt 1600 mah intelect battery,the battery is blue.Now in the manual it dosent say anything about the battery and i dont whant to over charge it.so i was thinking maybe some1 could know how long the charging proccess is?

[Gunny_McSmith]

what charger do you have? what is written on the back of it... ?

[kalnaren]

For Ni-Mah batteries:

Take the battery Mah rating, divide by charger Mah rating, multiply result by 1.15.

For Ni-Cad, multiply the result by 1.2.

Example:

1800 mah battery, charger rated at 300 Mah. 1800/300 = 6, 6*1.15 = 6.9 hours, or 6 hours and 54 minutes.

You do the multiplacation because batteries are not 100% effeciant. Ni-Cads only retain about 80% of the power put into them, Ni-Mah a little more.

[six4]

Originally Posted by oldairsofter1962

i just got my airsoft gun 2 days ago!! its an ics m4a1 i love its my first airsoft gun that ive purchased, came with battery,charger,300rnd metal high cap,manual(that sucks),& a cleaning rod.

i have one question because this is my first gun & i dont whant to mess up something.

it came with an 8.4 volt 1600 mah intelect battery,the battery is blue.Now in the manual it dosent say anything about the battery and i dont whant to over charge it.so i was thinking maybe some1 could know how long the charging proccess is?

I would toss that charger into the "rotary file" and hit up a hobby store to buy a real charger. Take your battery with you when you shop as it will save time explaining what you are looking for to the store owner. A proper charger is a good investment and will add to the life of your battery.

[SlashH4X]

i suggest you get a digital peak charger from your local hobby shop, they take any hassle out of charging a battery.

on the flip-side you can sometimes use this calculator, and remember your battery should get hot, but not hot enough that you cant hold it for 30 seconds.

but seriously get a digital peak charger :P

[GBear]

This is all you need for NiMH and NiCd Batteries:

http://convert-to.com/recharging-rec...batteries.html

[VooDooPeteK]

Yea some of the chargers that come with the guns have a Green/red light on them so when you plug it in it will show one color and when its done it shows the other (not sure what color is for what)

but really to save the life of your battery goto your local hobby/RC shop and pick up a peak charger that will discharge/charge for you

Spend the extra cash now and save on batteries later

[TechSeller]

All the above is sage. The included charger needs to be discarded asap! My first noob mistake was to frag the battery on the first charge. Cha-ching!

[Rooster]

Not hijackin here, but on a related note, is there a way to discharge a battery so it can be charged again? I'll be getting a good charer shortly but for now how can I ensure my battery is dead so I can charge it fully without overcharging?

[m102404]

**if you don't want to do all the research and just want a simple "spoon feed me" answer...just do #3 below***

Some batteries suffer from "memory effect"...others don't and can just be topped up. NiCd's sould be fully used, then charged back up....LiPo's are ok to just "top up". Check the Battery FAQ and Google to find out more on your specific type.

If you don't end up normally running down your battery with normal use...and if you want to see that your battery is fully discharged...then you can do a couple of different things.
1. Get a multi-meter and take a reading of your pack...each cell of the battery has a "bottom floor" lower voltage that it should not fall below. It varies for different types of cells. For example, for one type of cell it might be 1v...for another it might be 3v. Multiply the number of cells by the lower voltage value and that's your ballpark number. Ballpark in that you probably won't be able to read the voltage of each individual cell in a shrink wrapped pack...and you don't want to over drain any given cell. Check the battery FAQ and Google for your batteries specifics.

2. Get a smart discharger...basically a device that you set that will drain your battery to a set limit. You still need to know what that lower limit is to set it properly. Again...depending on the unit it may not be able to "see" more than the total pack voltage. Check the battery FAQ and Google for your batteries specifics.

3. Get a good smart charger that has a lot of bells and whistles. Most good smart chargers will setup a different charging profile and meter the pack while it is charging it so as to deliver the best charge and condition the pack as you cycle it. Most all of them have discharge/charge option (single cycle or multi cycle), where the charger will discharge your battery (while monitoring it) and then charge it back up.

A plain red/green light charger (cheap and often look like a blue brick) is better than a "dumb" brick charger...but they're not very good at all in the grand scheme. Get a digital charger that will actually display what is going on with your pack (how many mAh it drained/charged, etc...) and will let you fine tune the charging amperage. Charging slowly will take longer, but is better for the longevity of your pack. Good smart chargers will also have time-outs/cut-offs that'll help avoid boo-boos if you misconfigure the settings.

Now, power is power...so if you can run the numbers, figure out and understand what is supposed to be happening, sit there with temperature probes/multimeters/stopwatches and whatever....you can do all the "smart" charging/discharging yourself. Don't know about you...but I just want to figure out my initial settings, plug in the battery, push a button and let it do it's thing without killing my battery. A good digital smart charger pays for itself not only in keeping your batteries (they've got to be good batteries to begin with...you can't buy shit batteries and expect them to rock all year long) running well for as long as possible...but also in the peace of mind and convenience factors. Nothing sucks more than getting all set for a game and finding out your battery isn't charged when it's time to hit the field...you look like an idiot.

[GODSPEED|seven]

Do NiMH batteries need to be discharged? I had read something about them not having the memorey loss problem..

I myself ust purchased a new gun.. i bought an Intellect 8.4V 1400mAh & the same with 1600mAh (my gun can only take 8.4V AK stick type)... I also got a smart charger, not the most expensive, but not the cheapest. It has the auto-stop-charging function with trickle charging ... I shot about 500 rounds in full-auto (bursts).. and then the motor was getting slow... there is no reaction once I hit the trigger... anyone have a clue what the problem may be? I switched from auto to semi with no results as well...

They both finished charging after about 1 hour, I left one on the charger and used the other.. is it normal for brand new guns to maybe heat up too fast? or jam?

[Gunny_McSmith]

nop.. no need to discharge a NIMH battery

[kalnaren]

Originally Posted by GODSPEED|seven

Do NiMH batteries need to be discharged? I had read something about them not having the memorey loss problem..

I myself ust purchased a new gun.. i bought an Intellect 8.4V 1400mAh & the same with 1600mAh (my gun can only take 8.4V AK stick type)... I also got a smart charger, not the most expensive, but not the cheapest. It has the auto-stop-charging function with trickle charging ... I shot about 500 rounds in full-auto (bursts).. and then the motor was getting slow... there is no reaction once I hit the trigger... anyone have a clue what the problem may be? I switched from auto to semi with no results as well...

They both finished charging after about 1 hour, I left one on the charger and used the other.. is it normal for brand new guns to maybe heat up too fast? or jam?

Truth be told, you don't really need to discharge modern Ni-Cad batteries, either. It doesn't hurt to do it every now and then but overall if you have a good charger they'll be fine.

As for the gun, what gun? And what was the charge rate on the charger?

[The Chad]

Hey, another side note. Make sure you know how long the battery should last that way you have the proper expectations. I made the mistake of thinking that my battery would last a week or so Boy was I wrong. I found that with a stock battery at 39 Degrees Celcius, I got a good 8 hours of conservative gameplay.

[101jinx101]

Originally Posted by GODSPEED|seven

Do NiMH batteries need to be discharged? I had read something about them not having the memorey loss problem..

I myself ust purchased a new gun.. i bought an Intellect 8.4V 1400mAh & the same with 1600mAh (my gun can only take 8.4V AK stick type)... I also got a smart charger, not the most expensive, but not the cheapest. It has the auto-stop-charging function with trickle charging ... I shot about 500 rounds in full-auto (bursts).. and then the motor was getting slow... there is no reaction once I hit the trigger... anyone have a clue what the problem may be? I switched from auto to semi with no results as well...

They both finished charging after about 1 hour, I left one on the charger and used the other.. is it normal for brand new guns to maybe heat up too fast? or jam?

I bought a "cheap" smart charger as well, and with mine it will stop charging (or look like its done) after 60 or 90 minutes.. I just have to unplug my battery and plug it back in to see if it needs to charge more.. if it goes to looking "done" right away, then it should be charged.