High Capacity batteries

[Dave J]

Found this site, it should be helpful for anyone making their own torch.

http://www.powerstoredirect.co.uk

They have D cells up to 9Ah and DF's up to 13Ah.
They also stock various chargers for various battery types.

I have been looking around for a while for some high capacity batteries and they are the cheapest by far.

[Mdemon]

The downside is charging them. You need Delta V ideally (charger stops when cells full) and finding a charger that does large packs is not easy.

That said, my 9Ah tagged babies allow me to run 100w halogens for over an hour and they stomp all over HID...

[RickG]

I've been looking into this and the nicest battery I've found is this one. And it's only £45 :o

Unfortunately it's an american company, so with £17 postage and £10 VAT it'll be more like £75, but that's still cheaper than over here.

They also do a charger for about £20.

Does anyone have any idea how much customs will slap on this? I've heard about 5%, but that might be optimistic.

Has anyone got hold of a 9500mAh NiMh pack + charger for under £100 in the UK, or should I go ahead and buy this?

[Ian]

Anyone gone for the 9.5ah pack. Very tempted. May be interested in doubling up if someone else wants one. Charger looks very good value.

Ian

[Salvo]

Originally Posted by Ian

Anyone gone for the 9.5ah pack. Very tempted. May be interested in doubling up if someone else wants one. Charger looks very good value.

Ian

Ian,
Be careflu when purchasing items like these. You shoud notice the charger says for >2100, which means less than 2.1 amp hr. One of the most difficult things to do is find a good charger for batteries over 4.5 amp in size. I have tested more chargers than most and have found many that work good for 4.5 amp packs or less, but larger packs have always been more difficult to overcome. -dt/DT(temerature) is the best way to charge NIMH batteries. -dv(voltage) works pretty good for battery packs less than 4.5 amp if the charger has at least a 1.8 amp output. The problem has always been getting a manufacturer to built a charger with more than a 2 amp output. There are some smart RC chargers out there that work well if you have knowledge of charging NIMH.

[Rick Huggins]

Gave a look here for a 3A charger http://www.rcheliaddict.co.uk/review...php/product/88 and here for a 5A charger http://www.rcheliaddict.co.uk/review...php/product/85.

I have used the prodigy for a 4500mAh pack.

HTH

[Ian]

Thanks for the replies guys. Are you sure you've got you chevrons the right way round though? I read

'One standard Tamiya male connector installed with the charger. Ideal for charging all 6V,7.2V, 8.4V,9.6V and 12V RC Car, RC air and Airsoft battery packs with capacity > 2100 mAh. '

as batteries with a capacity greater than 2100 mAh.

Further in the Ad it says

Please don't charger 6V battery pack with capacity > 3300mAh.

which I read as dont charge 6v batteries with capacity greater than 3300mAh. I'm a programmer by trade and a > b definately means a greater than b.

They also have a couple of 4500mAh batteries on the site at £18 that look tempting.

Might also push the voltage up a bit so I can use a device that Woz recommended. It pulses the bulb to extend burn times and offers some nice other features. Can be found here: http://www.cs.indiana.edu/~willie/lvr.html

I thought the charger would be Ok as it claims to be 'smart' and switches to trickle when batteries are charged. Also uses dV. I may need to do some more research here.

Any more comments gratefully received.

Ian

[RickG]

Originally Posted by Ian

Anyone gone for the 9.5ah pack. Very tempted. May be interested in doubling up if someone else wants one. Charger looks very good value.

Ian

Unfortunately I messed up my canister, losing about an inch from the length which means that the 10xD's won't fit - fortunatley I noticed this BEFORE I ordered them!

The current plan is to buy 20x 3500mAh tagged C cells from eurobatteries.com (for about £55 inc VAT + postage) and run them in a series / parallel combination.

Might be interested in a charger if you're putting an order in with the Americans though - let me know if you decide to.