Nicad charger for 4x sub c cells

Hello all.

I have a lawn edger with an electric start that is powered by 4x sub C nicads. They have died and the charger has long gone missing. A genuine charger costs about $70. Does anyone know, is there any reason I cannot use something like this to charge them?

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Thanks for reading.

Reply to
justallan
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On 4/13/2009 11:31 PM justallan spake thus:

I'd think not, as that one is made for NiMH and not NiCd batteries. Different charging rates, different cycle times.

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Reply to
David Nebenzahl

That one is probably way too small.

There are several aftermarket R/C SMART chargers that would be more appropriate. They sense the number and type of batteries and automatically select the charge accordingly. It is important to have identical cells of the same state of charge in a pack.

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Or you could build your own:

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Or modify an existing surplus tool charger;

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If the sub-C's have been down for a while, you may have lost one or more. You may have to replace or repack the battery. It occurs to me that a whole new lawn edger might be had for the same price, but I might be wrong.

I usually don't bother fixing up something like that unless there are enough junk parts laying around so I don't have to chase around for parts and pay top price for whatever I can get to do the job. I have found discount new power tool batteries for defunct or discontinued tools and opened them up to use as replacement cells. Occasionally RS has put R/C packs on sale too.

Reply to
JB

So, you can replace both the nicads AND the charger? Get a quad of NiMH AA cells and charger, and a four-cell battery holder, and fire 'er up!

Reply to
whit3rd

AA cells are longer than sub C and may not fit the housing. Sub C cells are readily available in tagged versions so they can be soldered easily.

Although you might be able to get AAs with nominally the same capacity as sub C they may not be able to deliver the same current.

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Dave Plowman (News)

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