Battery SL voltage question for Reg

[Frank-S]

Reg.

I have been reading battery voltage (TDI with 14.8V battery) on white TDI classroom.
People are talking about useing 18V and 21.5 volts in there TDI.
Will a 21V battery work in a SL with-our doing damage to SL.
If so what is the highest voltage we can use.
Frank.

 

[Reg]

Do not exceed 16V which is 4 Li ion cells in series in the SL. The main power capacitors in the detector are rated at 16V. Exceeding this voltage for any length of time will cause damage.

Reg

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Reg, that would rule out the reidman battery pack, which is 16.8 volts when fully charged. I thought I read one of your posts that indicated 18 volts was the limit.
Jim

 

[Reg]

If there was a voltage of 18V posted, it was a mistake. The voltage rating of several caps is 16v. Now, fortunately, a li ion battery drops almost immediately from 16+ down to less than 16V. However, the best thing is to not charge the battery more than 16V to begin with. If you stop at 16V, any operating time loss will be negligible, maybe 10 minutes or so. Also, cap makers often build in a slight overhead of 10% or so just to be safe, but that shouldn't be taken as a standard.

i have a 4 cell reid system for my SL and will use it but also use common sense.

Keep in mind that trying to top out a Li Ion battery to its maximum voltage will shorten its life when compared to stopping at 4v per cell. Actually, the battery life expectancy goes up dramatically when the voltage is reduced. Auto manufacturers who use Li ion batteries often quit charging at 3.8V or less to extend the battery life for years.

Reg

 

[Jim in Idaho]

I'd read that about stopping the charge at 4volts/cell to lengthen batterylife, but it's hard to do without an adjustable charger, which is really spendy. I guess I need to rig up a cheap digital voltmeter with my charger leads so I can keep track of the charge voltage. Thanks again for all your help.
Jim

 

[Reg]

Actually, it isn't that difficult once you realize how the smart charger works. It will usually quickly charges the battery up to about 4v and then slows down on the charge. With practice one can shut it down at the right time.

Reg

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Thanks, Reg, I'll try that. It was Steve Howard, and Carl, on an older thread on White's forum, that said if you didn't exceed 18 volts you were OK...sorry about my misquote.
Jim

 

[Frank-S]

Thanks Reg.
SL 16V max for batterys I was hopeing higher, it looks like every body all over the world
is not pleasrd with White battery for its SL PI.
May-be you are Carl-NC should recomend to White on its next SL upgrade to go to a 35 volt cap.
How many times have you repaired a detector and the only thing wrong with it was a cap.
Another question. I wont to learn all than I can about the inside of the TDI before I opean it this winter.
Next time you opean a TDI that has good dept, the connector pins on controal box.If there is a way to ID
where pin 1 pin 4 pin 5 are connected to circuit board will you let know.I have reason for asking.
Thangs.
Frank.