It don't add up....

[Pete in MI]

Gonna start with a positive thing first. Last 2 hunts I found a gold ring and a Merc ('41) dime. YES!!!

[attachment 123709 Ring3Collage.jpg] [attachment 123708 Collage41309.jpg]

OK no the conflict in my head. I have the AA battery pack with 8 AA (1.5 volt) batteries equals 12 volts (more or less)

I have 2 Nihm battery packs. Just charged up both and tested the voltage and am getting 11.65 volts. Not as good as 12 volts but still great.

Then for sake of curiosity, I checked the voltage coming out of the AC adapter that I charged the Nihm packs with and I got 19.65 volts - NINETEEN?????

Then I looked at the Nihm packs and it says they are 9.6 volt. What in the world???? 9.6v packs kicking out 11.65 volts.

I am afraid to charge them in the house any more for fear the things will explode or burn the house down.

I would have expected the AC adapter to kick out 12 volts, maybe 12.5 but not 19+.

Anyone got an idea of what is going on? Is the charger supposed to kick out 19+ volts? Are the Nihm packs mislabeled or am I pushing the voltage near or beyond capacity? Does the Explorer II actually work at 9.6 volts when operated from the Nihm pack?

Something in my head says something just ain't right....and I don't want to be killing my detector or burning down my house.

 

[Hotcz70]

Not sure about the battery voltage problem Pete...but what a beautiful ring
Nice finds brother

 

[dewcon4414]

First off ... the slimpack has the recharger regulator INSIDE the battery pack. Its pretty normal for these battery packs to be charged beyond full capacity... but they drop off shapely when in use. Another reason people use better rechargables than the 1600 NiMH's. I get about 6 or 7 hours out of the 1600 in the field before i switch battery packs. They arent depleated... but i can tell a change in depth after going beyond half. A lot has to do with your settings, use of headphones, and if you have a X-1 attached. You didnt say what type of machine you are using... if its the SE... take a look at page 73 in your manual it shows voltage and useage. Also, as a special note DONT use rechargeable Lithium Ion batteries... they produce 13V. Hope this helped....

Dew

 

[BlackX]

You always need to add more to fill something up. For instance, your alternator in your car will generally be feeding your 12V battery around 14V. Perhaps the NimH batteries can take a higher voltage input ratio than the car example lead-acid batteries.

 

[tulare tokens]

Checking something like that with a meter, and wide open won't be an accurate reading.
If you could check it while it is connected to the battery, you'll get a different reading.
Maybe pierce the wires with the tip of the meeter probes, and see what you get.
It would be like checking a car alt. with the negative post unhooked.


Tim

 

[Rick(ND)]

There is 8 cells in the rechargeable at 1.2 volts each which adds up to the 9.6 volts when it is being used, if not under a load it will read higher as you see when using a multi meter to test the voltage. The charger is the same way so if you are testing it with no battery on it it will read a bit higher also, but with a battery on the charger with a load on it it should test out at 13.7 to 14 volts if I remember right as it has to be higher than the pack being charged, but if not on the battery it will read high. I seen this with my car alternator when the wire from the alternator to the battery that broke so the battery wasnt being charged, but the alternator was putting out 74 volts as there was no load and no regulation.
With most all electronic equipment they use a voltage regulator so the input voltage is higher than needed and why a 12 volt pack or the 9.6 volts pack will work as it probably needs less then 9 volts to operate and the voltage reg will drop it to the exact voltage it needs. Now these reg will not handle excessive voltage over 12 volts by much or will burn them up.

 

[Pete in MI]

n/t

 

[Pete in MI]

than what I was thinking. I know with batteries the charger always has to be higher than the battery voltage - just didn't think 19 was right for what was a 9.6 volt pack

Thanks for the info...less scared now of burning the house down

 

[Pete in MI]

n/t