RE: Whites Eagle IISL (1989)

[J-ROB]

Hope you can help....it turns out that the battery pack was rebuilt with 1.2v NIMH batteries. Thats probably why it was overheating.
Can the 509 - 0020 charger used for this?

NiMH batteries are more complex to charge than Nicads as used in the original White's rechargeables.

Short answer is NO, I would not use a White's wall wart charger to recharge NiMH batteries. They need a smarter charger with control over charging current.

Easiest way out would be to rebuild again with sub C size Nicads. Or buy NiMH batteries and an appropriate charger. IKEA has nice 2450mah AA batteries for less than $10 a four pack. You could use these with AA to C adapters as discussed above.

Or buy 100 packs of bulk alkaline AAs for cheap. 100 AAs with get you through a couple dozen hunts for reasonable outlay.

If excessive heat is noticed in any battery charging activity, best thing is to stop right there! Exploding batteries are no fun!

 

[rluka]

I'm lucky that there is very little mineralization here where I live so I get good depth and very little problems running at the highest sensitivity. I have to CTX3030 for the salt beaches and hi mineral areas.

..... When I think back on the dozens of detectors that I have owned over the years, the old Eagle II SL stands proud among them. It was a point in the development of detector technology that was -- and still is -- a good place to be.

Ditto. That was one of my favorite machines as well. Except mine was the '90, not the '89. The last incarnation got the 950 loop (with the hole in the center) and the black box. A good land machine, but it wasn't too good for wet salt beaches.

Various machines now spank it for depth. But during its era, it was a fun machine.

 

[rluka]

In the process of getting it rebuilt with NiCads
Ron L

Hope you can help....it turns out that the battery pack was rebuilt with 1.2v NIMH batteries. Thats probably why it was overheating.
Can the 509 - 0020 charger used for this?

NiMH batteries are more complex to charge than Nicads as used in the original White's rechargeables.

Short answer is NO, I would not use a White's wall wart charger to recharge NiMH batteries. They need a smarter charger with control over charging current.

Easiest way out would be to rebuild again with sub C size Nicads. Or buy NiMH batteries and an appropriate charger. IKEA has nice 2450mah AA batteries for less than $10 a four pack. You could use these with AA to C adapters as discussed above.

Or buy 100 packs of bulk alkaline AAs for cheap. 100 AAs with get you through a couple dozen hunts for reasonable outlay.

If excessive heat is noticed in any battery charging activity, best thing is to stop right there! Exploding batteries are no fun!

 

[J-ROB]

I'm lucky that there is very little mineralization here where I live so I get good depth and very little problems running at the highest sensitivity. I have to CTX3030 for the salt beaches and hi mineral areas.

/quote]


I ran my Eagle SL a lot in Central TX where the soil was very mild limestone, mostly. I felt like I had 6-8 inches under control and there didn't seem to be much deeper than that. 8-10" down was hardpan caliche in many places locally.

Trust me, there are a lot of places in Texas where you just about need dynamite to dig 10" through that rock hard stuff!!

I found that EMI was more of an impediment to jacking up the sensitivity than the soil, but I could usually run at 4 out of 5.

 

[J-ROB]

I'm lucky that there is very little mineralization here where I live so I get good depth and very little problems running at the highest sensitivity. I have to CTX3030 for the salt beaches and hi mineral areas.

/quote]


I ran my Eagle SL a lot in Central TX where the soil was very mild limestone, mostly. I felt like I had 6-8 inches under control (with 600 coil) and there didn't seem to be much deeper than that. 8-10" down was hardpan caliche in many places locally.

Trust me, there are a lot of places in Texas where you just about need dynamite to dig 10" through that rock hard stuff!!

I found that EMI was more of an impediment to jacking up the sensitivity than the soil, but I could usually run at 4 out of 5.

 

[vlad]

and stay at that voltage a very long time. Alkaline are 1.5 volts and once alkaline batteries discharge to 50% capacity, it's delivering a lower voltage than a rechargeable.
The problem with Nicads is they can develop a memory (at a certain point where a good charge remains--they stop discharging) and they have a tendency to reverse polarity too.
(Some units when switching from alkaline to rechargeables need more rechargeables to work--a ML Sovereign is this way.)
In the end NIMHs are a better deal than alkaline because they can be charged around 1000X. A good "smart charger" is inexpensive and will even work with alkalines (set them aside after
though to see if they leak. Also another variety, Rechargeable Alkalines (RAM) -- higher voltage + long shelf life. But have a short cycle life (can't be charged as many times as a real rechargeable) Capacity (and sometimes voltage) is reduced on every cycle. Doesn't work in high-drain devices
Do NOT recharge acid types like Hvy Duty as ever time I've tried they leaked. All rechargeables lose their charge over time through self-discharge even when not in a device. This can be up to 30% per month. So a battery is never fully charged when you go to use it , unless you keep it on constant trickle charge. Newer type NiMh batteries hold a charge for longer,( Low Self-Discharge) LSD. version; lithium-ion cells have very low self-discharge, ( and alkalines will store the charge a long time too.) and not available in standard voltage, except for 9V size (AAA, AA, C, and D-size Li-ion put out 3.7V instead of 1.5V.) You better have a voltage regulator or some circuits may be fried.
I cannot say that Nicad/NiMH will not leak, I've just never seen it happen. (Steer clear of some Chinese types because they seldom live up to advertising; batteries here have a guarantee that
if they leak they will repair or replace----foreign batteries may be a different proposition altogether.)
A newer type is NiZn (Nickel-Zinc) that has higher voltage (1.65V+); if you use a high drain device these might be good, but a voltage regulator may be necessary to protect electronics.
*** Whites does offer NiMH chargers.

 

[Sweeping-4-junk]

Do you know at what voltage using alkaline or zincs the SL90 will work down to safely before a battery change is needed. This detector really sucks my zincs flat in no time at all. Alkaline cost a fortune so i might be going for
re-chargeable batts soon...

 

[Flintstone]

I broke down and got 4 rechargeable C cells for my 90sl. I can hunt about 5 hr. before I get tired and quit, and still have a lot of power left. I think I could get at least 10hrs. if I need to. I then just put them back in the charger and good to go again. You can get them on the big board just look under rechargeable batteries.