Rechargable Battery Question ????

[Grumpyolddiver]

Ok can anyone tell me why My E-trac has a 9.6v NiMH batt pack and a Minelab 15v(no.0302-0016) battery charger. And when it's done charging is at 11.43v???? I thought that maybe I had messed up and grabbed the wrong charger but when I get a new detector I allways mark on it for which detector it goes to.(Helps alot as I get older. Not that I EVER make a mistake) Its seems as though I'm only getting about 6hrs from a fully charged pack also.I have the replaceable batt pack also but don't want to mess up the rechargable one either. Grumpy

 

[grumpyolman]

From one grump to another...Voltage is only one part of the equation. Amperage, or milliamps on the items we use, is important as well. the amperage at which a charge will charge is fixed on those wall transformer chargers. Some do a slow charge and others do a fast charge. In this case, fast is not necessarily better. Checked my wall charger and it's 15 volts also. In order for a charger to charge, it has to put out more volts than what the battery is rated for. 6 hours detect time sounds a bit short however. I would guess it's within the pallpark though.

First thing to do is store that crap wall charger, all electronic things comes with them as it lowers maufacturing costs, and get yourself a versatile 'smart' charger. You don't just have to get one that works on the pack you have. There are many out there that will charge all kinds of packs and all kinds of batteries. Their smart because the measure the voltage and Mah of the battery they are hooked to and then charge it at the correct rate. Then they switch themselves to a trickle, really just a maintenance level charge rate, so you don't have to worry about over charging. Sometimes they discharge the battery before they charge. They cycle the battery. Good opportunity to learn. Google 'battery charger' and read what makes them work. I've read on here that some of the folks found a really good on in the mid $30 price range. Also do a search on batteries or battery chargers using the forum's search function. (I dive too) Guess I could be grumpyoldiver II. jim

 

[John - Maryland]

You need a higher 15 voltage charger to bring the battery to the 11.43 Volts. You won't get it to charge any higher because of the battery cell size. The 11.43 volts after a charge will drop down to 9.6 volts when under load. (When you use it in your detector.) Funny how that works.

 

[Grumpyolddiver]

Thanks for the fast responses.I have a smart charger for my excal,s but the plug is larger so would have to get an adapter to make it work.It just seemed unusual me.And I didn't want to mess up a new batt pack. SOoooo Jim ,I'm guessing that you like the grumpy old men movies so which one are you ? The Moron or the Puts??? Just out of curiosity where are you located? I'm in NE Iowa. Doug

 

[grumpyolman]

I guess I'd be Puts! Probably both at different times of the day. Don't ask my wife. She'll tell the truth. I'm in SouthWest Washington State. Not much saltwater hunting. Too cold and not enough folks in the water. We get by working the lakes we can get into. State Parks has lots of the swim beaches closed to detecting but allow swimmers. Explanation is the State does not own the water or the land in some of the parks and the lease/lend agreement with the property owner doesn't allow detecting. I guess that's a reasonable explanation, but wonder why if you have a metal detector in your hands you can't go in the water and anyone else can? Wonder what they'd object to if I took a R/C boat into the swim area?? Guess I shouldn't stir up trouble jim

 

[Grumpyolddiver]

Yeh ......I know all about them wives.You would think I guy could stretch things just a little once in awhile ,but not where mine can hear me. Years ago(about 1983? here in Iowa we got together and got the state to open the beachs year round.As long as you are out of the water by 11 am and don't bother the swimmers.The problem this year is to many hunters and not enough beachs or gold.The swimmers are just now starting to use the beachs and by about the end of August they all but quit.So the water season here in Iowa is very short unless you can go out deep where most can't.I haven't been diveing as much lately as that darn gear gets heaver every year.After tomorrow I'm off on vacation for two weeks and hoope to hit several and maybe just Maybe bring home some Gold.The way things are going the state will probably start hunting them themselves for the money and we'll be out of luck.If people had any idea how much money and work we put into detecting they would think were all nuts.I went out last week for 3 1/2 hrs in the water with a round trip of 150 miles and got two stainless rings and about $3 in change.Thought I had a good one untill I got home and found it to be a heavy comfort fit stainless steel ring.When did they start making them in confort fit.ARRRRRRG Putsy Old Diver

 

[Digger]

Before Iowa opened up the beaches year round, we could only hunt the beach area from after Labor Day to before Memorial Day. Back in the late 70's or early 80's, I went to Lake of Three Fires on a Sunday before Labor Day to see if I could hunt the beach. I knew they were draining the Lake for reconstruction of the dam. But the Park Ranger told me that even though the Lake was basically empty, I could not detect until after Monday. And he reminded me that I needed a permit from the State of Iowa to hunt, period! I got the permit and returned the following weekend. I stopped at the Park Ranger's house and was told he was down at the boat docks, beside the beach. When I got to the beach, there were 6 or 7 other detectorist swinging the coil. I found the Ranger and he asked to see the permit. I showed it to him and he said I could hunt. But, I was to stay on sand. I went to the beach and picked out a spot without any other detectorists nearby. I did, however, strike up a conversation with a couple of them who had been there most of the week. I also learned that the reason the Ranger was so strict was because he had a detector and had been hunting it for months. After a couple hours of detecting, I wandered over toward the boat docks, swinging my coil, to get a drink of water from the hydrant. As I neared the docks, I got a good signal and pulled out a Mercury dime. As luck would have it, the Ranger saw me pick up the dime, took it from me, and reminded me that we could only hunt on the beach area. Not near the boat docks. I handed him the dime because, technically, he was right. But it still makes me frustrated when I think about him out there picking up coins and jewelry for months, when the rest of us had to wait. HH Randy

 

[Crispy Critter]

It's amazing just how low some people will go.