NICAD Battery Information

NICAD BATTERIES IMPORTANT INFORMATION!

NiCad batteries can be a great financial and ecological investment if you know a little bit about them.

� New batteries require a few charging and discharging cycles to come up to full power. When you receive your new batteries, charge them overnight. Next, allow them to drain. You can put them in a radio until it shuts off or no voices are heard, or put them in a flashlight until the light is very dim. Then recharge the batteries fully. This procedure should be repeated two more times if you want to get the full output of your NiCads as soon as possible.

� Do not overcharge NiCad batteries. Excessive charging heat will substantially reduce their life span.

� NiCads slowly lose their charge even without use. It is best to charge them up for an hour or so once a month if you are keeping them for emergency use. You can store NiCads indefinitely without ever charging them. If you want to use the stored batteries treat them as new and follow the charging and discharging steps described in the second paragraph.

� NiCads can develop a �memory�. For example, if they are constantly drained only half way and then recharged they will lose some of their capacity. For this reason it is best to fully discharge them a few times a year so your batteries will retain their full capacity. This can be done safely by putting them in a radio or flashlight, as stated above. However, it is best not to drain NiCads fully. If you have a volt meter bring them down to approximately 1 volt.

� There is one more thing to carefully watch with NiCad when you are charging more than one battery at a time. If one of the batteries has a charge much lower than the others the battery that has the low charge will sacrifice itself to benefit the battery with the higher charge. After a few charge cycles the weak battery may permanently lose its full capacity. After many charge cycles this battery may be permanently dead. The way to prevent this from happening is to check your batteries with a tester before and after charging them. Be sure batteries that are low are charged separately until they equalize.

� At least once a year clean the contacts on your batteries, the electronic device and your charger. A thin black insulating film builds up and prevents proper electrical contact. To clean the contacts use the eraser on a common yellow pencil and gently rub the contacts, followed by a rub with a cotton swab dampened with alcohol.

� No matter how much a manufacturer brags about how fast their batteries will charge, the fact is the slower the charge the better. You can substantially reduce the life span of a NiCad battery by consistently charging at a high rate.

� Don�t waste your time and money with lower capacity NiCads Most of the time our NiCads provide more power. The power increase with our batteries is generally 60% for AA size batteries and 220% for D size batteries. This is more power than most NiCad batteries found elsewhere.