Best way to charge NiMH battery pack?

[Quinc]

Picked up some Panasonic batteries. Each bank of 10 batteries is 13.xx volts and 100aH. I charged one of them with my lead acid charger until the light came on the charger showing it was full. Each cell shows the same volts so maybe that way is good enough? But I don't want to chance over charging a cell and hoping that there is a "smart" charger alternative that I can leave on overnight and forget about. Better yet if I can charge all 3 packs in parallel?

Plan is to run them on my gokart @ 36v pushing an industrial Leeson motor 5400 rpms.

 

[major]

Hi Quinc,

Parallel charging can be fatal, at least with D size NiMH. I've seen a couple of fires. Series charging is o.k. Research for proper cell voltage. Overcharging will cause electrolyte loss and overheating.

major

 

[Punx0r]

As a 36S1P string you should have no problems. Charge termination is either low rate to a fixed voltage or a faster charge using temperature or voltage delta-T. Flooded cells like yours may be a little different to dry cells, but there should be plenty of info online for precise charging requirements.