my nicds are lossing volts?

[monster]

hi

i have 36v, 7ah nicds and nimhs and i have noticed recently that my nicds are slightly lower voltage than the nimh. the nimh are around 40-41v fully charged but the nicd are down to 37-40v fully charged. this has caused heating problems when i have paralleled them after charging.

anyone else experience batteries loosing volts? should i break open the heat shrink and look for shorted cells?

 

[fechter]

Yep, I would. Cells tend to short out over time.

 

[monster]

can nicads take a fast charge?

i have been charging 5ah (measured degraded capacity) cells at upto 3amp ?

 

[fechter]

They can take a fast charge as long as you lower the current as soon as the first cell gets fully charged (or hot). If overcharged, the cells can vent. This only happens when they are really hot.

 

[monster]

oh good