rsarge1 link=topic=9103.msg106356#msg106356 date=1333162331 said:
hi guys well here goes I ran the batteries down to 8 volts, one thing I noted was that when the batteries went below 9 volts they lost charge very fast and I watched them go down from 9volts to 8 volts within a minute. I then placed them on the chargers and both chargers had no problems and started charging the batteries so they did recognize the batteries after being low on charge, but both my chargers after a few minutes went into a fast charge and did not shut down, I checked the chargers and batteries and they were hot to the touch so I then tested the batteries to see what charge they had, almost all batteries were charged to 1.8 volts way over the 1.6 volt capacity, I will be watching this closely and might have to call the company. Hope this answers your question Martin, these batteries last quite a long time but I would not let them get below the 9.5 volt mark.
Sarge
one thing I noted was that when the batteries went below 9 volts they lost charge very fast and I watched them go down from 9volts to 8 volts within a minute
Thanks for the follow up. I am very interested to find out how that pack which showed the fast discharge functions after the next two discharge and charge cycles. My experience has been that once I have experienced the scenario of actually seeing the fast discharge on the V3is meter, a cell was doomed, even if it showed that it charged on the next charge cycle. Then, I would invaribly get another dead cell next time out, as the faliure of one cell begins to suck the life out of an adjoining sell. The charger charges these cells in pairs, so if you happen to have a weak or dead cell paired up in the charger with the lame or dead one, you might get a green light saying charged, but that pair hasn't really been charged. Feeling the pack getting hot is another indication of the problem.
Before I close, I want to say that I do use my NiZn batteries. I just make sure to carry 16 in the field, along with the factory pack. I've had 2 NiZn packs fail in as many consecutive days(2.) I'll wager that most all V3i users of these batteries who try to discharge these to low voltages such as the factory pack allows, will cook a of cell each time somewhere under 10V.
I read this review and it stated my experiences so I thought I would enter it here. Hopefully Powergenix has resolved these issues as of late. I will certainly follow any new reports about them. This an old review from 2010.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'd love to love these batteries, but they haven't solved the quality control problems. My first set had a cell stop charging after only a few uses. I had them replaced, but am still having problems. Used in sets of 4, one cell will invariably die out early. Since most devices won't complain since the voltage is still higher than 4 NiMH cells, that weak cell gets overdischarged. Then, it won't charge properly.
The Powergenix charger exacerbates the problem. It charges in pairs, but only has one indicator light. So put in a bad cell with a good cell, and it won't charge either. But put in 3 good cells and one bad cell, and the light will indicate. However, only TWO of the cells are being charged. The light turns green, but two cells are still uncharged. The dead cell can only be rejuvenated by a high voltage pulse, but you may not know which paired cell to charge with. Pair it with a good cell, and it will either not charge completely, or overcharge the good cell.
So now I'm forced to baby my cells to avoid overdischarging any of them, and possibly starting to mark cells and track them to find stragglers. Now if I'm lucky, I'll have ONE working set after buying two...and it's a laborious science project every time I need to recharge them to make sure I actually get out anything useful. Maybe if I'm lucky the remaining cells will put themselves out of my misery
