Cheap NIMHS

[DNAXdiver]

hey all you homebuilders batterystation www.batterystation.com has 4000mah 3/2 A nhims for $1.50 each

these are the same size more or less batteries halcyon and dan etc are using in their packs

they are a bit out of date but seem to work just fine great for all you homebuilder who want to build a $42 helios clone

tell them i Roderick T Whitecastle sent you so i get my commision

 

[DanL]

DNAX -
$42 Helios clone? Where are the plans or info on how to do that?
Thanks much,
Dan

 

[JamieZ]

Halcyon and Stealthlight use the 4500mah batteries. Not to say you couldnt make yourself a battery pack with the 4000mah but you'll only get about half the burn. Which is fine for the folks that aren't doing cave dives which usually run longer then 2 hr's per dive.

 

[omar]

A note of caution... do not solder any rechargeable battery directly. You can ruin the battery and there is a small chance that it will explode when you are soldering on it as well. You need ones with solder tabs.

DNAX are you going to use the commission for english lessons?

omar

 

[DNAXdiver]

not sure about your math 4000mah seems to work out to a little more than half of 4500mah to me but i never was good with numbers

however talk to divelight makers you will find that 4000s and 4500s are often used interchangeably some bat manufacturors are more conservative in there ratings than others so the difference inst nec what it seems

no one is saying these batts are perfect just a real good deal for anyone who wants to build a cheap nhim cannister or spare pak

omar good point thanks for bringing it up they will put solder tabs on the batts gratis if you ask but you got to remember to ask

scubanarc once bubbled...
Halcyon and Stealthlight use the 4500mah batteries. Not to say you couldnt make yourself a battery pack with the 4000mah but you'll only get about half the burn. Which is fine for the folks that aren't doing cave dives which usually run longer then 2 hr's per dive.

 

[MikeS]

Has anyone tried using C-cell NiMH batteries in a scout? The battery station lists 4500mah Button top c-cells for $5 each. Since I tend to change out the c-cells in the scout every dive day, a backup light with dead batteries is useless, they would pay for themselves quickly. I assume that I could charge them in a cheap Radio Shack battery holder attached to the Maha MH-C777Plus Universal Charger used to charge my Stealth Dive batteries. Any guesses as to the burn time of a scout with three 4500 mam NiMH c-cell batteries?

 

[DNAXdiver]

Conventional wisdom is you don't want

MikeS once bubbled...
Has anyone tried using C-cell NiMH batteries in a scout? The battery station lists 4500mah Button top c-cells for $5 each. Since I tend to change out the c-cells in the scout every dive day, a backup light with dead batteries is useless, they would pay for themselves quickly. I assume that I could charge them in a cheap Radio Shack battery holder attached to the Maha MH-C777Plus Universal Charger used to charge my Stealth Dive batteries. Any guesses as to the burn time of a scout with three 4500 mam NiMH c-cell batteries?

 

[Scubaroo]

MikeS once bubbled...
Since I tend to change out the c-cells in the scout every dive day

Why are you changing the batteries out each time you dive (or did I misread that)? You can buy Duracell batteries that have an expiry date of 2009! If you're not using your backups, you should only have to be changing the batteries once a year (just to be anal even though they have a rated shelf life of 5-6 years).

On the other hand, if you are using the "backups" on each dive, even though NiMH batteries in backups aren't "DIR", if you're already changing the batteries each day, charging the batteries each dive day shouldn't make much of a difference. You probably should do a side-by-side alkaline/NiMH burn test though.

 

[MikeS]

Scubaroo once bubbled...
Why are you changing the batteries out each time you dive (or did I misread that)?

Not after every dive but after I go diving and for several reasons.
1. I don’t like storing the batteries in the flashlight. If a battery ruptures there goes my $80 flashlight.
2. You cannot be sure that the light didn’t come on accidentally during a dive. I have had this happen several times. After checking the light on shore or on the boat it is possible to turn the bezel only enough so that the light goes out but the pressure differential at depth causes it to come back on. With the light clipped to a shoulder d-ring and bungeed to the strap it is almost impossible to tell that the light is on.

The gist is when I need the backup light I want it to come and have the maximum practical burn time. Since there is no easy way to confirm how much battery life is left, the safest thing to do is to throw the batteries away (or give them to the kids) at the end of a diving day.

 

[JamieZ]

By the way, batteries are 4/3A 4000mah not 3/2 and their called NiMh. They will work thats one thing you were right about.