UK Light Cannon Rechargeable Batteries

[scubacalifornia]

I know that using NiMH rechargeable batteries with the UK Light Cannon has been contemplated in older threads, and I've read both the pros and cons of doing so. I've had very good luck with my Light Cannon, but am tired of keeping Duracel in business and polluting the land with all of my dead batteries. I'm not interested in the UK rechargeable pack because it's NiCad (which means battery memory), expensive ($99), and from what I gather doesn't give the light a long run time (about 2 hours).

I wrote UK about the compatibility of using NiMH batteries in the Light Cannon, and thought it would be worthwhile posting their response:

"The light Cannon will work using the NiMH batteries. Please be aware of battery contact issues and battery reverse polarity. There is a potential of reduced battery life if you allow the light to fully drain the batteries. This does not hurt the light, just reduces the battery life. Recommend frequent charging. The NiMH batteries should be of good quality, and have high amp hours. The 5000mAh as suggested should work. Please be aware some battery manufactures misrepresent their products and the battery output is far below what they advertise and what the product needs. Thank you for using Underwater Kinetics products.
Sincerely,
Mark Williams
Manufacturing Support Manager
Underwater Kinetics
13400 Danielson Street
Poway, CA 92064

A friend went to Yap last year and 5 divers were using the Light Cannon with 4500 mAh NiMH batteries. Of those, 3 lights blew their ballasts. My friend surmises there's a correlation between the warm water and these failures. He hasn't had any problem in the cooler waters of Southern California. UK replaced all those blown ballasts at no charge, and in general I get the feeling they are very supportive of their products.

I bought a really nice Vanson microprocessor-controlled charger (with individual channels for each battery), and eight 5,000 mAh NiMH batteries from batteryspace.com last night. With shipping and tax, the entire purchase ran $63.

Cheers,
Kevin

 

[kazinvan]

Good to know. I may get one of those too. I disagree with your comment about 2 hour battery life. I use the nicad in my LC and get about 6-8 dives before a recharge. Dives range in time from 30-60 min. I woud say 4 hour average runtime, maybe a bit more.

M

 

[humanFish]

Good to know. I may get one of those too. I disagree with your comment about 2 hour battery life. I use the nicad in my LC and get about 6-8 dives before a recharge. Dives range in time from 30-60 min. I woud say 4 hour average runtime, maybe a bit more.

M

My wife and I both have Light Cannons. We have only 1 LC rechargeable pack between us...which I tend to use. I generally get about 4 hours of life out of the battery....although I tend to charge it when I can. One thing about the LC rechargable I don't like is that you are supposed to charge it until it's warm. It would be nice if there was an indicator light built in. I'm not sure if it's bad to leave it plugged in long after it's done charging. Anyone know? I usually check it from time to time...but often I'll let it charge overnight....

good to know about UK's response and the blown ballasts....as I was thinking of an alternate solution to duracells for the other light. Keep us posted on how your solution works for you.

 

[Hoosier]

Kevin,

Thanks for your good info.

But, I am wondering if you got the right shippment without any issue. I know that "batteryspace.com" has been used by many members this board. It is very hard to contact them by email (no response) and through a Live chat that is a gimmick....It has been the same automated reply "All operators are currently assisting others. Thanks for your patience. An operator will be with you shortly." last two days. Therefore, I am curious if this shop is reliable source. I hope there will be no need for the warranty after buying some stuff from them. Thanks for sharing your experiences in advance.

I bought a really nice Vanson microprocessor-controlled charger (with individual channels for each battery), and eight 5,000 mAh NiMH batteries from batteryspace.com last night. With shipping and tax, the entire purchase ran $63.

Cheers,
Kevin

 

[scubacalifornia]

Kevin,

Thanks for your good info.

But, I am wondering if you got the right shippment without any issue. I know that "batteryspace.com" has been used by many members this board. It is very hard to contact them by email (no response) and through a Live chat that is a gimmick....It has been the same automated reply "All operators are currently assisting others. Thanks for your patience. An operator will be with you shortly." last two days. Therefore, I am curious if this shop is reliable source. I hope there will be no need for the warranty after buying some stuff from them. Thanks for sharing your experiences in advance.

No complaints whatsoever in dealing with them. They shipped by UPS the day after I ordered, and the equipment was exactly as I expected. I make a lot of my purchases on line, and this transaction was as smooth as it gets.

I'm taking the UK out on Sunday for its first run with the new batteries. It will be interesting to see just how many dives I get from one charge, because I've heard varying reports from others who are using the same configuration. By the way, the individual batteries on batteryspace.com were about $2.70 each. I found 5,000 mAh batteries on another website for over $4 each, but they called them "titanium" and claimed they're better than any others out there. I don't buy into the hype much, but I am curious if there's anything inside the battery casing that could make a difference and give one brand better storage properties than another, assuming they are both truly 5,000mAH. I suspect not.

Final note: I really like the Vanson charger. I put the second set of four batteries into it, and left town for 2-1/2 days. They're fully charged and not warm; no risk of overcharging them or not charging them enough with an intelligent charger like this one, and I like the fact that each battery has a dedicated channel.

Cheers,
Kevin

 

[Hoosier]

Thanks Kevin,

I need to buy 16 pcs C cell and charger. But, like you said, I find out that the charger only holds 4 pcs at a time. So, I am thinking it can be PITA to recharge 16 pcs if it takes a long time to be fully recharged (5000Mah). Does it take at least one day for a full recharge?

No complaints whatsoever in dealing with them. They shipped by UPS the day after I ordered, and the equipment was exactly as I expected. I make a lot of my purchases on line, and this transaction was as smooth as it gets.

I'm taking the UK out on Sunday for its first run with the new batteries. It will be interesting to see just how many dives I get from one charge, because I've heard varying reports from others who are using the same configuration. By the way, the individual batteries on batteryspace.com were about $2.70 each. I found 5,000 mAh batteries on another website for over $4 each, but they called them "titanium" and claimed they're better than any others out there. I don't buy into the hype much, but I am curious if there's anything inside the battery casing that could make a difference and give one brand better storage properties than another, assuming they are both truly 5,000mAH. I suspect not.

Final note: I really like the Vanson charger. I put the second set of four batteries into it, and left town for 2-1/2 days. They're fully charged and not warm; no risk of overcharging them or not charging them enough with an intelligent charger like this one, and I like the fact that each battery has a dedicated channel.

Cheers,
Kevin

 

[scubacalifornia]

Thanks Kevin,

I need to buy 16 pcs C cell and charger. But, like you said, I find out that the charger only holds 4 pcs at a time. So, I am thinking it can be PITA to recharge 16 pcs if it takes a long time to be fully recharged (5000Mah). Does it take at least one day for a full recharge?

I definitely suggest you buy a second charger. The charger can be had for about $25 and with that many cells, it would be worth the investment. The instruction sheet says the charge current for C's is 700 mA/h. I guess that means about 7-8 hours for a completely drained 5K battery. The charger goes into a "trickle" mode when the charge is complete, and I've heard that leaving them on for 2-3 extra hours may help ensure they are totally full - kind of like topping off your gas tank. By the way, the NiMH batteries are typically 1.2V vs. 1.5V for regular batteries. I measured my new ones after charging, and they were between 1.32 and 1.34V.
Kevin

 

[Hoosier]

Kevin,

As you advised, I bought two chargers with 16 C-Cells. If you don't mind, I have a couple of question;



1. Have you had a chance to use your light with fully charged battery? If then, how long did it last? I used UK Cannon after charing the battery full. It only lasts 2 hours. It is supposed to be at least 4 hours, isn't it?



2. After seeing the green light (not tickle mode this time), I took the battery out and recharge it after one hour. And then, the battery got hot (not warm) on the red light. We can’t recharge it anytime we want? It isn’t a memory battery, is it?



BTW, I just grab 48 C cell batteries at $12….

I definitely suggest you buy a second charger. The charger can be had for about $25 and with that many cells, it would be worth the investment. The instruction sheet says the charge current for C's is 700 mA/h. I guess that means about 7-8 hours for a completely drained 5K battery. The charger goes into a "trickle" mode when the charge is complete, and I've heard that leaving them on for 2-3 extra hours may help ensure they are totally full - kind of like topping off your gas tank. By the way, the NiMH batteries are typically 1.2V vs. 1.5V for regular batteries. I measured my new ones after charging, and they were between 1.32 and 1.34V.
Kevin

 

[scubacalifornia]

Kevin,
As you advised, I bought two chargers with 16 C-Cells. If you don't mind, I have a couple of question;

1. Have you had a chance to use your light with fully charged battery? If then, how long did it last? I used UK Cannon after charing the battery full. It only lasts 2 hours. It is supposed to be at least 4 hours, isn't it?

2. After seeing the green light (not tickle mode this time), I took the battery out and recharge it after one hour. And then, the battery got hot (not warm) on the red light. We can’t recharge it anytime we want? It isn’t a memory battery, is it?

BTW, I just grab 48 C cell batteries at $12….

Hi Hoosier: I haven't had much chance to evaluate the run time yet. I charged all the batteries initially, then got busy and wound up leaving them on the charger a good 24 hours longer than needed. They were completely cool despite that.

I used the light for the first time this morning - about an hour. It was as bright as with Duracels. I won't be out again until next weekend and I don't plan on recharging it. I'll see what happens. I can tell you that NiMH batteries don't have battery memory like NiCads. The charger can also completely discharge the batteries before recharging if you like, though I don't think that's necessary.

That's a great deal on C cells if they're alkaline, and especially if they're name-brand batteries. Let me know how those work for you. I've been buying C cells at Costco for about $10 a dozen.

Cheers,
Kevin

 

[bgi]

NiCad memory issues are old news from the early technology used in satellites. It has been decades since NiCads really suffered from memory problems. While both NiCad and NiMH cells can be damaged by overcharging, NiMH batteries are more sensitive. Overcharging either at a slow rate will cause voltage depression (probably what people call "memory" problems) while overcharging them at a fast rate will destroy them. Consider getting a good quality peak-detection charger to prevent damage. If your instructions say to "stop charging when the batteries get warm" then the charger is crap and the manufacturer should do better because once they get warm, they are fully charged - more charge time will damage the cells. There are many quality chargers out there. See www.rcuniverse.com batteries forum for good info on batteries. These guys are serious about batteries. When one fails, a plane or heli will crash (if flying) or go out of control (on the ground) with potential injury, death, or property damage. <http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/forumid_84/tt.htm>