Joe wrote:
I found 1.2 V 2.5 AH 1/2 D cells for $5.50 ea. On the internet. I would like to find a cheaper source since I need 20 of them, enough for two packs, one pack on each side of the Battery PCB.
Available NiCds exhibit a huge range of quality. Also, series strings last much better if the cells are matched for capacity and leakage. The best results I've ever had with NiCds are with packs made up by SR Batteries (www.srbatteries.com/). He carries extremely high quality cells and matches them for series packs. I doubt his prices are the lowest, but you will not find better, longer-lasting packs than his. Usual disclaimers.
Finally, you do NOT want to solder to NiCD cells -- welded tabs only. I did a study for a client some years ago, which showed that soldering, even very quickly and carefully, had disastrous effects on NiCd battery life.
I wonder what would be better, SLA or NiCd's? The NiCd's had 'spewed' and corroded the PCB a bit but I have that cleaned up. I have seen SLA's (in UPS's) 'shrivel' and get very hot as they die.
The charging protocols are very different, so you are committed to what was there before unless you re-engineer the charging system. Since even a repair to the 732A charging circuit, which is then adjusted to specification according to the manual, throws the unit out of calibration, changing the battery type and re-engineering a charger could have unfortunate effects on the standard's stability. For practical purposes, you are probably committed to the NiCds that were there unless you are willing to install SLAs and clone the 732A charging circuit.
Best regards, Charles _______________________________________________ volt-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volt-nuts and follow the instructions there.
