Multiplier Ni-Mh batteries-your opinion!

FFCARTER46 · Post by **FFCARTER46** » Sat Jan 11, 2003 6:37 pm

hi,

i was planning on buying a multiplier ni-mh battery for my mts2000! please offer advice about these batteries you may care to share! so far i have heard they are good but i thought i would ask the pros! thanks

USPSS · Post by **USPSS** » Sat Jan 11, 2003 6:56 pm

NiMH batteries have about 300 to 400 charge cycles before they get to 80% capacity while NiCD have 600-800 cycles. This is vis technical white sheets from both Panasonic & Sanyo. The NiMH still does have a memory effect but not like NiCD, the memory effect take about 60% more short charge cycles to show. LiOH batteries have about 500-600 charge cycles and have much less memory effect, they too can get a memory but you would really have to work on that.
NiMH batteries with the proper filtering work great, more bang for your buck, but only buy what you need so you do not end up not using the entire charge cycle.
Multiplier make NiMH OEM batteries for 7 of the 8 major radio manufaturers as OEM products, only 1 othe manufacturer makes for OEM and that is Centurion so these companies must make a quality product.

EngineerZ · Post by **EngineerZ** » Sun Jan 12, 2003 12:51 pm

I have a Multiplier 2700 mAh NiMH battery for one of my Sabers and I absolutely love it. I believe what USPSS says is true, the NiMH battery gets fewer full charge cycles than a NiCd, but it does have it's advantages too. For given physical size, the NiMH battery will have more capacity than a NiCd. The NiMH also has a better "shelf life." (i.e. It will retain it's charge longer when it's just sitting on the shelf....) With these two advantages you may get equivalent or better performance with the NiMH if you're not always dropping it in the charger.

Personally, the NiMH works better for me because I use the radio intermittantly. I can go weeks, (or once in a while, even months) between charges. Since it is hard for me to use a full NiCd charge and maintain a regular charge cycle, the NiMH suits my needs well.

I think you need to look at how you use the radio to figure out what type of battery to buy. If you use the radio daily and charge it every night, you're probably better off with a NiCd. If you use the radio for a couple of hours every couple of days, the NiMH may be a better choice. (Another hint, if you have the option to use a "standard rate" charger instead of a rapid charger, you may get better batteyr performance as well. There's a school of thought that rapid chargers are pretty rough on batteries due to the heat generated in the battery...)

My experience with Multiplier in general is that they make a top-rate product...

Just my $0.02..

--z

Will · Post by **Will** » Sun Jan 12, 2003 2:25 pm

I also recomend the Multipier NiMH batteries for "extended" use like on ocaision, then the radio sits like some of mine.

I by from: Electrocomm West, Lary.
and Jeanne ( board member)in S. D. CA.

Post by **wavetar** » Sun Jan 12, 2003 5:29 pm

EngineerZ wrote:The NiMH also has a better "shelf life." (i.e. It will retain it's charge longer when it's just sitting on the shelf....)
--z

From what I understand it's the opposite. In the past, when NiMH first came out, I'd read that NiCD will self discharge at approx 2% per day for the first 10 days or so, then it drops off at a slower rate. NiMH will self discharge at approx 6% per day for an equivalent time, before dropping to a slower rate. From what I've read lately these rates have dropped by about 50% (see the link below), but the NiMH still discharges at 2 to 3 times the rate of NiCD. NAND had posted a link to an excellent article on rechargeable batteries of all types, but I appear to have lost it. The following is pretty good & straight forward.

http://users.iafrica.com/u/un/uniross/Technical.htm

Todd

EngineerZ · Post by **EngineerZ** » Sun Jan 12, 2003 6:40 pm

wavetar wrote:
EngineerZ wrote:The NiMH also has a better "shelf life." (i.e. It will retain it's charge longer when it's just sitting on the shelf....)
--z
From what I understand it's the opposite. In the past, when NiMH first came out, I'd read that NiCD will self discharge at approx 2% per day for the first 10 days or so, then it drops off at a slower rate. NiMH will self discharge at approx 6% per day for an equivalent time, before dropping to a slower rate. From what I've read lately these rates have dropped by about 50% (see the link below), but the NiMH still discharges at 2 to 3 times the rate of NiCD

Interesting.... I never did any sort of comparison... the statement above was a gut feeling... Perhaps my NiMH self-discharge rate has appeared to be slower becasue the battery capacity is so much larger the the NiCds I usually work with... Sorry to post flakey information here. However, since NiMH batteries handle unoptimal charge cycles better than NiCds, I still recommend NiCds for regular use, NiMHs for "irregular" use.

Also, the article that Todd linked to also mentioned operating temperature. NiMH batteries don't like the cold. (Most battery types don't.) NiCd batteries can tolerate the cold a little better than NiMH.

--z

FFCARTER46 · Post by **FFCARTER46** » Sun Jan 12, 2003 7:48 pm

hey,

thanks everyone for the replys! well since i use the radio everyday(fire dept.) i guess ill stick to NiCd! thanks for helping me make my decision!!