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iPower battery voltage


David Waelder

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I rather like the idea of using rechargeable batteries wherever possible and heard many good thing about the iPower system so I purchased a charger and set of four 9-volt batteries.

In charging the batteries for the first time, I am measuring voltages that seem much lower than I would expect.

I measured the voltage of the batteries before putting them on charge. When just unwrapped, they measured from 7.3 - 7.6 volts. A bit low but, then, they had never been charged.

After a full charge (with the charger carefully switched to the LiOn setting) the cells still measured only 8.3 or 8.4 volts. I'm using a good meter that has always given me accurate readings in the past. I left the cells on charge for several extra hours in the event that they might come up higher after trickle charge. But additional time does not seem to have any appreciable effect.

Voltage well under 9 volts seems much lower than I would expect, especially in the absence of a load. 

Do these cells start low and gradually come up to spec after several charge-discharge cycles? Or have I received some duds?

I've not used them in any way, save to charge them. What experience have others had with them? (And my apologies to iPower if there's nothing wrong and I'm raising a fuss for nothing. Since I haven't yet used the batteries, I can't be sure there really is anything wrong; it just seems odd to me.)

David Waelder

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David,

I've been using iPowers since they had the often dud'ed 400mAh's. The 500mAH's are a different story, and I love them. I have over 20 - 500mAh in service, and the highest I have ever seen one go is 8.6v, and that only happened once. But typically they will hover around 8.3-8.45v, on average. I do have a few that won't break the 8.3v, but hover around 8.25-8.29v, with no noticable operation difference. Don't let that fool you though, you will get around 4-5 hours of operation in a UM400, easily. Ever since the failed 400mAh's, I've ALWAYS metered them as soon as I see the GREEN indication on the charger. If you let the battery discharge fully, you can occasionally get a false GREEN on the charger and need to recharge the battery for an additional 5 minutes or so to bring it up to full charge.

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David,

Yep, the voltages you're getting are normal.  I, too, was concerned when I first measured mine but (so far with a dozen in service) they seem to work beautifully.  Nice, quick recharge, too.

Michael, 

I haven't normally run mine until they die so how quickly do they quit after you get a low voltage reading from the transmitter?

Thanks,

John Blankenship, C.A.S.

Indianapolis (Super Bowl Champions!)

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John,

I always religiously turn off the Tx when we are between setups(for several reasons, I am sure we are all aware of), so some days I was getting a full day out of just 1 battery. And would occasionally lose one before the day ended.....doh:) But now I change at lunch and never run them down, either. From my tests early on, you only have about a minute after the Tx hits the RED LED or the Rx starts blinking the battery meter. Just like the Li-ion NP1's, they hold a good charge to a point and then drop like a brick...fast. To me it seemed like Alkalines held the RED LED longer on my Tx, or the blinking indicator on the Rx. So now, if it's ORANGE, I change. (Obviously this is with the 400 series Lectro's)

Congrats on the Colts.....Packer fanatic here, so ANYONE but the Bears!

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