[time-nuts] Sulzer 5A & 5P PSU/battery question

[lists at lazygranch.com]

It has been my experience with nicad and NiMH, the higher the cell capacity, the shorter the battery life. Not for cycles, but in terms of years.

I designed a charger chip for bridging applications. Bridging batteries are used to maintain a system while you swap battery packs. The batteries used in a bridging scheme have poor volumetric energy density. (Capacity based on volume.) These bridging batteries come equipped with leads, that is they are intended to last the life of the device.

My gut feeling is if you want nicad or NiMH batteries that last a long time, go for batteries designed for fast charging like those used in remote control cars. 

Stating the obvious, but just in case, any pack you roll yourself should use batteries with tabs on them. Never solder directly to a battery. If the battery doesn't come with tabs attached, you need to get them from a battery house with electroweld capability.
 
I've use TNR Technical for battery pack construction. But I wouldn't rule out other vendors. This isn't exactly rocket science unless you need to mount a thermistor in the pack. 
-----Original Message-----
From: paul swed <paulswedb at gmail.com>
Sender: time-nuts-bounces at febo.com
Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2012 17:21:11 
To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement<time-nuts at febo.com>
Reply-To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
	<time-nuts at febo.com>
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Sulzer 5A & 5P PSU/battery question

Nimh is indeed the answer to replacing nicads but they are not inexpensive.
The other thing is that the energy densities have gone up over the years so
you can use a smaller footprint. But you have to check the charge rates.
Typically .1c for slow.

I have old nicads from HP that indeed still work pretty well after 30
years. The modern batteries will last 5. Could be lots of reasons. But
thats what I see. Whatever you do, don't buy nicads they are still sold.
Issue is they have been on the shelf for a long time and are a waste of
money.
Regards
Paul

On Thu, Nov 1, 2012 at 5:11 PM, Tom Knox <actast at hotmail.com> wrote:

>
> Hi Magnus;
> I have looked several times for an article that explains charging
> perimeters for the various types of batteries on the market.  So many freq
> standards have outdated battery technology. It would be nice to find an
> modern alternative battery that does not require much modification to the
> charge circuit.
> Best Wishes;
> Thomas Knox
>
>
>
> > Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2012 21:51:21 +0100
> > From: magnus at rubidium.dyndns.org
> > To: time-nuts at febo.com
> > Subject: [time-nuts] Sulzer 5A & 5P PSU/battery question
> >
> > Fellow time-nuts,
> >
> > Yesterday I picked up a Sulzer 5A + 5P without batteries. It is supposed
> > to have 21 D-cell NiCd batteries, but today those are not easy to come
> > by, so I wonder if I can either run the PSU safely without battery or if
> > I can swap in lead-batteries.
> >
> > I know that some of you have these, so I would value your input.
> >
> > I did try to run it a short time without batteries, but the 5 MHz output
> > did not work very well, so I turned it off.
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Magnus
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts at febo.com
> > To unsubscribe, go to
> https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
> > and follow the instructions there.
>
> _______________________________________________
> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts at febo.com
> To unsubscribe, go to
> https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
> and follow the instructions there.
>
_______________________________________________
time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts at febo.com
To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts
and follow the instructions there.