Rechargable battery question

[billwilliams]

I have a question about rechargeable NIMH batteries. A regular battery AA has 1.5 volts. A NIMH AA battery has 1.2 volts. So if I have new regular batteries in my Pro 164 the volt display says 6.20 volts. Then I put fresh right off the charger NIMH batteries and the display shows 5.5 volts. Can someone explain the readings to me.. is the display just off .

thanks Bill

 

[gmclam]

My external charger charges my NiMH batteries to about 1.45 volts each (end of charge voltage). 1.45 x 4 = 5.80. As soon as you put a load on them, the voltage will come down and I'd expect it to be no higher than 5.60 volts. I have some NiMH batteries that claim to be 1.25 volts each.

How long do the batteries remain at 5.5 volts under constant load?

 

[billwilliams]

scanner has been of for about 6 hrs, and it's down to 5.9.
does the pro 164 have battery save ? if yes, when it's in TG ID hold does it go into batt save ?

 

[billwilliams]

wow i just read what i typed. 5.5 fresh out of the charger, 6 hrs later 5.9 . how can that happen ??

 

[W2NJS]

The zinc-carbon or alkaline batteries have a standard voltage of about 1.5 volts.
Rechargeable batteries have a low voltage of about 1.2 volts and a "fresh charge" voltage of between 1.35 and 1.45 volts. Some purist once wrote that the nicad standard voltage was 1.33 volts, so take your choice. In low-power requirement units, such as receivers, it doesn't make much difference what type you use. In portable transmitters the zinc-carbon or alkaline batteries can not furnish the stiff current required so there you'd want to use rechargeables. Some Motorola radios have an automatic power adjustment on them that cuts the transmit power in half when zinc-carbon batteries (or alkalines) are used.