 | | Re: Pure Energy & the RCX
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Regarding Rechargeable Alkaline Batteries: DON'T USE THEM DON'T USE THEM DON'T USE THEM DON'T USE THEM Wh- ..Why? you ask, bewildered. Well, I suppose maybe my reaction is a bit strong, but I absolutely hate these batteries. They're a nightmare to (...) (25 years ago, 17-Nov-99, to lugnet.robotics)
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| | Re: Pure Energy & the RCX
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I've been using them in a GPS for a couple years. They don't get a lot of use, but I've never had any problem. When using the GPS I like being able to always start out the day with a fresh set of batteries. I probably never did a full discharge of (...) (25 years ago, 17-Nov-99, to lugnet.robotics)
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| | Re: Pure Energy & the RCX
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I fully concur. They seem to work well initially, but managing a set of them is fraught with peril. It wouldn't be so bad if there was a "bad battery" tester. But there isn't. So some freak battery that isn't cutting it gets in your pack, and you (...) (25 years ago, 17-Nov-99, to lugnet.robotics)
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| | Re: Pure Energy & the RCX
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(...) Yep, and when one is bad, it takes down the rest of 'em... (...) Don't know about retail and shelf space and so on, but I know there's one distributor that gets first pick of all sub-c Sanyo NiCd's that come off the line.... (...) Well, that's (...) (25 years ago, 17-Nov-99, to lugnet.robotics)
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| | Pictures of RCX on external batteries
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Kevin, I'm already using a set-up as you described. I suppose this is what you mean: (URL) you can see, I'm using 8 NiMH cells. This gives approx 9.6 volts. The motors actually run slightly faster than on regular alkaline batteries (and a lot (...) (25 years ago, 17-Nov-99, to lugnet.robotics)
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| | Re: Pure Energy & the RCX
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It's strange to see you describe the "how to find the bad cell" problem with reference to Alkaline cells, then go right on and suggest the use of Ni-Cad battery packs! Ni-Cad battery packs have the same problem that any other type of serial (...) (25 years ago, 18-Nov-99, to lugnet.robotics)
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| | Re: Pure Energy & the RCX
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I don't know about other rechargables, but bad Ni-Cds can be identified. The charger I use has a test mode which measures the battery's characteristics (perhaps putting a load on it a observing the voltage discharge curve?) and indicates its output (...) (25 years ago, 18-Nov-99, to lugnet.robotics)
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| | Re: Pictures of RCX on external batteries
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(...) Yep! That's the beastie! Although in my mind's eye I was using sub-C cells, as I've got plenty of them. And I was soldering them together, as I've done it before. But we can do all sorts of things in our minds' eyes, no? :) It occurs to me (...) (25 years ago, 18-Nov-99, to lugnet.robotics)
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| | Re: Pure Energy & the RCX
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(...) Actually, finding a bad NiCd is easy - split the battery into its component cells, and individually charge/discharge them (or even just check their voltage and polarity if they're REALLY shot) to rate their characteristics. Dedicated racers, (...) (25 years ago, 18-Nov-99, to lugnet.robotics)
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| | Re: Pure Energy & the RCX
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Robert Munafo <munafo@gcctechNO.SPAMcom> wrote in message news:FLExzw.6yG@lugnet.com... (...) with (...) Ni-Cad (...) It may seem so, but the years of experience with NiCd, and the support for them is much better. For example, most serious packs are (...) (25 years ago, 19-Nov-99, to lugnet.robotics)
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| | Re: Pure Energy & the RCX
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No, you all missed the point. Jack was talking about the idea of LEGO(r) providing an external NiCad battery pack solution to certain perceived problem (the difficulty of taking a robot apart in order to change the batteries in an RCX, Scout, etc.). (...) (25 years ago, 19-Nov-99, to lugnet.robotics)
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| | Re: Pure Energy & the RCX
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Hey, all I want is to have the smallest lightest RCX and that means leaving the batteries out of it. I don't really care how they do the connectors. I even have one of those boxes with the button. I just think power source and power sink should be (...) (25 years ago, 21-Nov-99, to lugnet.robotics)
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