kcrudup@lotus.com (Kenny Crudup LID-A0794) (07/03/90)
In article <5879@videovax.tv.tek.com> bill@videovax.tv.tek.com (William K. McFadden) writes: >If you really want to use batteries, definitely use the high capacity type. >The best deal I've seen for high cap. nicads >is Radio Shack, believe it or not. Their 4.0 AH D cell is $7, which is a lot >cheaper than any other source I have seen. Don't waste your money on the >consumer type 1.2 AH cells. They're cheaper, but they just don't add up when >you consider capacity (and a boom box needs a lot of that). Due to some aggressive shopping, I now have 30 (yup, thirty :-) D-cell Ni-Cads and a 7-hour charger. I also have a boom box that takes 10 of these suckers and uses (draws? wastes?) 45W (out the AC line; the batts probably draw 80% of that, so let's assume ~2.4 amps). I haven't made any real-time current checks, but they last a couple hours before I'm into another set. I'd like to go with hi-cap Ni-Cads, but the chargers I've seen for them tend to be expensive (to do a set of 10, I'd need 3 4-cell chargers at $50/pop). I think the expense is due to the fact that they charge in about 1hr, and there is some overcharge protection circuitry built in. Can I charge hi-cap Ni-Cads in a regular (this one is a 7- vs. 14- hour charger, though) charger, my only tradeoff being time? Also, I was able to get 30 D-cells at fire sale prices, and only spent $50 for them all. What is the best price seen for hi-caps? Are all makers hi-caps the same? Can I assume that all the ones I have now (GE and Rat Shack) are only 1.2 A/H? -- Kenneth R. Crudup, Lotus Development Corp. Contractor, NASD/QA system V 1 Rogers Street 6381D, Cambridge, MA 02142. (617) 693 4111. kcrudup@roxbury.lotus.com, ...!lotus!roxbury!kcrudup "I'll even use a word that don't mean nothin', like 'loopid'."