Quick question on multimeter testing AA batteries

[FJ and G]

Well, I've got my R/C gear to install in my toy trains but I suspect that my new Radio Shack charging unit is not working correctly, as the LED charging light didn’t come on in one charging bay. (there are 4 bays for total of 8 AAs that can be charged simultaneously)

Sooo, I brought my digital multimeter to work to test each battery for charge. However, I don’t know how to use the multimeter.

Options include (which do I use--lost instruction book):

V

uA/A

mA/A

Ohms

Hz

EF

Thanks

[csxt30]

Dave : my meter reads batteries at DC-V. Mine is older, but you should have DC on there somewhere. If they are fully charged ni-cads, they read around 1.40, or so.
That's each.
Thanks,

[phillyreading]

Dave; you should be using the setting for DC volts. Not sure about ni-cad baterries but new Duracell batteries should read around 1.61 volts each, I find that a reading under
1.39 for AA batteries to be bad(regular batteries). Ni-cad batteries may be better because you think that you are not spending as much money on batteries but I have had little or no success with ni-cad batteries.
Lee F.

[FJ and G]

Thanks, guys!

Used the V setting and found some batteries 1.35 and 1.4.

For the 1.35, should I discharge them first and then recharge from scratch or put them back into the recharger as is and recharge?

Thanks

[lionelsoni]

Nickel-cadmium cells should usually be fully discharged before recharging. Otherwise they come to have only the fraction of their original capacity that you habitually use.

[FJ and G]

thanks, Much all!

Got it all working. This weekend will try and rewire the locomotive and will post results on Monday, perhaps.

[Jim Duda]

He actually has NiMh 2000 mah cells...so the "memory" issue is moot...the charger he has most likely charges at the C/10 rate (150 - 200 mah) so charge them overnight...can't hurt anything.

[dwiemer]

[#ditto] Jim, as usual, you are correct. They used to say that with the older batteries, you would have to discharge as mentioned earlier, but these new ones don't have the memory issue. I have yet to see if they actually last longer than properly charged older batteries.
Dennis