I just had eight of my ten white PowerEx 9.6V batteries go bad over a three month period, but this was after more than four years of faithful service.
I consider myself satisfied with the performance they put in, and have replaced them in-kind.
After each use, I just plug them back into the smart-charger and leave them there until the next operating session.
-Fritz Milhaupt, Publications Editor, Pere Marquette Historical Society, Inc.http://www.pmhistsoc.org
The black ones are the Imedions. Mine routinely show 10+ volts when fully charged.
Are any of these Imedions? Or all white PowerEx? Thanks.
Over the years I have purchased sixteen Maha Powerex 9.6 batteries. Out of that 16 (I always write the "in service" date on them) I have had three that are scrap.
When they go bad they WILL leak so be careful to remove them from your throttle. I have a little corrosion starting on the contacts of two of my throttles but I am keeping them clean and wiping them down with CRC 3-36 oil. I notice a little corrosion at the charger terminal, too.
Of the three that I had to scrap, one was five years old, another 2 years and one failed in about 9 months. Random quality control?
I did notice that the first sign of trouble is a blinking red LED on the charger. I made up a 12v lamp with a battery clip and what I found is the battery would take a charge if it was dead flat but this would only buy a month or two before ultimately failing.
I bought two of the Tenergy brand 9V and on first use the terminal pulled off the top when I took it out of the charger! Both batteries!
I'll still use the Powerex since they give the best overall performance. Ed
[edit] I just checked my batteries and 3 of the 4 I put in service in Feb. '09 are still in use.
Tophias
They make both types - the 8.2 and the 9.6. The 8 volt one has a larger ma rating than the 9.6 one has.
Yes they both have the same 9 volt battery case but they change the cell count inside for the 9.6 volt ones.
These are a must with the Digitrax Duplex as the throttles get flakey once the batteries drop below the 8 volt mark!
It applies to the Simplex versions too but not as much.
At least most everyone in our group seems to find them act this way!
BOB H - Clarion, PA
The black ones are the Imedions, and are 9.6V. They are also low self discharge types, like the Enloop AA ones, which means after they are charged and just sitting there in a drawer waiting to be used, they won't die in a week like typical NiMH batteries. They are rated for 1000 recharge cycles, so even if they get charged every day they should last almost 3 years.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Thanks Jim and Bob. One follow up question: I thought the black batteries were not a true 9.6 volt? That's as of 2 years ago when I first bought my original batteries. Has that changed since? Or was I mistaken back then?
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
Thanks Bob, your practice sounds pretty much like what I was doing: running it down until the throttle flashed, putting it onto the (PowerEX) 4 bay charger and pulling it out the next day or the next day after that. So maybe was just my bad luck?
I have used the Power-X (White) Batteries for the past 4 years and had one go bad just recently.
I didn't think it was that bad of a time!
I usually run them in either of my DT400R or Dt402R or Dt402D until they drop off below the 8 volt mark.
The screen usually will begin flashing and I can see the voltage showing something like 7.8 then 6.5 then 5.5 as it just drops off once the battery has dischaged below the 8.0 volt mark.
I just pull the battery and then put it into the Power-X recharger and let it recharge overnight as my regular OPs Sessions are in the evening.
Next day I come down and the Green light is on and I pull the battery and put it in its box as I have 4 batteries so it gives be one extra for my Throttles.
To replace the bad Power-X (white) one I went with the Power-X Imedion (Black) ones.
I haven't had a chance to use them yet as I won't be having OPs Sessions until mid Jan!
Been away for a while, good to be back with you all. Forgive me if this has been discussed in the past. Last year I had some bad luck with 2 new PowerEx 9.6 batteries. They were purchased at separate times, different vendors. After just 3-4 drain/recharge cycles they would not recharge again. Had them tested at BatteriesPlus and they confirmed dead/bad. My bad luck, or my bad practices? So I was wondering if I am running them down too much before recharging? I would run them down until the Digitrax 402D throttle would not respond. That would be drained down to below 7 volts, or thereabouts. My question, what are your best practices for cycling these batteries properly? As always, thanks all!