Battery Use; Battery Charging - Tait T3040II Operator's Manual

Battery Use

Both NiCd and NiMH batteries perform best when they are not
repeatedly recharged after only short periods of use - ie the
battery should be allowed to substantially run down before
recharging. To ensure a long and trouble-free battery life it is
recommended that you get into the routine of using the radio
until the "low battery" indication appears, before recharging it
fully.
If your application makes it inconvenient to follow such a rou-
tine, you should still ensure that the battery is fully discharged
and recharged at least once every week. This can be done
either by using a suitable charger with inbuilt discharge func-
tion (see "Battery Problems"), or by using the radio until it
switches itself off and then recharging the battery fully.
Both types of batteries will also self-discharge - ie if the bat-
tery is charged and then left to sit without being used, it will
gradually discharge by itself. NiMH batteries can self-discharge
in less than one week if left in warm moist air. NiCd batteries
self-discharge more slowly. To prevent self-discharge, batter-
ies may be left in the charger, after the green "full charge" light
has illuminated.

Battery Charging

Tait rechargeable batteries must only be charged using Tait
specified charging equipment. There are several models of
battery charger available which fall into two basic types, "trickle"
and "fast".
Tait trickle chargers charge the battery slowly but do not sense
when a battery has been fully charged. To avoid repetitive over-
charging, it is important to avoid making a habit of recharging
batteries after they have had only a small amount of use (see
"Battery Use" above). Because of their susceptibility to dam-
age from overcharging, it is recommended that NiMH batteries
not be routinely subjected to trickle charging.
Tait fast chargers are fitted with a device that senses when the
battery has reached full capacity and commences trickle charg-
ing thus eliminating the possibility of overcharging. They are
therefore suitable for "topping up" partially discharged batter-
ies of both types. Some models of fast charger (eg T3002)
also have an inbuilt discharge function, which enables the bat-
tery to be periodically given a full discharge and charge cycle,
quickly and without the need to use the radio to discharge the
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battery.