Battery won't charge

[ro250]

My son has an RC car which we tend to just use in the summer. We haven't used it for ages so I went to charge up the batteries. We have a Helion 7.2v 6-cell, 2000mAh and an Orion 3300 NiMH. We use the charger that came with the kit, a Helion 7.2V NiMH charger.

I went to charge the bigger battery and the charger light just flashes for a split second then goes out, so presumably not charging. I swap to the 2000 battery and the light stays on which suggests all is well with that one.

I've read that when batteries go flat that's the end. Is that right? Is there anything I can do?

[ro250]

No thoughts on this anyone? I've read about connecting the charged one to the unresponsive one to give it a 'jump start' to encourage it to start charging again - does that work?

[C.A.R.]

NiMh do just eventually die, sometimes they can be revived, but more often than not they'll have lost a lot of their runtime. If you have a more expensive charger with a cycling function (Charge, Discharge, Charge) then you stand more chance of getting somewhere, but unfortunately you're kind of stuck if you only have a basic charger.

I've cycled old Orion 3300's before and thought I had done really well, only to have them run for about 5 minutes before dying. NiCd batteries (older tech) are easier to revive however.

[ro250]

C.A.R. said:

NiMh do just eventually die, sometimes they can be revived, but more often than not they'll have lost a lot of their runtime. If you have a more expensive charger with a cycling function (Charge, Discharge, Charge) then you stand more chance of getting somewhere, but unfortunately you're kind of stuck if you only have a basic charger.

I've cycled old Orion 3300's before and thought I had done really well, only to have them run for about 5 minutes before dying. NiCd batteries (older tech) are easier to revive however.

Thanks - I don't have another charger so, as you say, I'm a bit stuck. The battery is only a few years old and not used loads. Does the jump start thing work? Is it worth a try?

[sgrimshaw]

Is that charger a mains trickle charger?

[ro250]

sgrimshaw said:

Is that charger a mains trickle charger?

Just a mains charger.

[sb-1]

I had this issue with a battery,when using a mains trickle charger.
Only thing that charged mine up was a better charger.

[ro250]

sb-1 said:

I had this issue with a battery,when using a mains trickle charger.
Only thing that charged mine up was a better charger.

I tried the jump start technique to force a bit of charge into the dead battery. It actually worked and I thought all was well. Charged for about an hour yesterday. Wen't to put it back on charge today and won't take charge. I think it's dead. Lesson learned not to leave them so long.