Originally Posted by ford_racing
So after 10 months of having these cells they are all taking above 4300mah and consistantly around the 1.2v on the label besides the fact that I have been charginh them at the potentially fatal rate of 5.5amps.
By taking, I assume you mean taking in, as in charging capacity ?
That is not too bad. At Fast charge currents the battery takes about %110 of its discharge capacity. So if they are taking in 4300 then they are putting out about 3900.
About %93 capacity. That is about the best you can expect from most rechargable cells. Its very unusual you ever get the full rated capacity as rated by the manufacturer. Some honest suppliers give the Max and Min capacities you can expect. IE, Sanyo RC3600HV's are 3300-3600. And most often the Min is what you get.
I have however got one IB4200 Stick pack that got 4222 mAh when discharged at 20 amps. The other stick pack was 4065 mAh. %97. Still very good.
You only need to look at the powertech batteries that Jaycar sell. Powertech advertise their older AA cells at 2500 mAh. When jaycar tested them %80 were only 2400 mAh. So jaycar told Powertech to re-label them as 2400 before they would sell them. Jaycar now has a new one which is labeled as 2500. (Powertech call them 2600).
I have tested the Powertech 2400's and I get 2200. Again about %92.
Charles