Charging 6 cell packs

[part4a]

Hello

I have a basic NiMH charger which does 4 individual cells and takes 15 hours to charge. It charges AAA cells at 75-85mA.

1. To charge a 6 cell pack, do I solder some leads to one of the cell slots +ve and -ve terminal and connect that to the battery - is this the right way to do it? The charger says you must charge the cells in pairs.

2. But even if that works, the time to charge a 6 cell pack would be a ridiculous 90 hours (6*15)???

Am I misunderstanding something or is there a better way to do this?

[tinyrc]

part4a, you should not use that charger for this pack. You need a proper RC charger for the 6-cell, a good one to start out with is the SuperBrain 959.

[part4a]

TinyRC, can I use a RC NiCd charger for the NiMH cells? - I thought not as they use different methods. I think the charger I have was made prior to the existence of NiMH cells.

My AC charger charges at 3amps - is that too high for AAA cells?

If I charge at 1amp, how do I know when the cells are ready?

Thanks

[tinyrc]

part4a, you should not use a NiCd charger to charge NiMH cells. It is possible, but not recommended. And 3A is waaay to much for AAAs. Please just get a new charger that can handle NiMH and has adjustable rates down to 1 or 0.5A.