Radio and Electronics Cookbook

35

A charger for NiCad batteries

Introduction

The cost of replacing dry batteries can be alleviated to a great extent by the use of rechargeable batteries such as those containing nickel and cadmium (called NiCads). They are more expensive than the batteries they replace, but they can be charged hundreds of times and thus prove cheaper in the long run.

NiCads produce only 1.2 V per cell, compared with the 1.5 V of ordinary cells, so before you rush out and buy lots of these, please make sure that the equipment on which you plan to use them will work on the reduced voltage! For example, if you are using four cells to give you a 6 V supply, NiCads will give you only 4.8 V, which is quite a reduction. Using six cells to replace a 9 V battery will ...