I have lots of rechargeable AA betteries (around 30) - a mixture of 1700mAh and 2000mAh, all Ni-Mh.
However, due to self discharge, I find that there is never a charged one when I want it.
I'm planning to make a battery balancer/charger, which keeps all the batteries at the same voltage, at a charged level.
By thought was to connect all of the batteries together to ensure they are all at the same voltage. I would connect them via resistors to ensure that only a low current flows if a dead cell is inserted into the bank. This solves the problem of ensuring they are all charged to the same level.
I would then connect a power source to this (possibly a solar pannel), which would continuously trickle charge the batteries at a VERY low level - possibly ~2mA per cell. They would be charging at this level permanantly.
Can anyone see any obvious faults with this setup?
Thanks
Andrew
Edit - schematic added - ignore the resistor values - I just guessed them.
However, due to self discharge, I find that there is never a charged one when I want it.
I'm planning to make a battery balancer/charger, which keeps all the batteries at the same voltage, at a charged level.
By thought was to connect all of the batteries together to ensure they are all at the same voltage. I would connect them via resistors to ensure that only a low current flows if a dead cell is inserted into the bank. This solves the problem of ensuring they are all charged to the same level.
I would then connect a power source to this (possibly a solar pannel), which would continuously trickle charge the batteries at a VERY low level - possibly ~2mA per cell. They would be charging at this level permanantly.
Can anyone see any obvious faults with this setup?
Thanks
Andrew
Edit - schematic added - ignore the resistor values - I just guessed them.
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