Charger output voltage - what should it be?

[Surestick]

I just picked up a used Speed 03 that has some issues.
Biggest (or at least most expensive to fix) is a supposedly dead battery.
I figured I would check the charger first to make sure it wasn't maybe an issue on that side of things.
Lo & behold there was no continuity between the cigarette lighter plug & the board in the charger or between the charger & the the jack for the marker.
Upon futher inspection both connections suffered from bad solder joints (insert joke about British electronics & warm beer here ).
I resoldered both connections & just wanted to check & see if everything is okay w/the charger before plugging the marker in & seeing if it will hold a charge.
The output of the charger appears to be the same as the input (about 14 volts) is this normal or is something else messed up?
The charger itself isn't very helpful, the sticker on it says "Input 11-30V 750MA. Output 600mA" with no mention of output voltage.

Can someone with an Angel & a multimeter check the output voltage on the charger for me?

Thanks.

[Surestick]

It's a battery charger so it should put out a constant current (600mA as indicated on the charger body) so it has to adjust the voltage based on the resistance of the battery being charged (Ohms law).
At very high resistance (just the voltmeter) it's going to be putting out the most voltage it can (input voltage) so my test tells me nothing...
Is that right?

Electronics people?

[Hep]

I believe it should be appx 6 volts since that is a 6 volt battery pack. Actually will probably be a little higher which is what most chargers do.

[BoB]

Correct

It's a battery charger so it should put out a constant current (600mA as indicated on the charger body) so it has to adjust the voltage based on the resistance of the battery being charged (Ohms law).
At very high resistance (just the voltmeter) it's going to be putting out the most voltage it can (input voltage) so my test tells me nothing...
Is that right?

Electronics people?

[kyle11757]

So would a radio shack charger work for it then ?

[boostmonkey]

So would a radio shack charger work for it then ?

The Speeds have a niMH battery, correct? I would recommend that you get a charger that is specifically for niMH batteries, not just niCad. But yes, any 4.8v niMH charger should work with the right plug.

[BoB]

We have used this model for years with great success. http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/article_display.cfm?article_id=69