The usual reply to "how long" has to be "Until it is charged." That doesn't
help much but the accurate answer requires a seriously complex response that
is tied to the battery chemistry. I am a chemist but battery chemistry is one
of the most complex of all the sub-specialties and I have worked with several
battery chemists and they have attempted to explain some of the intricacies
and failed, with me, at least.
The practical response is to wait to charge
until the little battery symbol appears then charge for 10 hr and no
longer.? This is complicated by the fact that the symbol may appear when
it is least convenient and you are in the middle of an activity. The response
to that is "carry a charged spare and install it when the battery symbol
appears".? That means, of course, that you need 2 packs and you rotate
them. Nobody tells you this in the "FT60 operations course" you took.
What? You didn't take that course? Well, neither did I because, as far as
I know, it was never offered. It seems we learn these things through
experience - which, of course, means mistakes.
In my case, I thought the
FT60 unit itself limited the charge current when the battery pack was charged.
Not! The stupid wall wart at 10V+ pushes more through that battery until it
overheats and deteriorates the chemicals in the cell. Uggh!
The relatively
low price of the FT60 limited the features they could include and one feature
left out was "smart charging" either in the unit itself or in the desk-top
charging units. Smart charging involves thermal regulation and cell internal
resistance monitoring, which, although not terribly complex, do require
additional active electronics that were not included in the original FT60.
I have resorted to having a standard battery pack (FNB-83) and an
accessory battery case/tray (FBA-25A) into which I fit 6 relatively modern
2300mAH NiMH cells so tha t when the "Battery Symbol" appears I remove the
cells and charge in a smart NiMH charger that avoids overcharging. You could,
of course, buy another FNB-83 and have two on hand but I was cheap and wanted
to go the route I mentioned. Besides, with the individual cells you can have
seriously greater capacity than offered by the 1400mAH cells in the
FNB-83.