Question about batteries

[Yahoozy]

hahah i have no idea what brand they are
just looking at the batteries they just say AA Rechargeable Batteries 2500 mAH or 2000 mAH (the 2 sets are 2 different companies)
but i will look into getting some decent name brand batteries as well hahah
thanks again =P

 

[MarcusM]

hahah i have no idea what brand they are
just looking at the batteries they just say AA Rechargeable Batteries 2500 mAH or 2000 mAH (the 2 sets are 2 different companies)
but i will look into getting some decent name brand batteries as well hahah
thanks again =P

Just because they're "name brand" doesn't mean they're good.

Many companies spend way more on marketing than they do on Research and Development. Which means their product sucks...but hey - you recognize the name so it must be good, right?

 

[passerby]

I have cordless mouse that use 2 AAA type batteries. I have six of them and the other 4 always sit in the charger and ready to be used when I need them. In the past 4 years I have replaced 4 of them. I used an old style charger though, slow charging.

Btw, the car's battery is always charged while the engine is running and they have no problem whatsoever. My last car's battery last over than 2 years.

 

[KD5NRH]

There is now a brand new technology on the market - I don't know much about it other than it is supposed to allow the rechargeable batteries that utilize it to retain about 85% or so of the charge for a full year. (meaning if you buy the battery and it sits on your shelf for a full year before you use it and then you use it, it will be about 85% charged)

If you're not using something for a year, you should be using alkalines in it anyway...or throwing it out and buying something you'll use more often. For emergency gear, I keep enough alkalines around to run the radios and flashlights, with spares for the lights.

I quit buying Energizer rechargeable batteries a while ago after I read this article: http://www.naturalnews.com/PhotoTour_Energizer_Batteries_1.html

For the stuff I use a lot, I try to buy sets of four, but different brands each time just so I can keep the sets separate for even charging and use. After seeing that, Energizer is out of the rotation completely.

 

[ThePup]

Btw, the car's battery is always charged while the engine is running and they have no problem whatsoever. My last car's battery last over than 2 years.

Assuming you've got an electric car with NiMHs, otherwise it's pretty irrelevant

Plenty of info on NiMHs and charging tips on the net

http://www.google.com/search?client=opera&rls=en&q=NiMH+batteries

http://www.google.com/search?client=opera&rls=en&q=charging+NiMH+batteries

funnily enough, I had to look this stuff up today at work... We've got a snazzy programable charger which I'm trying to play with

 

[Dao]

I have cordless mouse that use 2 AAA type batteries. I have six of them and the other 4 always sit in the charger and ready to be used when I need them. In the past 4 years I have replaced 4 of them. I used an old style charger though, slow charging.

Btw, the car's battery is always charged while the engine is running and they have no problem whatsoever. My last car's battery last over than 2 years.

Car batteries are different from regular consumer rechargeable batteries. Those batteries need to be charged all the time. The car batteries life will be shortened if you let it drain all the way. For example, if you have a car sitting in the garage for a long time, it is recommended to charge the battery once in awhile with a separate charger.

 

[Big Mike]

You bet they do. Rechargeable batteries NI-MH, do in time lose their ability to retain a full charge. They generally last about a year of normal use before needed replacement. They are good for x number of charge cycles.

With good charging practice, you should be able to make them last longer than a year. Some chargers have a 'refresh' mode where they repeatedly cycle the drain/charge, this should help old batteries. If that doesn't help, there is a charger that I know of, C-9000 that has a 'break-in' mode. It can be used for new batteries or ones that have been idle for a long time and no longer hold to their capacity. A friend of mine bought one, and it gave new life to batteries that had been sitting around (left for dead) for a long time. He liked it so much, he bought a second one...it was still cheaper than buying all new batteries.

 

[ThePup]

With good charging practice, you should be able to make them last longer than a year. Some chargers have a 'refresh' mode where they repeatedly cycle the drain/charge, this should help old batteries.

This works with NiCd, but not with NiMH as far as I'm aware... NiMH can be rejuvinated with a good quality charger that gives a short negative spike at regular intervals (ie, 10ms per second for the charger I'm tinkering with) during the charge cycle. (These chargers are good for NiCd as well.)

 

[Bifurcator]

Good point. nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries are very different than nickel-cadmium batteries. Lots and lots of differences. NiMH should be stored fully charged (NiCd at 40%), NiMH don't suffer from "memory" or "false bottom" problems that NiCd batteries DO, NiMH maintain a much better energy density profile than NiCd, NiMH aren't subject to dissimilar discharge damage like NiCd, and etc. etc. You can replace NiMH in any of the sentences above with Li-ion (Lithium-ion) and be correct as well. Additional advantages of Li-ion batteries are that they weigh less, can be shaped just about however you want, you can get higher voltages out of them if need be, and there's ZERO "memory effect" from Li-ion while there is still a little bit in NiMH (tho negligible maybe), and etc.

There are two kinds of NiMH batteries tho. NiMH and LSD-NiMH. NiMH have a self discharge rate of about 25% per month. Ouch! LSD-NiMH are about 1% per month and are what some people are talking about here. They're only about 3 or 4 years old now so I guess that's still "new technology". <shrug>

LSD-NiMH actually have a better self discharge profile than "Smart" Li-ion batteries do. "Smart" Li-ion batteries are about 5% per month. "Dumb" Li-ion batteries never self discharge - ever - 0% but they degrade and suffer a permanent loss of capacity over time. (so also do the smart ones. ) Because of this Li-ion batteries (both dumb and smart) have an inherent shelf life that the buyer needs to be aware of. And it can vary widely depending on what temperature they were stored at! From 2% to 25% (per year) at temperatures of 0c to 40c respectively. Also, never "deep-discharge" a Li-ion battery as you may lose it totally and it will never again be chargeable.

Batteries - heh, you would think something like batteries would be a simple topic... wouldn't you? You'd be wrong of course.