Nickel Cadnium Batteries

[NETWizz]

Obvious question,

How many of you use Nickel Cadnium recargable batteries.

Also, what is your maintenence routine to counteract memory effects?

[Justin W.]

Actually I prefer to use NiMH rechargables. Although they are 3 times the price they are worth it. I like the fact that NiMH batteries do not have the memory like NiCad's. You can plug them into the charger any time, and it is actually recommended that you put them in frequently to keep them at their maximum.

[WhiteDwarf]

lol my batteries are called Rayonac Renewal.....but they litterally only last for a day! and i don't have a charger so i have to wait till 4th period math to charge them which is a pain....so i bought some duracells which is way too expensive....how much are a decent pair of batteries with a charger?...where do u get them from?

[Justin W.]

To buy a set of AAA NiMH rechargables, the one's I buy anyways are about $15.00 Can. x2 to get 4. Charger's aren't that expensive. So my calc is running on batteries that cost about 1/4 of the actual price of the calc.

[Darth Android]

i use 2 AAA nikel-cad. batteries for my wireless mouse, and it has a button on it to drain them while its in the cradle. you just set it in, press the button, and hop in bed/go to sleep.

[NETWizz]

I have RayOVac rechargable Alkalines. Currently have 2 AAs and 4 AAAs

They do not last long after the first couple of charges.

You know there is something wrong when the charger takes 18 hours to charge them(IE that is a sign they are dead)

It is also bad when you put them in the charger and they are done in 5 minutes (another sign they failed)

In the past three years, I have gone through 16 AA's and 4 AAA's
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I then purchased RayOVac's 3 in 1 charger and 8 NiCads AA's ratted at 1000mAh and 4 AAA's rated at 300mAh

They seem to work okay none will ever develop memory, but it is possible to develop cell fatigue, which is far worse than memory and very common. BTW, I will discuss proper care for NiCads because there is a real reason I use them sometimes instead of NiMh's.

_______________________

Lastly, I purchased the 1 hour RayOVac charger last year for like $25 and it came with 2 AA's ratted at 1600mAh NiMH.

They are very a good batteries.

I then purchased a 4 pack of AA's bringing my count to 6, and I purchased a 4 pack of AAA's ratted at 700mAh.

Yes, they can all be charged in the 3 and 1, but the 1 hour charger is nicer.
BTW, the 1 hour charger can charge the new I-C3 800mAh AAA's and 2000mAh AA's, but I don't have the I-C3 batteries or the 15 minute charger.

I don't plan on getting them soon either becuse I can run my cd player all day, run a flashlight for 6 hours, or leave my calculator on over a month.



Justin, you said the NiMH do not have memory. Actually, you are wrong, but the memory effects/ cell fatigue is less than 5% what it is like on a NiCad cell sience memory and fatigue are generally due to cadnium not hydrogenated alloy.

I will tell you all the true things the battery companies will never tell you unless your read their OEM. Also, Manufacturers will never tell you what I will tell you next time I post.

[David]

Speaking of batteries:
The batts that come shipped with the new calculator seem to have an exceptional power. My lasted for three years, I replaced them recently

[NETWizz]

David, didn't your calculator simply come with something like Duracell or Energizer? When you took it out of the box?

[Adm.Wiggin]

David, is Jbirk right? is that all those where?

[NextPerception]

they come with duracell.
I know this for a fact because I just bout a silver version an hour ago that I have been saving up for. WooHoo. Lots oh memory now!!! I have been saving up for about two weeks. my other calculator just wasn't cutting it...

[NETWizz]

Ah okay, I don't think Duracell is anything special. It is just a regular alkaline battery.

[Darth Android]

i usually chuck a 4 pack of energizers (sp?) in about 2 months, 1 month if i do heavy programming.

[NextPerception]

my record is a pack of duracells in a 1 week and 2 days lol.
I was working my butt off on a prgm.

[Darth Android]

and you had duracells!

[sgm]

[NETWizz]

I bet you guys never tried charging a reglar sigle use alkaline such as Duracell or Energizer.

I recharged two Duracell AA's yesterday for the heck of it. I figured hell, if it explodes or leaks, it won't reallly make a difference because the charger has a cover and I don't even care about that charger.

Here is how I did it.

Piece of foil over pointy part (+).

Jam them into a RayOVac Rechargable Alkaline charger ment to charge only Rechargable Alkalines. I haven't tried the 3 in 1 yet. If it works, you wont't need foil for that one.

A few hours later, pop them out and take off the foil.
Amazingly, you have been lied to for all these years. Regular alkaline batteries do recharge despite manufacturers claims that they leak, exploade, and cause injury. They are just covering themselvles to prevent lawsuits.

Go ahead and try it, but be warned we are not responsible, and you should read the warnings and attain a MSDS. What ever you do, do not use a Ni Cad or Ni Mh charger, or any fast charger! I recommend using a charger ment for Rechargable Alkalines because they are similar to regular alkalins.

[tr1p1ea]

I wouldnt recommend that you 'recommend' to people to rechage non-rechargable batteries. There is still a cahnce that something could go wrong ..... and you dont want to be held responsible ........ do you? .

[NETWizz]

I said put the cover on the charger down, and I gave good precationary statements. If you read our disclaimer, we state that we are not responsible.

I never said it was safe, I simply said I did it, and I explained how I did it. I am not suggesting you try it, I am merely stating it is possible.

Here it goes:

Although unlikely, the battery could explode casueing injury, death or fire...keep the cover closed. Wear eye protection.
I guess it is very possible that they might leak though it has not happened to me. If they get hot or warm, that is bad; remove them becasue this usually means there is pressure build up.

If they do leak, alkaline electrolite (Mangoneese Oxide) does not appear to be corrosive to skin, but you probably should not touch it. It is not likely that any alkaline battery sold in the US has mercury, but who knows. Mercury is a toxic heavy metal you do not want to touch.

If you do manage to get the alkaline solution on your hands, wash your hands, and whatever you do, do not get any in your eyes, it would probably burn and cause blindness.

Do not disassemble, recharge, mix, put in a pocket with meatal coins, store above 90 F, short, lodge into ear canal or other orifeces, ingest...

If you have problems, please contact the poinson controll, 911, read the warnings, and get a Material Safety Data Sheet.

I am not telling you to do anything, I am simply telling you that it is possible to recharge a regular alkaline. Also note that it works best the first time, do not charge more than twice, and it works best if they are not discarged completely.

When I say injury, I mean injury or death

[Spyderbyte]

[NETWizz]

What it means is that I do not recommend you charge it; it doesn't mean you are out of luck. Obviously, you can disregard my recommendations.

Anyway, here is why it is bad.

NIMH is 1.2 v Alkaline is 1.5

and your Energizer charger probably tries to dump a charge of 140% of the capacity of Energizer NIMH, and it probably does it in about 30 minutes.

Let us just say your Energizer NIMH are 2000mAh, they put in 2800mAh worth of power because there is a 40% inefficient. Now, you put that into the batt in 30 minutes, so you need a charge current of 5.6 amps of constant current for 30 minutes, where the current is adjusted by controlling the voltage.

In essence, you would be hooking the alkaline up to over 5 amps, that would be bad. Not only that, an alkaline never uses all of its capacity and will set off the charge done condition at 1.2 volts not 1.5.

In other words, do not think of using your Energizer 30 minute charger on an alkaline!