Every self-respecting geek loves gadgets. I'm no exception. And so many of my favorite gadgets have a voracious appetite for batteries. I don't know why all the other battery types fell so far out of favor, but between AA and AAA, I could probably power 95% of my household gadget needs.
Nothing wents over my Li-Ione-Accuj powerer Canon Ixus, or other gadgets with this type of accu like nearly all handys or the ipod touch (ok, there the accu is hard to replace).
They live longer than 6 years, and up to now no malfunction, just a little bit less power over the time. NiMh is junk, go for Li-Io!
The the poster above about game controllers, Iâm using 2700mah AAs from greenbatteries.com in my Wiimotes right now. They seem to last much longer for me than your experience. I get weeks out of them.
I also second the good words about Maha⌠the new âslow-dischargeâ Imedion AA rechargeables are fantastic:
I just checked and my LaCrosse BC-900 has a firmware version of â33â. It was purchased in December 2007.
In case youâre curious, upon power up, there are three numbers on the display:
channel 1: temperature sensor #1
channel 2: temperature sensor #2
channel 4: firmware version number
I hadnât heard of any complaints about the BC-900 melting down until now; supposedly firmware 33 reduces the shutdown threshold temperature. It is true that the batteries are pretty close together on the BC-900 with little room for air circulation, so if there was a lot of excessive heat from rapid charging, and something went wrong⌠I could see it.
I just picked up a Maha Wizard, and like it quite a bit. It also has a built in stand to lift it off the work surfce. Otherwise, it is quite similiar to the BC-900 (not quite as nice looking, I admit)
@Andre - I had some of the original recharables from the 80ies, dynacell or some such. Every one in a while, one would go sour and short out. Not a comfortable experience if it happens in your pocket, but that is just the risk you take of rearranging all those electrons.
Even the NiMH batteries have pressure release holes in case they short out to keep them from just exploding.
Regardless of the technology, they are just fancy capacitors, and occasionally all the electrons run back to the otherside all at once, and without permission or regard for the consequences. More of a battery defect in most cases.
Also, small BC-900 charger protip (courtesy of the aforementioned and totally awesome Mr. Lee):
â
BC-900 will not charge a completely drained cell (display says ânullâ after you insert the cell). Follow the instructions here to âjump-startâ the dead cell, so that its terminal voltage is restored to about 0.5-1 volt. Then the BC-900 will charge it:
UNPLUG the BC-900!
Place a good cell and a âdeadâ cell next to each other
Short the (+) terminals of the two cells together with a paper clip for a few seconds
Remove short, plug in the BC-900
â
I had the same problem (inserted cell, no response) tried this trick and it totally worked!
It turns out that massive 2500mAh capacity of the Energizer rechargeable battery doesnât mean much when the battery drains itself within a month.
Too right! I have about 5 different brands of rechargeables of similar age and the Energizers (2500mAh) are the only ones almost guaranteed to have discharged when I want to use them.
I have the Maha C204W. Itâs small, works great, needs no external power brick and is happy with 100V or 240V.
Good info, Jeff! Weâve been a rechargables household for a few years now. About the only things we donât use 'em in is our fancy-shmancy Crest SpinBrush toothbrushes. (Given the wet environment, I didnât wanna risk my prized rechargable batteries in those.)
I would have loved the BC900 a few years ago when I had a whole bunch of devices that used AA/AAA/C/D etc batteries. Unfortunately now, apart from TV/DVD remotes (which will go for well over a year even on yum-cha $2 for 50 batteres from a crap shop) I donât think I have any appliances that use them anymore.
I find myself stuck in the annoying position where every device (PDA, Laptop, Camera, Phone, Video Camera, Remote Control Car, Electric Shaver etc) has its own different batter, which comes a long witha different pack/charger.
I yearn for the day when Induction (or whatever theyâre called) chargers (and batteries/devices with charging capability) are the norm and I can simply throw all the things listed above on a big pad on my bedside table to charge them all.
Unfortunately now, apart from TV/DVD remotes (which will go for well over a year even on yum-cha $2 for 50 batteres from a crap shop) I donât think I have any appliances that use them anymore.
And ironically those kind of TV/DVD remote use cases are exactly the sort of low-draw, long-run applications that NiMH cells are not very good at. Even if the self-discharge rate is very low, itâs still high enough (compared to traditional alkaline batteries) to be a problem.
My first cellphone in 1996 had a NiHM battery. Any idea why these rechargable batteries still use NiMH while most gadgets have moved to lithium batteries?
Thank you for the informative article. Itâs nice to see some non-coding related articles once in a while, though thatâs not to say that I donât enjoy the coding related articles as well.
Keep up the good work!
I did some digging into that very question myself this year.
The answer is safety. Basically, lithium batteries are not fool-proof enough for consumers.
I ordered a box of 10 packs. Weâve got 6 pcâs in the house, 2 of which are on all the time so lots of places we can plug these in when they need charging. AAA cells will be coming soon.
We have a couple of cells always charged ready to replace flat ones. The flat ones get charged and go back on the shelf