Brymen 235 battery life?

[Russ]

Hello

   How much battery life (approximately) are you getting from the two AAA cells? I had about three hours on a set of Eneloops, and the battery icon flickered slightly. I immediately pulled them, and got a reading of 1.275v from them. I then just dropped in a fresh set. I’m not really complaining, just curious.

Thanks
Russ

[retiredcaps]

3 hours would be dismal. Discussed at (bottom half of the thread)

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/the-bm235-does-not-accept-lithium-batteries/?all

How are you charging the Eneloops?  With what charger?  Do you know the AAA measured capacity?

[Russ]

3 hours would be dismal. Discussed at (bottom half of the thread)

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/the-bm235-does-not-accept-lithium-batteries/?all

How are you charging the Eneloops?  With what charger?  Do you know the AAA measured capacity?

    They are the 800mAh, AAA Eneloops. The battery icon just flickered slightly. The meter was working fine. Maybe I was a bit hasty in replacing them. I use a smart charger. Never a "quick" charger. They are new batteries too. As stated before, the voltage readings on them were about 1.275v, after I removed them?

Thank you
Russ

[retiredcaps]

1.275 + 1.275 = 2.55V unloaded.  So if the BM235 low battery is below approximately 2.5, then it would be very close to lighting the low batt icon.

If you have a variable DC power supply, maybe you can determine the exact cutoff voltage?

BTW, I use eneloops as well so I was curious how you charged them and with what.  I can see a dumb pair charger potentially causing some issues.

[IanB]

1.28 V on an Eneloop is about 50% charge remaining.

If you have been treating the meter like a new "toy" and using it a lot, it would be normal for you to run through a set of batteries quickly.

Once the novelty wears off and you start using it normally the batteries will last a lot longer.

[EEVblog]

The value in the manual I actually measured myself on a set of Alkalines.

[Russ]

The value in the manual I actually measured myself on a set of Alkalines.

I can only assume that Eneloops will last longer than alkalines. It was just a couple of faint and very  quick flickers of the battery icon.

Russ

[EEVblog]

I can only assume that Eneloops will last longer than alkalines. It was just a couple of faint and very  quick flickers of the battery icon.

Don't assume, they are very different discharge curves, and the cutout is roughly 1.25V which is very high for a recharegable, it should be 1.1V.
Bottom line is, the meter is not designed for rechargeables.
Why bother anyway when the meter gets 240hrs typical on Alkalines?

[firewalker]

Just use a batteriser.

Alexander.

[Russ]

I can only assume that Eneloops will last longer than alkalines. It was just a couple of faint and very  quick flickers of the battery icon.

Don't assume, they are very different discharge curves, and the cutout is roughly 1.25V which is very high for a recharegable, it should be 1.1V.
Bottom line is, the meter is not designed for rechargeables.
Why bother anyway when the meter gets 240hrs typical on Alkalines?

   Alright, I'll drop Alkalines in it. I just try to avoid Alkalines, due to longevity and leakage issues. Any brand recommendations?

Thanks

[Russ]

Just use a batteriser.

Alexander.

    Thanks. I just ordered Dave's Eevblog Batteriser. And it was on sale too. 

Russ

[deadlylover]

On my unit the readings start to go wonky at around 1.89V, it shuts off at 1.75V. Low battery icon comes on at 2.53V.
Since it's just a secondary meter for me, I have no problem ignoring the low battery warning and just using it until shut down ahahha.

I use the IKEA LADDA 900mAH batteries which I suspect are rebranded eneloop AAA pro's, because there is only one factory in Japan that makes LSD NiMH batteries. They are really cheap here in Australia, <10 dollarydoos for a 4-pack.

[Brumby]

<10 dollarydoos for a 4-pack.

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