General > General Technical Chat
Ban of non-rechargeable batteries
capt bullshot:
--- Quote from: Cyberdragon on June 30, 2020, 03:41:35 pm ---Sub 1000mAh NiCd cells are often used in low power solar lamps (here in NA they are actual AA or AAA cells rather than those tiny soldered in button cells you have over there). I keep a little box of them around to swap out when one fails (also has a few NiMH and LiFePO cells). Yes, I know you should not store NiCd cells discharged, but I don't have a charger short of my bench supply, so I just chuck them when they get to 0.0V (they are cheap crap anyway).
--- End quote ---
Wait a second please ... For NiCd cells, the best way to store them long term is "fully discharged". Even better is to discharge them fully on purpose before storing them, this can be easily done by connecting a suitable resistor across the cell while in storage. A NiCd cell stored this way will be in usable to good shape after many years of storage. If put to storage in charged state, a NiCd cell will degrade to e.g. increased internal resistance or less usable capacity.
But ... Don't do this to NiMH cells, it's the best way to kill them quickly. These should be put to storage in fully charged state and checked / recharged at some intervals.
bdunham7:
--- Quote from: CatalinaWOW on July 01, 2020, 03:19:48 am ---I know many of you are satisfied with your rechargeable batteries, but until the last few years I have not found any that satisfied me. The technologies have changed over time. NiCads were a disaster on life and bad for the environment. NiMH are better on life, but haven't really filled the bill. The Li chemistry batteries used in power tools have finally achieved useful life, but are incredibly expensive. How many of you are totally happy with the rechargeables in your laptops or cell phones. They meet the use case, but are often a primary reason for replacing the machine.
For a wide variety of applications the alkaline cell is just more user friendly. In spite of its known faults. Rechargeables do meet a need in some applications. Usually high current, high use things like toys and electric shavers, but the field is wide open for a really good rechargeable battery.
--- End quote ---
I think some early--and perhaps current--underperforming products have skewed perceptions a bit. I've likely bought my last alkaline batteries ever, at least in AAA/AA/C/D/9V sizes. Some, especially the D size, may have more capacity than NiMH, but when you factor in the leak risk, there's just no realistic use case for them IMO. Hopefully I've also thrown away my last battery-leak damaged device, which was a nice MagLite ruined by Ray-O-Vacs that were a bit past their marked expiration date (R-O-V are sticklers about the date--no warranty for me...)
For AAA/AA, Eneloops will replace every alkaline with minimal inconvenience. They're lasting well over a year between charges in remotes, etc. The only exceptions are those few things that are set aside and rarely used or never used except in emergencies, have zero draw when off and are really needed when you need them--and those get Energizer Ultimate Lithium. Also, one remote I have with an LCD display likes 3.6V much better than 2.4V, so it gets these too.
For C/D, Tenergy Centura works perfectly and they hold a charge for quite a while--not a full charge, perhaps, but you can put them in rarely used tool or Scopemeter and it will work when you pull it out a year later. My cat feeder has been going 6 months on a set of these. Just be aware that Tenergy has a bit of a higher defect rate than Eneloop, so you will have to test them all and cull the weak ones. I've only had one slightly substandard C cell, but a few more of the AAA/AA Premium (not Centura LSD) ones were lower capacity and probably defective.
For 9V, Energizer Lithium again for anything that is even slightly inconvenient to replace--smoke alarms, DMMs that have screws on the cover, etc. I haven't found any really great 9V NiMH, but I haven't much use for them either.
I don't know what the big deal is about charging and storing. Your alkaline batteries need space in a closet to sit there and leak in their packages, so how hard is it to set up a simple charger and rack for your rechargeables? All you need is a few spares and you are just as ready to go as if you had alkalines.
helius:
BTW, it is possible to recover (some) MagLites with battery leakage. The hardest part is pushing the cells out by tapping a punch onto the switch assembly, which must then be repaired.
james_s:
--- Quote from: bdunham7 on July 01, 2020, 06:48:30 pm ---I think some early--and perhaps current--underperforming products have skewed perceptions a bit. I've likely bought my last alkaline batteries ever, at least in AAA/AA/C/D/9V sizes. Some, especially the D size, may have more capacity than NiMH, but when you factor in the leak risk, there's just no realistic use case for them IMO. Hopefully I've also thrown away my last battery-leak damaged device, which was a nice MagLite ruined by Ray-O-Vacs that were a bit past their marked expiration date (R-O-V are sticklers about the date--no warranty for me...)
For AAA/AA, Eneloops will replace every alkaline with minimal inconvenience. They're lasting well over a year between charges in remotes, etc. The only exceptions are those few things that are set aside and rarely used or never used except in emergencies, have zero draw when off and are really needed when you need them--and those get Energizer Ultimate Lithium. Also, one remote I have with an LCD display likes 3.6V much better than 2.4V, so it gets these too.
--- End quote ---
Eneloop was the breakthrough that did it for me. Prior to those I would have agreed that rechargeable batteries just could not match disposable alkalines in any application other than high drain toys and other devices that are used frequently and consume batteries quickly. Use old fashioned rechargeable cells in a flashlight and you'd find it dead whenever you actually needed it. Eneloops solved the self discharge problem and suddenly NiMH cells became practical to use in flashlights, radios, label printers, thermometers, and all manner of other low draw or infrequently used devices.
bdunham7:
--- Quote from: helius on July 01, 2020, 08:00:44 pm ---BTW, it is possible to recover (some) MagLites with battery leakage. The hardest part is pushing the cells out by tapping a punch onto the switch assembly, which must then be repaired.
--- End quote ---
Oh, I tried. I put way too much time into it too. I screwed a slide-hammer puller into each cell and yanked them all out one at a time after a 24 hour soak in water. I needed to do that just to see what cells they were. I actually got it to work, sort of, but the electrolyte had eaten the case almost all the way through and had gotten into the light bulb holder as well--it could not be unscrewed without breaking it. And the switch was eaten up too, even though it still worked. The worst part was the light worked when I put it away 6 months prior and the batteries date expired in the interim. They timed it perfectly.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version