Rechargeable Batteries - How long do they last and tell tale signs

wazza

Have AAA rechargeable batteries in my cordless digital home phone. They came with the product and is roughly 3 years old. Since it is in daily use they are charged every day or every two days depending on usage and battery charge sign. When it is low then i put it on the charger.

Also have old AA and AAA rechargeable batteries in my draw which must be at least 6 years old.

How can you tell if they need replacing. The only way i know is that if they don't hold their charge anymore.

I know rechargeable batteries can only be recharged so many times in their life.

Just wondering if there is another way of checking.

Money_Grabber13579

Generally, rechargable batteries only last for around 1000 charges. The only way of telling is if you notice a rapid decrease in the life of the batteries, then it's time to get a new set. Or they leak!

isofa

Firstly don't use NiCads, they are old tech and if you have some that are 6 years old, get rid of them and switch to quality high-capactity NiMH. You should be able to charge 1000 times, and say you charge once a week, they'll last for 19 years!

Secondly use a top quality delta-V charger. Try: http://www.tantronics.co.uk/index.htm

A cheap charger won't monitor the battery health and you'll never get a proper charge.

Been using some Ansmann 2700mAh batteries in pro flashes and they last weeks, with hundreds of flashes, which is incredible considering the power drain. Before I was using Uniross with a stock charger and I was lucky to get 100 flashes, I've done weddings with one set of new batteries in a very powerful flash now!

aliEnRIK

isofa wrote: »

Firstly don't use NiCads, they are old tech and if you have some that are 6 years old, get rid of them and switch to quality high-capactity NiMH. You should be able to charge 1000 times, and say you charge once a week, they'll last for 19 years!

Secondly use a top quality delta-V charger. Try: http://www.tantronics.co.uk/index.htm

A cheap charger won't monitor the battery health and you'll never get a proper charge.

Been using some Ansmann 2700mAh batteries in pro flashes and they last weeks, with hundreds of flashes, which is incredible considering the power drain. Before I was using Uniross with a stock charger and I was lucky to get 100 flashes, I've done weddings with one set of new batteries in a very powerful flash now!

Can you give a direct link to a 'delta-v' charger please?

linni

Would these be suitable for wii controllers as I have to charge them up every time I am going to use them?

isofa

aliEnRIK wrote: »

Can you give a direct link to a 'delta-v' charger please?

Just one of many (I bought this one a couple of months ago and it's excellent, there are more expensive ones up to £100 on different sites, with more controls, LCD displays etc)
http://www.tantronics.co.uk/acatalog/ansmann_powerline_5_mobile.html

The difference it's made to the batteries I use is amazing.

linni wrote: »

Would these be suitable for wii controllers as I have to charge them up every time I am going to use them?

If they use AAs/AAAs and they need charging then I can't see why not...

hc25036

Another vote for Ansman here. I switched to an energy 8 and get much more use for cameras, flashgun, mice, torches - you name it. Also I put the cordless phone batteries in the charger once a month or so which seems to improve the charge properties

roddydogs

Surely cordless phones re-charge constantly from the cradle, you dont have to re-charge them seperatley?, all mine have, anyway.

isofa

roddydogs wrote: »

Surely cordless phones re-charge constantly from the cradle, you dont have to re-charge them seperatley?, all mine have, anyway.

Yes, but hc25036 was saying the improvement you get if you charge them occasionally with a delta-V charger... d-V chargers monitor the state of the each battery via electronics constantly, precisely noting the tiny change which is produced when they are at full charge, switching from a main to trickle charge - the results are totally different to using a standard charger. Batteries charged properly last a lot longer than those charged with stock chargers which treat all cells the same and have no monitoring.

Even out of cheap Uniross rechargeables, I'd only get a short set of shots out of a powerful flash gun, when charged with their "fast charger", with the d-V charger I'd say, on average, they charge appears to last almost twice as long.

hc25036

What Isofar said :T

After a year or so the cordless phones would run out of charge after 15 minutes out of the cradle. A couple of cycles in the d-v charger gets that back to an hour or so (they are old phones!), so I do it routinely now

aliEnRIK

isofa wrote: »

Just one of many (I bought this one a couple of months ago and it's excellent, there are more expensive ones up to £100 on different sites, with more controls, LCD displays etc)
http://www.tantronics.co.uk/acatalog/ansmann_powerline_5_mobile.html

The difference it's made to the batteries I use is amazing.

Cheers mate

A queery though if I may? You called them a 'delta-v' charger yet I cant see any mention of this on the link. What IS a delta v and how would I know that is one?