Rechargeable battery time again

espresso

penyekz wrote:

Anyone had problems using these rechargable battries? I've fully charged mine using my Hannel 200mah charger for 16 hours. The battries seem very hot. When I try to use the batteries on my Microsoft wireless mouse, it doesn't work. Not even a flicker of light. It also doesn't work on my handheld battery operated fan. It works on a remote control and small alarm clock but not the mouse. Any ideas? do I have a faulty set? I've tried 4 different battries and they are the same.

The battries has 1.2V written on it whereas my other recharables are 1.25V. Would this make a difference?

There are a few devices that won't work with rechargeable batteries i.e. some very cheap digital cameras need the 1.5V x2 to give 3V and just won't work with 1.2 x 2 giving 2.4V but these cases are quite rare. I am using these FiF NiMh rechargeables bought last year, in a Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse and they work just fine. Only last week I swapped the keyboard batteries, and they were last charged in October 05. The mouse lasts several weeks and I always have a spare set charged and ready. I am surprised if a handheld fan does not work though and the best bet would be to check these batteries with a meter.

HTH

Wig

dc wrote:

i.e. if the capacity is 2000mAh then you can leave them in the charger if the charger charges at 200mAH or less, if it charges at a higher rate then you MUST switch the charger off

Then you also have the problem of cheap china batteries saying they are 2700mah to keep up with the Jones' but really you'll be lucky if they're actually any more than 2100's

Wig

penyekz wrote:

Anyone had problems using these rechargable battries? I've fully charged mine using my Hannel 200mah charger for 16 hours. The battries seem very hot. When I try to use the batteries on my Microsoft wireless mouse, it doesn't work. Not even a flicker of light. It also doesn't work on my handheld battery operated fan. It works on a remote control and small alarm clock but not the mouse. Any ideas? do I have a faulty set? I've tried 4 different battries and they are the same.

The battries has 1.2V written on it whereas my other recharables are 1.25V. Would this make a difference?

16 hours @ 200mah on 2100 mah batteries sounds way too long to me, especially when the actuall batt value is probably more like 1700mah

espresso

Wig wrote:

16 hours @ 200mah on 2100 mah batteries sounds way too long to me, especially when the actuall batt value is probably more like 1700mah

Agreed but without knowing more about this particular charger we can't be sure. i.e. it may switch to a trickle charge when it detects that they are fully charged.

penyekz

The battaries itself says charge for 16h at 210 mA. My charger is a hahnel plug in type which charges at 200 mA (0.28VA <-- don't know what this means) . I'm not sure if it switches to tricle charge or not. The website (http://www.hahnel.ie/index.cfm?action=listcharger&chargertype=3) doesn't give any info and my charger is a previous model not listed there.

I'm now left with 4 sets of rechargables which I have no use for. Its a real shame it won't work on my mouse. (my other set of rechargable battaries from hahnel are 1.25V 2000Mah works on this mouse, would a difference of 0.1V make so much of a difference?)

haymishpupkin2

I have a couple of questions regarding the aldi stock

1. I bought a charger from aldi. On the back of it, it refers to an instruction manual but there was no manual in the box. Should I have had a manual and do I really need it?

2. I bought some of the D type cells. They light up my torch very brightly so they have some charge in them but I do not know how much. Are there any problems charging them for the specified time if they are already nearly full? I bought 8 D cells for a camping lantern which takes 4 type Ds. I want to charge them right before I go camping so the 2 sets will last as long as possible.

3. Once I have charged nimh batteries, how long should they hold the charge? I had problems at christmas with my digital camera dying on me with AA batteries I had charged only a few weeks before. Is it always best to charge them right before you use them?

4. I often find I have a spare battery in a set of 2 or 4 that has not been used since I charged it but the other 3 need to be charged. In a case like this is it OK to throw all 4 in the charger and recharge them all?


Thanks

Haymish

ollyk

yezdi wrote:

It certainly matters if it is Ni-Cad or Ni Mh. Ni-Cad batteries have a memory effect. This means that if the battery is recharged when it is not fully charged then it tends to "remember" that partial charge as a full charge. Meaning the life of the battery reduces sharply when charged unnecessarily. Ni Mh batteries do not have such a limitation. They can be charged upto a 1000 times without a sharp drop in performance. Not only that Ni-Cad batteries are highly toxic when compared to Ni Mh batteries and are thus not good for the environment. Its life is also much shorter compared to Ni Mh.
In other words if you are going to buy rechargeable batteries make sure that they are Ni Mh.

I know the memory effect but 1. would you have 500mAh NiMh or 1.5Ah NiCd? 2. there are some who suggest that the memory effect isn't as bad as has been made out - it is generally reversable and if you discharge a rechargeable too much to the point of polarity swap then battery is !!!!!!ed NiMh or whatever!

doozeruk

penyekz wrote:

Anyone had problems using these rechargable battries? I've fully charged mine using my Hannel 200mah charger for 16 hours. The battries seem very hot. When I try to use the batteries on my Microsoft wireless mouse, it doesn't work. Not even a flicker of light. It also doesn't work on my handheld battery operated fan. It works on a remote control and small alarm clock but not the mouse. Any ideas? do I have a faulty set? I've tried 4 different battries and they are the same.

The battries has 1.2V written on it whereas my other recharables are 1.25V. Would this make a difference?

I found out these wouldn't work on my mouse either and then I discovered why. The positive end of the battery i.e. the end that has the cylindrical small metal part poking out, is not as long as on normal or other rechargables, they therfore do not make contact with contact points on the item. I got around this by slightly bending the contact outwards on my mouse, it has done no damage whatsoever but admit that it is another pain with these batteries.

penyekz

doozeruk wrote:

I found out these wouldn't work on my mouse either and then I discovered why. The positive end of the battery i.e. the end that has the cylindrical small metal part poking out, is not as long as on normal or other rechargables, they therfore do not make contact with contact points on the item. I got around this by slightly bending the contact outwards on my mouse, it has done no damage whatsoever but admit that it is another pain with these batteries.

Tried to look into that. The mouse contacts are fine and everything's touching where it should be touching. Guess the 1V difference really makes a difference.

dc

penyekz wrote:

Tried to look into that. The mouse contacts are fine and everything's touching where it should be touching. Guess the 1V difference really makes a difference.

They should work in your mouse, my mouse is OK even with the Poundland NiCads which are only 800mAh. Does the mouse led flash? and have you tried the Aldi batteries in a torch?

Looks like the ones you tried are not being charged by your Hahnel, could be a contact prob on the Hahnel charger. Or maybe the batteries are duff. Have you tried them all?

I too, like doozeruk, have had batteries that that are not standard shape and will not make contact properly in some devices because the shoulders or a bit of plastic gets in the way, by holding the +ve pip away from the contact.