Batteries question

Sep 30, 2004 7 Replies

Hi fellows, one somehow unusual question.


I was using some AAA 1.5V batteries for usual stuff (remote controls etc) and recently decided to move to rechargeable batteries.



So I purchased 4x AAA Sanyo HR-4U batteries which turned to be of 1.2V. I have not much micro-electronic background so I wonder, does this make any difference?



Are there any 1.5V rechargeable AAAs or is this the usual for such rechargeables?


Ioannis Vranos http://www23.brinkster.com/noicys

By standard, the NiCad battery type nominal voltage is 1.25 V. This has to do with the chemistry of the battery. There are some expensive industrial type chargeable batteries that are 1.5 V. These are not made the same way as the reasonable cost consumer batteries.

When shopping around, take care that many dealers will call the standard

1.25 V batteries a 1.5 V battery type, because people generally use them as 1.5 V batteries. If you have a consumer device that was made to use rechargeable batteries, it would be designed to use the standard 1.25 V rechargeable battery.

For a remote control, since the batteries last many months, why would you go to rechargeable batteries? The rechargeable battery will loose its charge more quickly than a standard alkaline battery. You will find that after a month or two, you may have to recharge the batteries.

When on the shelf, rechargeable batteries will loose their first 10% of charge within the first 24 hours. After that they will self discharge at a rate of about 5% for the next 24 hours. After about 24 to 48 hours, the rate of loss would be about 1% per day. If you were to charge a NiCad battery and put it on the shelf, you would have to re-charge the battery before use, if you let it sit for about a week, and want to have optimum performance.

Jerry G. ====== "Ioannis Vranos" wrote in message news:cjgpkb$dd4$1@ulysses.noc.ntua.gr... Hi fellows, one somehow unusual question. I was using some AAA 1.5V batteries for usual stuff (remote controls etc) and recently decided to move to rechargeable batteries. So I purchased 4x AAA Sanyo HR-4U batteries which turned to be of 1.2V. I have not much micro-electronic background so I wonder, does this make any difference? Are there any 1.5V rechargeable AAAs or is this the usual for such rechargeables?

Actually the specific ones are Ni-MH 800 mAh.

SANYO Ni-MH 800, Model HR-4U 1.2V AAA

Actually the main target is my MP3 player/Radio which finishes 1 AAA

1.5V in about 12 hours. :-)

Thanks for the information. So all standard consumer AAA rechargeable batteries around are of 1.2V?

My MP3 player has a battery indicator which indicated the newly charged one as half-full. I suppose it measures voltage, so I do not care so much about it.

By the way, what is the usual capacity of normal non-rechargeable alkaline AAA batteries out there?

Ioannis Vranos http://www23.brinkster.com/noicys

But unfortunately it just gave me a low battery indication and stopped playing after 2-3 hours of operation only...

Are there rechargeable batteries suitable for this kind of stuff?

Ioannis Vranos http://www23.brinkster.com/noicys

Ioannis Vranos wrote: Rayovac makes a rechargable alkaline that is the usual 1.5V. There may be others. I've used these for years in my consumer electronics and they are pretty good. Like lead-acid batteries though if you deep discharge them, they die. They like to be re-charged often and seem to have about the capacity of regular alkalines, perhaps a little less. I got about 50 charges to a set before they started to degrade, which is the cost of over 30 sets of batteries, so I think I got my money's worth from them.

DLC

: Ioannis Vranos wrote:

: > My MP3 player has a battery indicator which indicated the newly charged : > one as half-full. I suppose it measures voltage, so I do not care so : > much about it.

: But unfortunately it just gave me a low battery indication and stopped : playing after 2-3 hours of operation only...

: Are there rechargeable batteries suitable for this kind of stuff?

: -- : Ioannis Vranos

:

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============================================================================ * Dennis Clark dlc@frii.com www.techtoystoday.com * * "Programming and Customizing the OOPic Microcontroller" Mcgraw-Hill 2003 * ============================================================================

A nice FAQ that I found on the web and contains useful information:

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Ioannis Vranos http://www23.brinkster.com/noicys

1.2V.

make

Some equipment will not work with Ni-Cd or Ni-MH rechargeables, because of the lower voltage.

You could use the Rayovac 'Renewal' rechargeable alkalines, but they don't last as long as the Ni-MH or Ni-Cds.

According to this FAQ site, NiMh will last longer than alkalines in high power equipment. The capacity of an alkaline is maybe twice that of the NiMh, but the alkaline must be discharged much slower than the rechargeable in order to obtain more total energy. So, fo a low power device like a transistor radio, alkalines should last longer, but for higher power devices like digital cameras and flashlights, you are probably better off with the NiMh. But the shelf life of alkalines is much longer than NiMh since the rechargeable battery will self discharge just sitting on the shelf for a few months. So, for a flashlight that is seldom used, alkalines should be better.

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-Bill

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