Do you dispose of your underperforming batteries?

?

How about sending those that get disposed this way =D (assuming they're rechargeable)

many stores that sell rechargeable batteries are required to accept them for recycling. I usually take mine to Radio Shack.

Steve K.

I ordered a BC-900 to hopefully recondition them. If that doesn't work, buh-bye!

I selected Always, but that is not entirely true...

When the Maha C9000 charger was released, I was surprised at the number of problems people were having. Missed terminations, hot batteries during charging, and so on. I was unable to duplicate these problems. I did have one set of batteries get very hot, but they were 2500 mAh cells that we all know have "issues."

I had to borrow some "crap" cells to duplicate the problems.

I am amazed that CPF has some of the most high tech lights in existence, and powers them with some of the crappiest cells around.

My philosophy is to do what it takes to keep my batteries fresh, and replace them when their performance drops off.

The down side to this is that I spend time screening and testing. The up side is that my lights always perform well, and as expected.

The most important consideration in a rechargeable flashlight purchase should be the battery charger. Next in line is a suitable battery. Finally, the light. Keep in mind, your light is only as good as its power supply, and your batteries are only as good as your charger.

I am now putting together a collection of "crap" cells for future battery charger testing.

Tom

Hi there,

I didnt use my 'somewhat less useable' rechargable cells for a long time but
recently i found a modification for the Energizer 15 minute charger which
enables me to charge them in that charger. I've been using them again
because of this.
I have some really cheap "Digital" brand cells that i kept around for awhile too
without using, then one day my electric shaver NiCds died on me and i didnt
feel like replacing them because they were so darn tiny and because of this
they dont hold much charge, so i substituted the larger AA NiMH cells for the
two tiny NiCds (modified the package a little too) and since then i have gotten
very good operation out of the shaver, better then when it was new.
I used the original NiCd charger that came with the shaver as a sort of 'test' to
see how the NiMH cells would hold up. So far so good, and i think it's because
the NiCd charger only puts out what amounts to a trickle charger for the larger
capacity AA cells (which is wasnt designed for). This seems to be just enough
charge to replenish the cells in between uses seemingly without bothering the
cells from overcharging. I'd have to look up the date when i first did this mod,
but i think it's been at least 6 months now and it's still going strong.
So, i kept the cells and eventually found a use for them.

If rechargeables fail to hold a charge properly, I dump them.

This thread should be about whether one 'recycles' their batteries. I hope you guys aren't really dumping them.

The best news I heard in one of these threads before this one was that Rat Shack accepts them. I can neither confirm, nor deny what has happened to defective, non-performing batteries prior to knowing that Rat Shack is good for something after all.

I get rid of cells when I notice their performance has fallen off or when they act weirdly. I'm not nearly as scientific as some here and some times I have a hard time figuring out what's really going on.

I recycle all of my batteries, alkaline and li-ion. I never keep "sick" cells.

I just kept a few of the best ones (labeled 2500-2700 and measured at around 2200-2400 my my charger).
And even those could only compete with eneelope-type ones when used within one week after charge.

in all of the "use regular but not within one week"-lights are longer lasting Ni-Mhs now, inside the emergency lights as well.

Provisional packrat. I have a small plastic tub. once it gets filled they get driven to a store that has a bin for them. Or I may make art with them somehow......

Pellidon said:

Provisional packrat. I have a small plastic tub. once it gets filled they get driven to a store that has a bin for them. Or I may make art with them somehow......

Click to expand...

Same here!

Hi again,

I like to squeeze some use out of my inferior cells which i payed for and
havent used that much yet, even though they are not the most recent
technology. I've had problems with the 2500's too and they are new.

I had a lot of random mostly-crap nimh cells of various brands and I bought a pile of Sanyo and Energizer 2500 mAH cells with the idea of switching over, but the 2500's turn out to have bad reliability problems too. I've bought a few sets of Eneloops and will probably buy more of them. I dunno what to do with the 2500's. I've identified and labelled a bunch of dud ones, but maybe I should just treat them all as duds (I think I have about 30 of them at $2.50 or so each, barf).

I'm trying to standardize on AA or AAA NiMH cells for everything except low-usage or low current devices (Arc AAA etc.) in which I still use alkalines. I'm avoiding lithium cells anywhere I can.

I have a bag of dud cells (some rechargeable and some alkaline) waiting for me to get around to taking to rat shack for recycling. Other dud rechargeables are set aside for possible return to the vendor.

Always. Lowes, HomeDepo, and a local battery store are some of the places I can take mine.

Now if I could find a place that would take my primary Alcolines(sp) I would be all set. If you know place I could mail them to please mail me.

Thanks

An article on my web site has the line (referring to a dodgy NiMH cell):

...for reasons best understood by squirrels it was kept.

Click to expand...

My crap cells go in the analog transistor radios until the old C.Crane charger rejects them... then out they go. These are already beyond the point where an MH-C9000 rejects them for high impedance. I'm fairly amazed at how long they'll run in an old radio, though. No digital electronics to power.

Anyway, what the heck... I paid for them, so might as well get use out of them as long as they still have some service life left.

I used to keep using them. After having to run them through the re-charger with more frequency, it is a PITA. Now if they don't recover sufficiently from a refresh cycle to about 65%, they go into a bag for recycling. Sadly, 80% of the under performers are Japan made Energizers.