need some help here please

[psdiver102]

Well, i decided to get into rechargables. And i went in full bore. I went and bought 12 AA and 12 AAA's, and the energizer charger. The batteries are energizer too.

Now, the problem. I charged all the batteries. I put a couple AAA's in my computer mouse. The computer is showing a low batt warning for the mouse now. Switched to reg batteries and everything is fine. Figured there is nothing wrong with the battery sensor and switched back to the rechargables. Same warning. The batteries have been running awhile, but show a low level.

Last night, my wife needed to change batts in her camera flash. I told her to use the rechargables. the suckers wouldnt even power her flash. I put regular cheap coppertops in and it works fine.

Now the question. Did i make a mistake going to rechargables as they lack power. Of is it a problem with energizers?

 

[VidPro]

uhhh, no misteak, just some devices want a higher voltages, some cameras, some high tech stuff.

the alkaline is a 1.5v battery, starts over that voltage, and in high loads it drops pretty fast, at a 1amp load it averages out to being about 1.2v through a non-stop discharge.
the alkaline given a REST can also go back up to a slightly higher voltage than the rechargable.

the Ni-Mhy might be about 1.35v hot off the charger , and is still capable of high currents when reading 1.2v
unfortunatly as you have found some devices expect to find the higher voltages, and will whine about low-battery early, when they only see the 1.25 or 2x 2.50 voltages.

a few cameras and flash units can be switched, so they know they are being run off of rechargables. Most things dont have a problem with it.

if your having extra ordinary issues with everything, then you check the voltages, and when you check those voltages, check out your alkalines too.

If you just got your energysers, then you probably havent noticed yet that some of the high-capacity ni-mhy batteries dont seem to hold a charge well after Much time and many cycles, they go down while sitting there unused.
off the shelf, They should be fully charged before use (if they are not LSD batteries) they are not "precharged".
also a (very) few charge/discharge cycles of a long parked shelved ni-mhy battery can get it working a bit better under load, reduce the resistance a bit and all.
but
the 2 things you mentioned probably wont quit whining about it.

 

[was.lost.but.now.found]

Some devices out there will have trouble using rechargeables based on a lower starting voltage. Take for example my GPS (an old Magellan). I can put in new alkalines and the battery meter will start at full, but will be totally dead in 1 hour. I pop in some rechargeables on the other hand, and while the meter starts at 2/3 remaining life, it will take 3 to 5 hrs to deplete the batteries. That's the brightside of this problem.

Other devices (like your flash) won't even turn on based on a certain lower voltage. I blame this on the device. However, unless you are willing to try and buy a different flash that will accomodate secondary (rechargeable batteries), then you may be stuck with using alkaline in that device.

Devices like your mouse will warn of low voltage, but will continue to work just fine for a LONG time (like my GPS).

As a separate note, LSD chemistry will sit in devices for months, even years before self discharging. Energizer does not currently make this technology so in a manner of speaking Energizer is behind the times in this respect and is not generally favored on CPF. Brands that do use LSD (low self discharge) tech are Duracell, Rayovac, and the favorites - Sanyo eneloop.

 

[psdiver102]

thanks guys. i really dont want to replace her flash as it costs 500 bucks to begin with. She can just use up my lithium supplies on that. If i went to the eneloops or duraloops, do i need a new charger ( looking for recomendations with that question)?

 

[Mr Happy]

I think your problem is with the specific Energizer batteries and charger, not with rechargeable batteries in general. I use rechargeable batteries in all sorts of things from computer mice to Harmony remotes to cameras and camera flashes and I've never had a problem.

There can occasionally be devices that don't work well with rechargeable batteries but they are more the exception than the rule. Generally speaking, camera flashes love rechargeables.

You have not mentioned the model number of your charger. This matters as all chargers are not created equal. Also, you didn't mention about the batteries, are they 2500, 2450, 2300, ...? Lastly, when did you last charge the batteries? Many poor quality batteries fail to hold a charge and if it has been a few weeks since you charged them they may be empty all by themselves. (Energizer batteries have been notorious for this in the past.)

 

[was.lost.but.now.found]

Good point Mr Happy, I talked all about LSD and didn't even think about the fact that they may have self discharged by the time he got around to putting them into the device.

 

[psdiver102]

I dont know the charger model number. I am at work so i cant look. It plugs directly into wall and is AA/AAA. It is a 9 hour charger. i believe the batteries are 2500. i had two choices and got the largest of the two. The batteries were charged for 3 days prior

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Psdiver102,

My wild guess would be that your crap charger has tortured your crap cells to near death...

Tom

 

[csa]

Yeah, I agree. Any kind of camera/flash that was manufactured in the last 5 years should support rechargeables no problem. You may not have had the batteries fully charged when you gave them to her.

 

[brted]

thanks guys. i really dont want to replace her flash as it costs 500 bucks to begin with. She can just use up my lithium supplies on that. If i went to the eneloops or duraloops, do i need a new charger ( looking for recomendations with that question)?

If the batteries aren't bad (you didn't make a good choice with Energizers, but I guess you know that) and the problem is the low voltage, then no NiMH cells are going to help out. But if you still want to try rechargeables, you could go with NiZn cells [and charger] by PowerGenix. They have a higher voltage than NiMH's and even higher than alkalines (more like Energizer lithiums). Not sure how many batteries your flash requires but if it is just a couple, then the higher voltage shouldn't be a problem.

I have some indoor/outdoor thermometers that I put NiMH cells in and they showed low battery within a couple of days. But that was January 1 and they are still going strong. I wouldn't worry about the low batt warning on the mouse as long as it doesn't affect use of the mouse.

 

[psdiver102]

Thanks for the help guys. i will order some eneloops tonight. i will also look into the niZn cells. What the most raved after charger these days.

 

[was.lost.but.now.found]

Thanks for the help guys. i will order some eneloops tonight. i will also look into the niZn cells. What the most raved after charger these days.

http://www.thomasdistributing.com/s...html?SP_id=&osCsid=6dgp3m9tsvht77bonp78maub94

 

[brted]

I should point out the NiZn cells require a special charger designed for that chemistry and voltage.

 

[was.lost.but.now.found]

I should point out the NiZn cells require a special charger designed for that chemistry and voltage.

Thank you, brain lapse on my part.

 

[alpg88]

nizn have strange capacity rating, 2500 mwhr, how does it translate to normal ah rating?

 

[brted]

It's just voltage times capacity, so for an AA Eneloop it would be 1.2*2000 = 2400mwhr. Since NiZn is 1.7V, they don't want to advertise 1470mAh.

 

[alpg88]

It's just voltage times capacity, so for an AA Eneloop it would be 1.2*2000 = 2400mwhr. Since NiZn is 1.7V, they don't want to advertise 1470mAh.

thanks for explanation, that is kind a low,

 

[Mr Happy]

thanks for explanation, that is kind a low,

mAh measurements are only truly comparable between cells of the same chemistry. If cells are are of different types then mWh (or even joules) is a better measure of storage capacity.

 

[alpg88]

mAh measurements are only truly comparable between cells of the same chemistry. If cells are are of different types then mWh (or even joules) is a better measure of storage capacity.

hm, that makes sence.
learn something new everyday.:twothumbs

 

[AnAppleSnail]

I dont know the charger model number. I am at work so i cant look. It plugs directly into wall and is AA/AAA. It is a 9 hour charger. i believe the batteries are 2500. i had two choices and got the largest of the two. The batteries were charged for 3 days prior

My experience with the Energizer 2500s is that they die at a constant, very fast rate, whether or not I put them in electronics. Shell out for Duraloop or Eneloop and you'll be happier. My pickiest cameras ran fine on Eneloops, but only took a few dozen pictures on freshly charged Energizer 2500s.