First Break-In Cycle Completed on C9000. Results. . .

I woke up this morning and found that the Break-In cycle on my new MH-C9000 completed without any issues, as far as I can see at least. I tried to improve the dismal performances of four Energizer 2500 AA's, all purchased at the same time about a year and a half ago, and all used identically, (digital camera and wireless mouse). After all is said and done, here is what is on the LCD readout:

The available capacity, from slot 1 through slot 4: 1776, 2051, 1967, and 1866.
Minutes: 270, 272, 322, 282.
Volts: 1.36, 1.37, 1.42, 1.38

For those in the know, what do these numbers tell you? As a complete n00b at this stuff, my interpretation is that these batteries are not up to snuff. Am I correct?
By the way, the charger seemed to do its job flawlessly. The unit and batteries remained cool to the touch throughout the cycle, and the LCD kept me appraised at all times as to what was happening.

These numbers tell you that your cells deliver on average about 75% of their nameplate capacity. Usually, a cell is considered spent when its capacity decreases to 80% of its initial value, so the conclusion is that you should replace these cells.
How is their self-discharge rate? Let them sit for a week and do a discharge cycle. If the capacity loss due to self-discharge is 15% or less you may still use them for less demanding applications like your mouse, if not simply dispose of them and get new ones.

Their discharge rate is the worst thing about them, actually. Three days after a full charge such as this one I just did, and they are once again dead as a stone.
Using them in a wireless mouse yields me, on average, about three days of use.
I guess I'm pretty much looking at some paperweights.
Time to break out some new Eneloops I just purchased.

Energizer 850 mA*h AAA's, a couple years of optical mouse service.

Initial Refresh & Analyze results:

682 - 718 - 722 - 792

After a full "Break-In" routine:

689 - 754 - 741 - 794

I marked them A-D, so the readings correspond per battery.

EDIT:

After a Recharge/Analyze, here is the third set of readings for these batteries:

695 - 772 - 737 - 796

Carbo said:

Their discharge rate is the worst thing about them, actually. Three days after a full charge such as this one I just did, and they are once again dead as a stone.
Using them in a wireless mouse yields me, on average, about three days of use.
I guess I'm pretty much looking at some paperweights.
Time to break out some new Eneloops I just purchased.

Click to expand...

Personally I wouldn't bother breaking in the Eneloops as folks are reporting they don't seem to need it and deliver repeatable and pretty consistent capacity out of the package (first discharge a bit lower depending on their age). If you're running multiple cells in a pack, I'd suggest charging them and doing a discharge test to verify they're matched.

Energizer will replace the 2500s with super high self discharge. They send you a postage label so the return cost is on them. Just give them a call.

Evidently they send a coupon good for the retail cost of the cells returned. I got my return label about 10 days after I called.

I got a little run around on the phone but it was pretty minor, "they only advise using their chargers", etc. The funny part is when she asked their resting voltage and then tried to tell me it shouldn't be over 1.20 V even when fully charged.

Mike

Four new batteries, I used 3 moderately for a few weeks, and one lightly.

"Sanyo AAA 1000 industrial"

Ran a Recharge & Analysis. Here are the surprisingly consistent results from the MH-C9000:

975 - 996 - 989 - 988

The first battery was the one used lightly.