Battery Packs VS Single Batteries

sunnyskyez

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jun 30, 2019
Messages
1
Hello to all,

Im new here, thanks for having me. Ive got a couple of questions on batteries used in cordless landline phones. Been to other sites asking but no one can really answer me as everyone seems to be either in the AT&T is better camp or Panasonic is better camp with no explanations.

Im shopping for a new phone system, my present 10+ year old phone is a Uniden (no batt backup), that uses a Ni-Cad battery 'pack' its also 10+ years old, I haven't had to replace that battery "pack". I can talk for 3+ hours without having to recharge it, Ive forgotten to replace it in its charger for a couple of days and I can still pick it up and talk for 3 hours. An instruction on these new phones for the first time charging is, single batts are 7 hours, battery packs is 10 hours. On my 10+ yr old phone the Ni-Cads-battery pack, had to charge for 10 hours for its first charge.


Both pack and singles have the same amp/mah rating. So what is the difference between the battery pack and the single batteries, besides the battery pack has 2 wires that plug directly into the phone? Does plugging the battery directly into the handset make a difference?

I look forward to you sage advice. Thanks very much. Sunny
 

archimedes

Flashaholic
Joined
Nov 12, 2010
Messages
15,780
Location
CONUS, top left
Hello and welcome to CPF

Your thread has been approved, but was moved to the appropriate subforum, Non-Flashlight Electronics
 

Lynx_Arc

Flashaholic
Joined
Oct 1, 2004
Messages
11,212
Location
Tulsa,OK
Hello to all,

Im new here, thanks for having me. Ive got a couple of questions on batteries used in cordless landline phones. Been to other sites asking but no one can really answer me as everyone seems to be either in the AT&T is better camp or Panasonic is better camp with no explanations.

[FONT=&]Im shopping for a new phone system, my present 10+ year old phone is a Uniden (no batt backup), that uses a Ni-Cad battery 'pack' its also 10+ years old, I haven't had to replace that battery "pack". I can talk for 3+ hours without having to recharge it, Ive forgotten to replace it in its charger for a couple of days and I can still pick it up and talk for 3 hours. An instruction on these new phones for the first time charging is, single batts are 7 hours, battery packs is 10 hours. On my 10+ yr old phone the Ni-Cads-battery pack, had to charge for 10 hours for its first charge. [/FONT]


[FONT=&]Both pack and singles have the same amp/mah rating. So what is the difference between the battery pack and the single batteries, besides the battery pack has 2 wires that plug directly into the phone? Does plugging the battery directly into the handset make a difference? [/FONT]

[FONT=&]I look forward to you sage advice. Thanks very much. Sunny[/FONT]

Without further information it is hard to tell what battery construction is what.
Nicads are the first rechargeable batteries in phones they had their advantage in that you could trickle charge them all the time with minimal wear on them. Their disadvantage is lower capacity and faster self discharge when not being charged. I've pretty much abandoned nicads in almost everything due to better battery technology.
Nimh is a better rechargeable battery having greater capacity but having its drawbacks in that the higher the capacity the greater a chance of developing high self discharge rates even greater than nicads. You also cannot trickle charge them much so smarter chargers are needed to prevent them from being slowly damaged left on the charger. The greater capacity can be 2 to even 3 times as much runtime so for short usage you don't have to again return it to the charging cradle.
Lithium Ion is the technology used I think in newer phones and it has many advantages and some disadvantages. The advantages is even greater capacity, a lot less weight for the same size pack, and typically even smarter charging systems. The disadvantages in the past used to be higher cost but now the cost difference is typically worth it. There is some safety concern with lithium ion batteries if the charging circuitry and/or battery is not designed/built properly you can have safety concerns but properly made systems if used with a little caution aren't a problem. I'm thinking the better phones use lithium ion (which is single batteries 3.7v). The packs are 2-4 cells typically 1.2v nicad/nimh cells.
If I were buying a phone (cordless) I would research the replacement cost and availability of the batteries/packs as in use over 5-7 years you may end up replacing batteries in them as the batteries don't last forever. I'm not sure of the longevity of lithium ion but it may be under constant use they may not last as long as lower capacity nimh/nicad packs.
 

Dave_H

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 3, 2009
Messages
1,347
Location
Ottawa Ont. Canada
Advantage of single cells is you can pick the brand and capacity, and replace easily and cheaply. When replacing I would do both as otherwise you would end up with mismatched cells. Usually one is bad, good one can go into a single AAA device such solar garden light, small flashlight, MP3 player etc.

Over time I've picked up a number of good/used cordless phones, nothing recent so can't comment on Li-ion versus NiMH. My reason for picking many of them was ability to run from individual cells. Many DECT-6 handsets use a 2AAA pack or two cells. However, the 2-pin plug has different styles, which don't plug into each other, limiting replacement options. Replacements at big-box stores are usually over-priced for what you get. I imagine you can get some online deals though.

On that note, I like local OTC shopping, and have found a "universal" 2AAA pack with reasonable capacity, in a "dollar" type store for $4. They seem to last several years. Capacity is 730mAh which is not the limit, but certainly up there. The individual wires ("flying leads") have plugs which connect to any 2-pin jack. Must be careful to get the right polarity though! Don't know how many handsets have reverse protection.

Dave
 
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