ALDI Re-Chargeables



G

Gordon Harris

Guest
I bought 3 packs of 4 NiMh (AA size) at AFDI today at £1.99 per pack.

Only 1700 mAh, but seemed like a good buy....
--
Gordon Harris
 
I'm a bit of a Max-power snob now with the old NIMH's. It's
entertaining to see the rate at which the power ratings is increasing.
AAA's are now available at 1000mAh, and AA's at 2600 mAh. Anybody seen
any advance on these figures?


druidh
 
On 17 Jun 2005 03:10:29 -0700, "druidh" <[email protected]> wrote:

| I'm a bit of a Max-power snob now with the old NIMH's. It's
| entertaining to see the rate at which the power ratings is increasing.
| AAA's are now available at 1000mAh, and AA's at 2600 mAh. Anybody seen
| any advance on these figures?

Anyone got a discharge specification for NiMH cells.
Is it ???amps for ???mins then 0 amps for ???mins like the old zinc carbon
cells used to have?

Anyone know how long they hold charge?
Mine seem to self discharge in a couple of days :-(

--
Dave Fawthrop <dave hyphenologist co uk> http://www.webshots.com
Thousands of wonderful professional photos for your Wallpaper and
Screensaver. also 200,000 amateur pics. Four new pics each day.
 
That self-discherge thing is definitely wrong. Mine seem to hold *some*
charge for at least a month. Having said that, I've invested in a
decent charger and it may be that the charging cycle is the
determining factor.



druidh
 
In article <[email protected]>, Dave Fawthrop
<[email protected]> writes
>On 17 Jun 2005 03:10:29 -0700, "druidh" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>| I'm a bit of a Max-power snob now with the old NIMH's. It's
>| entertaining to see the rate at which the power ratings is increasing.
>| AAA's are now available at 1000mAh, and AA's at 2600 mAh. Anybody seen
>| any advance on these figures?
>
>Anyone got a discharge specification for NiMH cells.


Here is a datasheet for Energizer 2500mAh AAs:
http://data.energizer.com/PDFs/nh15.pdf

>
>Anyone know how long they hold charge?


Ages. My camera has two sets that alternate between being main and
spare. The spares may not have been charged for a month but have never
let me down when I needed to change. The flat ones get charged and then
become the spares.

>Mine seem to self discharge in a couple of days :-(


If you mean disconnected from your toys then either they are goosed or
they have not been charged properly. Possible they were goosed by a ****
/ faulty charger. It could just be one bad cell that gives up long
before the others.

If you mean in a toy then the toy could be faulty.

I recommend getting a good charger like the Maha 401
http://www.nevadaradio.co.uk/acatalog/c4011fw.html

and keeping the cells in sets that are all used together and charged
together. That way they stand the best chance of staying matched to each
other.

--

Dominic Sexton
 
In article <[email protected]>,
druidh <[email protected]> writes
>I'm a bit of a Max-power snob now with the old NIMH's. It's
>entertaining to see the rate at which the power ratings is increasing.
>AAA's are now available at 1000mAh, and AA's at 2600 mAh. Anybody seen
>any advance on these figures?
>
>
>druidh
>


I'm a decent charger snob to make the most of the available capacity
available in the cells. I use a Maha C401, what do you use?

If you don't use a single channel per cell smart charger you will not be
getting them most from whatever capacity they have.

Here's the Maha:
http://www.nevadaradio.co.uk/acatalog/c4011fw.html

It also has a fast (2h) / slow (5h) switch so you can be gentle on the
cells when you are not in a hurry.

--

Dominic Sexton
 
I use the Ansmann Digispeed 4 (single cell / trickle / car adapter). As
you suggest, all batteries are labelled (in pairs / fours) when I get
them.


druidh
 
Dave Fawthrop <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

>
> Anyone know how long they hold charge?
> Mine seem to self discharge in a couple of days :-(
>


ISTR NiCds are about 1% self discharge per day, I expect NiMh are similar.

John
 
Dominic Sexton <{d-sep03}@dscs.demon.co.uk> wrote:

>I'm a decent charger snob to make the most of the available capacity
>available in the cells. I use a Maha C401, what do you use?


I never even considered it when I bought my cheapy unbranded charger.
What's the worst that can happen ?

Daytona
 
In article <[email protected]>, Daytona
<[email protected]> writes
>Dominic Sexton <{d-sep03}@dscs.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>
>>I'm a decent charger snob to make the most of the available capacity
>>available in the cells. I use a Maha C401, what do you use?

>
>I never even considered it when I bought my cheapy unbranded charger.
>What's the worst that can happen ?


Fire?

The poor chargers can over-charge or charge too fast both of which will
reduce the life of the cells in the long run. If it also charges in
pairs then if the two cells are in a different state of discharge or one
has deteriorated more than the other then neither of them will be
charged properly. Again this will reduce the life of the cells.

If you don't mind deterioration and failure of cells it is no big deal.
Likewise if you are always chasing the newer, higher capacity cells you
might not notice the deterioration. However there is little point in
buying high capacity cells and then not charging them properly because
you will never get the full capacity from them.

--

Dominic Sexton
 
In article <[email protected]>, Dominic Sexton
<{d-sep03}@dscs.demon.co.uk> writes
>In article <[email protected]>, Daytona
><[email protected]> writes
>>Dominic Sexton <{d-sep03}@dscs.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>>
>>>I'm a decent charger snob to make the most of the available capacity
>>>available in the cells. I use a Maha C401, what do you use?

>>
>>I never even considered it when I bought my cheapy unbranded charger.
>>What's the worst that can happen ?

>
>Fire?
>
>The poor chargers can over-charge or charge too fast both of which will
>reduce the life of the cells in the long run.


I forgot to say that the poor fast chargers can literally cook the cells
by trying to stuff too much current into them. If they get very hot in
charging (almost too hot to touch) they will be damaged and their life,
in terms of both capacity and number of times they can be charged, will
be reduced.


--

Dominic Sexton
 
Hi

To build on what Dominic has said.
I am a model aeroplane flyer of many years and the heart of the control
system has been nicads/NiMh's. I could bore with all sorts of info including
there is no better cell than Sanyo. The easiest way is to give a link to a
well respected provider of information over a few years and maybe it'll
answer a few questions. NiMh's look to the menu on the left.
http://www.rcbatteryclinic.com/

Just for info I use a RadioControl charger on a 12 volt battery, stable
voltage so as not to affect the critical peak voltage detection (smaller
peak on NiMh's compared to NiCads) . this will be the usual reason for the
Nimh's frying. When new they don't exhibit a peak voltage so clearly , so
the cheaper chargers miss it. When you get new cells by all means use your
cheap charger but don't rely on it to cut out. manually stop it. Then
discharge your cells and do the same again. Do this two or three times until
the capacity of the cells builds up and peak detect starts to work on the
charger. You'll probably be fine from then on. Nimh's usually take 4-5
charges to reach claimed cpacity , cheap makes may never get there :). If
the cells can be charged a little slower the first few times it may help.
Damn I said I wouldn't bore. A very complicated subject.

Alan




"Dominic Sexton" <{d-sep03}@dscs.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article <[email protected]>, Dominic Sexton
> <{d-sep03}@dscs.demon.co.uk> writes
>>In article <[email protected]>, Daytona
>><[email protected]> writes
>>>Dominic Sexton <{d-sep03}@dscs.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>>>
>>>>I'm a decent charger snob to make the most of the available capacity
>>>>available in the cells. I use a Maha C401, what do you use?
>>>
>>>I never even considered it when I bought my cheapy unbranded charger.
>>>What's the worst that can happen ?

>>
>>Fire?
>>
>>The poor chargers can over-charge or charge too fast both of which will
>>reduce the life of the cells in the long run.

>
> I forgot to say that the poor fast chargers can literally cook the cells
> by trying to stuff too much current into them. If they get very hot in
> charging (almost too hot to touch) they will be damaged and their life, in
> terms of both capacity and number of times they can be charged, will be
> reduced.
>
>
> --
>
> Dominic Sexton
 
Gordon Harris wrote:
> I bought 3 packs of 4 NiMh (AA size) at AFDI today at £1.99 per pack.
>
> Only 1700 mAh, but seemed like a good buy....


The "Top Craft" ones they were selling a few years ago were absolute
trash...
 
In message <[email protected]>,
druidh <[email protected]> writes
>I'm a bit of a Max-power snob now with the old NIMH's. It's
>entertaining to see the rate at which the power ratings is increasing.
>AAA's are now available at 1000mAh, and AA's at 2600 mAh. Anybody seen
>any advance on these figures?


You can find sellers on the web that claim to have higher ones like
these 3000 mA hour ones in Brazil
<http://www.mercadolivre.com.br/jm/item?site=MLB&id=29691687>

or these 2800 mA hour on Swiss ebay
<http://cgi.ebay.ch/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=84054&item=5982124261&rd=1>

but the manufacturers' sites don't claim more than 2400 mA hour
<http://www.panasonic-batteries.com/index.cfm?PageID=15422>

and 2300 mA hour
<http://www.tinko-battery.com/web/ni_mh_rechargeable/ni_mh_rechargeable.htm>

respectively, so I doubt the claims would stand up to EU consumer
protection rules.
--
Goalie of the Century
 
Chris Loffredo <[email protected]> writes
>Gordon Harris wrote:
>> I bought 3 packs of 4 NiMh (AA size) at AFDI today at £1.99 per pack.
>> Only 1700 mAh, but seemed like a good buy....

>
>The "Top Craft" ones they were selling a few years ago were absolute
>trash...


I was prepared to risk £5.97 for a dozen. :)
Two packs have charged ok, and look ok on the tester, but I'll have to
put them in something I can leave running.

I konw! My GPS!
--
Gordon Harris
 
Gordon Harris wrote:
> Chris Loffredo <[email protected]> writes
>
>> Gordon Harris wrote:
>>
>>> I bought 3 packs of 4 NiMh (AA size) at AFDI today at £1.99 per pack.
>>> Only 1700 mAh, but seemed like a good buy....

>>
>>
>> The "Top Craft" ones they were selling a few years ago were absolute
>> trash...

>
>
> I was prepared to risk £5.97 for a dozen. :)
> Two packs have charged ok, and look ok on the tester, but I'll have to
> put them in something I can leave running.
>
> I konw! My GPS!


Good luck! Mine (NiMH rated 600mAh) were really useless. At such low
capacity, I thought they'd at least be durable - nope...