NiMH & NiCad batteries

[PatM]

For about one year, Energizer Ni-MH cells that are made in Japan are "pre-charged" and a charge lasts for 6 months or more. Sanyo also has Ni-MH cells that hold a charge for a long time. Maybe Sanyo makes cells for Energizer. The AA cells are 2450mAh.

I stopped using Ni-MH cells about a year ago because of the rapid discharge when not in use.
I switched to the Sanyo eneloop cells for all of my digital cameras and have had very good results.

 

[Tipsy]

So how do you determine the condition of a rechargeable cell. If I have a set (every device I have requires more than one cell) that are clearly not delivering like they used to, how do I find the slacker?

 

[audioguru]

Fully charge a cell then discharge it into a load and time it until the voltage has dropped a certain amount.
Fully charge a cell and let it sit for one month then time a discharge.

 

[PatM]

So how do you determine the condition of a rechargeable cell. If I have a set (every device I have requires more than one cell) that are clearly not delivering like they used to, how do I find the slacker?

I use a LaCrosse BC-900 charger.
It has several modes, one of which is a test mode.
In this mode the cells are charged and then discharged to determine capacities.
Finally the cells are charged again and the capacity in (mAh) of (Ah) is estimated and shown on the LCD display after the charging ends.

There are probably other methods, but that is what I use.

 

[Tipsy]

I must be such a cheapskate, I didn't know rechargeables could hold a charge as long as a month. I use NiCd's and NiMH's.
What's required to make a suitable test load (amp/watts) for a single cell, (all my devices require multiple cells).

 

[PatM]

I must be such a cheapskate, I didn't know rechargeables could hold a charge as long as a month. I use NiCd's and NiMH's.
What's required to make a suitable test load (amp/watts) for a single cell, (all my devices require multiple cells).

Normal NiMH's hold a charge for about 3 weeks.
I stopped using them and switched to Sanyo Eneloop cells.
After a year they still hold about 85% of their charge

 

[audioguru]

Energizer, Sony and many other ni-MH battery cells also hold a charge for 1 year now. Maybe they are all made by Sanyo.

 

[lora.john]

thanks guys for the informative forum