Subject:
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Re: Rechargable batteries
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.robotics
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Date:
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Sun, 22 Oct 2000 17:09:48 GMT
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Original-From:
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Steve Baker <sjbaker1@airmail&SayNoToSpam&.net>
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Reply-To:
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{sjbaker1@airmail}StopSpam{.net}
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Viewed:
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791 times
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Lester Witter wrote:
> > I just bought a set of 6 AA 1600mAH rechargable batteries together with
> > one rechar. bat. 9V 150 mAH. I tested if the whole bunch would work
> > in my cybermaster unit and the radio tower. Well, nothing happens to the
> > cybermaster. The tower unit is blinking (it's led) but the cybermaster
> > does not blink at all.
> I have uesd the everyready renewal batteries in my RCX without problems
We had this discussion (in the context of RCX) a few weeks ago.
To summarise:
Alkaline (non-rechargable) AA's are 1.5v when new but gradually run down
to about 1.2v or even less when 'flat'. A few brave people
have actually built rechargers for Alkaline cells - but you
have to monitor their temperature whilst charging them because
they can **EXPLODE** if not charged at a slow enough rate!
Alkalines that are recharged like this typically only survive
a handful of recharge cycles at best.
NiCad (rechargable) AA's are 1.2v even when fully charged, they keep
providing 1.2v until they are nearly flat when the volts
abruptly drop to essentially zero with almost no warning.
NiCad's can be recharged thousands of times if you treat
them well (ie discharging them completely after every cycle).
EverReady 'Renewal' AA's are a minor variation of Alkaline's that allows
them to be recharged a couple of dozen times before they
expire. The charger is 'exotic' compared to a NiCad charger,
and they are DEFINITELY not interchangable.
NEVER *EVER* try to recharge regular alkalines - and NEVER *EVER* charge
NiCads in a Renewal charger or Renewals in a NiCad charger.
So, a well designed electronic component should be able to run happily
on 1.2v per battery because that's what a *nearly* flat Alkaline will
deliver. Hence, NiCad's *should* work. However, if the electronics are
not so well designed - such that it'll only run on relatively new
Alkalines - then it's possible that it won't like NiCad's...which is
especially annoying since such things are likely to go through batteries
at an alarmingly high rate.
So, it seems that this CyberMaster (and perhaps all of them) is not happy
at 6 x 1.2 = 7.2volts, where the RCX seems OK. Also, it's evident that
Renewal batteries *should* work OK - although they are not a good as
NiCads in other respects.
Temperature will also have an impact here since batteries have somewhat
different performance depending on temperature - and electronics vary
somewhat in their needs depending on operating temperature.
--
Steve Baker HomeEmail: <sjbaker1@airmail.net>
WorkEmail: <sjbaker@link.com>
HomePage : http://web2.airmail.net/sjbaker1
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Rechargable batteries
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| In lugnet.robotics, sjbaker1@airmail.net writes: <snip> (...) Let me add a few words concerning Renewal's, from my own experiences... Renewal's *like* to be recharged frequently, particualarly while they still have some remaining charge in them. (...) (24 years ago, 22-Oct-00, to lugnet.robotics)
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