AAA Cells for a DECT 'phone.

[Jim K..]

+1 (Siemens gigaset - 3 dead)

[Jim K...]

And this is an example of your "contributions" ? Kin ell :-D:-D:-D

[PeterC]

Need new NiMH cells for a DECT 'phone (don't know how many - she didn't say in the e-mail). The present ones are (were) 600mAh but only 750mAh are easily available. Two things:

1. Why are they such low capacity?
2. Would the higher capacity matter?

She doesn't do on-line shopping, so needs to get them locally (or I could send her some).

[Martin Brown]

Cheaper that way.

The handset will last slightly longer if left off hook between charges.

Tescos have plausible ones. Check that they really are NiMH rather than the older NiCads as the charging regimes are different enough to matter.

It is unfortunate for batteries in DECT phones that the fairly dumb charging bases pretty much aim to kill the batteries in the shortest possible time. You can alleviate this a bit by not charging them for some of the time so that the battery isn't always being overcharged.

[tabbypurr]

they're small

you get slightly longer talk time

NT

[newshound]

Have to say my cheap BT 2000's are standing up pretty well. I had a previous BT system a few years ago which didn't last all that long, I think there was some problem other than batteries though.

[Harry Bloomfield, Esq.]

PeterC formulated the question :

Usually two per phone.

No, they will be fine..

[tabbypurr]

no-one sells NiCds now, they're banned under RoHS. Might be different if you buy direct from China, but even there I'd not expect NiCd.

they'd discharge during those times, cycling the battery more. You can't win. Larger capacity is at least somewhat more tolerant of a given rate of charging.

NT

[Martin Brown]

I meant that the old phone might actually contain NiCads.

Works for me. I can't avoid charging them on the base station but on the one in the kitchen they are not charged unless they start bleeping.

[alan_m]

Plenty of much higher capacity cells on Ebay however the capacity stated by most Chinese sellers or from batteries sourced in China is more likely to be a work of fiction.

Reputable manufactures have batteries up to 750mAh. These would be a suitable replacement for the 600mAh batteries in the phone.

[Max Demian]

300mAh

[jeikppkywk]

Because that's what was available then.

My Panasonic says that it does, but works fine with eneloops anyway.

[jeikppkywk]

Not true of the Panasonic KX-TCD735ALM

[Roger Hayter]

Maybe they are more leakproof or have a longer life. Or are just cheaper.

No. In fact capacity doesn't matter at all if you keep the phone on the charger when not in use.

Any NIMH cells of the right size will do, but it is probably best to buy ones from a reputable manufacturer in the (somewhat forlorn) hope they may be better quality.

[RJH]

One reason is because they are - AAAs don't go much higher.

No - unless she makes very long calls, or leaves it off the charge station for days at a time.

The Lidl/Aldi low self-discharge ones seem fine to me, and they tend to be available quite often.

[PeterC]

Up to 1.1Ah on 7Day; up to 0.9Ah for LSD. The cheap, non-LSD 7D Ecos are 0.6Ah.

Possibly some 0.75Ah LSD would be better - allows some leeway.

I'm a little wary of any cells except Eneloop or Fusitju - 7D, Aldidl etc. are a smidgeon bigger and I have several cheap torches that take 3 cells - they go in but it's ahammer job almost to get them out. The two Japanese makes are OK.

ISTR seeing something on here about not putting large capacity cells in 'phones, but ICR why.

Right, thanks for all the answers. I'll reply to her, see how many she needs and perhaps send her some. Actually, I've seen LSD ones in Morrisons - don't know if they're still stocked.

[charles]

Oh yes they do. I've just bought some from a major UK supplier ( the manufacturer being a well known brand) to refurbish some emergency lights.

[Brian Gaff]

I've had no issues with different types and different ampere hour ratings. One thing though, some of the chargers on these things do seem to be designed to shorten the lives of the batteries. Some take 2 others take three. I've had one that takes three for many years and only got through two sets, but the more expensive and bigger phone uses two and seems to trash them very fast. I have to blame the charging circuit. Brian

[Brian Gaff]

Yes half the problem is that however many batteries there are, they are charged in series, not as separate batteries, as that would need complex switching to achieve. Thus if you get one cell a bit lower capacity than the others it tends to get reverse charged when the phone is on, and dies even moor rapidly. Brian

[Chris Green]

Well our quite old Gigaset phones have gone several years with the original batteries. .... looked it up, we bought them in 2010 and we've only recently had to replace the batteries.