Care of NiMH batteries

[tpaul]

When I had a Minolta Dimage 7i camera which was notorious as being a severe user of AA batteries I accumulated a number of good ni mh batteries and fast chargers.

Having sold the camera swmbo now uses some of these to power a portable radio she uses. No problems.

They are also used in toys etc.

Be aware there are varying capacities of ni mh AA batteries. I think

18.5 was the highest I had but that they now go to over 21.

A good charger is the Ansmann unit. Not the fastest but reliable and won't cook your batteries. The greater the capacity of the battery the longer it will take to charge.

Do a web search on the theme and you will turn up lots of info.

Paul Mc Cann

[Doki]

I'd suggest not getting a DAB radio as they apparently sound terrible (very low bitrate you see).

[The Natural Philosopher]

Certainly. My Roberts radio has been adapted to take a 7x1700 mA/h Nicad pack which gets fast charged on my modle plane chargers. Charges in 20 minutes, last about 3-6 weeks of heavy usage. The PP9 cells cost about a fiver, the rechargeable I had anyway, but its about 15 quid new. Saved a fortune really.

[The Natural Philosopher]

So use 5 decent ones. Or two lithium cells.

5 nicads=4 alkalines. You can get up to 1100mA/h Nicdas, or 1700 ma/h NiMh in AA sizes.

To replace 6 alkalines (9v) use 7 Nicads (about 8.4v rated, ins from 10 to 7 during discharge)

My 1700 mA/h Nicads outlast a PP9 all right.

[Neal Harwood]

I have always wonderd when I see rechargeable capoacities quoted. How doi these compare to non-rechargeable (e.g. alkaline) batteries. What IS the capacity (mAh) for an alkaline AA battery?

Neal

[Dave Plowman]

On a *portable* radio? Well, people have put up with much worse in the form of AM for years.

I'm listening to DAB R4 at the moment on a fairly decent system and it's fine. Other 'pop' stations are so heavily processed anyway there's not much point in using a high bitrate. Which sort of only leaves R3 and possibly Classic FM, and R3 is at a reasonable bitrate anyway.

[T i m]

[T] About 25 years ago I bought 4 x 4A 'D' sized Nicads to use in a medium sized Panasonic portable AM / FM radio for when at work for BT (electronics repair workshop).

The radio is currently in the bathroom and is used daily and on the same rechargable batteries. They get slow charged (overnight) once every 3 months or so.

NiMH AA's are now around 2300mA and I use them in the digital camera, GPS, camping lanterns, RC model cars and boats and torches etc. With the RC Laser racing sailing model we are often on the water from 10am till 4pm with back to back races. With the 2.3A AA's (8 in the TX and

5 for the RX I can pretty well last the whole day on one charge.

All the TV / Vid remotes and cycle rear lamps are fitted with NiMH AAA's and in spite of tales of rapid self discharge, never seem to need charging up!

With a set or rechargables not *much* more than a set of alkalines these days (when you shop about) I rarely buy anything other than rechargables.

Good places to get batteries (especially when they do special deals)

Maplin

7dayshop I'm sure we can come up with loads more ;-)

All the best ..

T i m