Rechargeable or not?

On Sat, 22 Jan 2005 17:17:06 GMT, "Mike Brockhurst"
<[email hidden]> wrote:

| Chris Eilbeck" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
| news:[email hidden]...
| > "[email hidden]" <[email hidden]> writes:
| >
| >> Just as a test I've got a couple of AAA non-rechargeable batteries in
| >> my GPS and when compared to the life of rechargeable ones they appear
| >> to be lasting for absolutely ages....
| >>
| >> Any techies got an explanation?
| >
| > Yeah, primary cells ie non-rechargeable ones hold more charge than
| > secondary, rechargeable ones. Nicads typically store 1/3-1/2 as much
| > as an alkaline, nimh store 1/2-2/3 as much as alkaline. Lithium cells
| > store is the best rechargeable technology but they still can't match
| > alkalines. They also have the drawback that they're best with low
| > current drains eg clocks, smoke alarms rather than high drains like
| > gpses and torches.
| >
| Mike Brock adds:
|
| I've had four Duracell Pile Alkaline AA rechargeable batteries since I
| bought my digi camera (Sony Cybershot 3.2) 3 years ago. I must have taken
| over 20,000 pictures using the 4 batteries (alternated and recharged) and
| they are still going strong. I'm very impressed as I'm sure I'd have gone
| through loads of non-rechargeables on the use they have had. Not tried them
| in my GPS as I stick to conventional non-rechargeables (Garmin Etrex
| Summit). Would they work in the GPS as well as they do in the Camera?

Yes I use the same rechargeable AA NiMh in my camera and etrex.

--
Dave F

The message <[email hidden]>
from "Mike Brockhurst" <[email hidden]> contains these
words:

Quoted message said:

I've had four Duracell Pile Alkaline AA rechargeable batteries since I
bought my digi camera (Sony Cybershot 3.2) 3 years ago. I must have taken
over 20,000 pictures using the 4 batteries (alternated and recharged) and
they are still going strong. I'm very impressed as I'm sure I'd have gone
through loads of non-rechargeables on the use they have had. Not tried them
in my GPS as I stick to conventional non-rechargeables (Garmin Etrex
Summit). Would they work in the GPS as well as they do in the Camera?

Don't know about alkaline rechargeables. AFAIK most of us use Ni-mh
batteries in our GPSs. Even the weedy 1300 mAh ones will last in a
Summit longer than the track memory. Since I shifted to 2100 mAh ones
and a better GPS I haven't had to change batteries in the field if I
started out with anything approaching fully charged.

--
Roger Chapman so far this year 10 summits
New - 10 (Marilyns 0, Sweats 0, Outlying Fells 10)
Repeats - 0 (Marilyns 0, Sweats 0, Wainwrights 0, Outlying Fells 0)

In article <[email hidden]>, Mike Brockhurst
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Mike Brock adds:

I've had four Duracell Pile Alkaline AA rechargeable batteries since I
bought my digi camera (Sony Cybershot 3.2) 3 years ago. I must have taken
over 20,000 pictures using the 4 batteries (alternated and recharged) and
they are still going strong. I'm very impressed as I'm sure I'd have gone
through loads of non-rechargeables on the use they have had. Not tried them
in my GPS as I stick to conventional non-rechargeables (Garmin Etrex
Summit). Would they work in the GPS as well as they do in the Camera?

The other day I decided to see if I could get some life out of my
Vivitar 285 flash gun. It certainly hasn't been used since I started
with digital cameras - i.e.at least 5 years. There were still batteries
in the flash gun, and when I switched it on , it charged up and fired
well! (4 x AA batteries)

I'm sure rechargeables wouldn't have held charge like that.
--
Bill Grey
http://www.billboy.co.uk

On 25/1/05 7:27 pm, in article [email hidden], "W.

D. Grey said:

In article <[email hidden]>, Mike Brockhurst
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Mike Brock adds:

I've had four Duracell Pile Alkaline AA rechargeable batteries since I
bought my digi camera (Sony Cybershot 3.2) 3 years ago. I must have taken
over 20,000 pictures using the 4 batteries (alternated and recharged) and
they are still going strong. I'm very impressed as I'm sure I'd have gone
through loads of non-rechargeables on the use they have had. Not tried them
in my GPS as I stick to conventional non-rechargeables (Garmin Etrex
Summit). Would they work in the GPS as well as they do in the Camera?

The other day I decided to see if I could get some life out of my
Vivitar 285 flash gun. It certainly hasn't been used since I started
with digital cameras - i.e.at least 5 years. There were still batteries
in the flash gun, and when I switched it on , it charged up and fired
well! (4 x AA batteries)

I'm sure rechargeables wouldn't have held charge like that.

GPS units just eat [censored] batteries and rechargables! Something of a worry
when you're stuck in the middle of nowhere. Of course, you won't be in the
middle of nowhere because you have a GPS!

--
Andy Howell
Birmingham, UK

To mail simply put back the dots ...
http://www.ecotrend.org.uk/walking/

In message <BE1E8058.3F3DD%andy.howellNOSPAM@ecotrendDOTorgDOTuk>

Andy Howell andy.howellNOSPAM@ecotrendDOTorgDOTuk said:

On 25/1/05 7:27 pm, in article [email hidden], "W.

D. Grey said:

In article <[email hidden]>, Mike Brockhurst
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Mike Brock adds:

Not tried them in my GPS as I stick to conventional
non-rechargeables (Garmin Etrex Summit). Would they work in the GPS
as well as they do in the Camera?

The other day I decided to see if I could get some life out of my
Vivitar 285 flash gun.

[snip]

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I'm sure rechargeables wouldn't have held charge like that.

GPS units just eat [censored] batteries and rechargables! Something of a worry
when you're stuck in the middle of nowhere. Of course, you won't be in the
middle of nowhere because you have a GPS!

I recently invested in an Ansmann Digi-Speed 4 battery charger which
senses the delta-V on each individual cell, rather than being like
my original charger which worked on paired cells and was timer based.
Since doing so I've been very impressed with the performance of my AAA
NiMh cells in my Geko301. Last Saturday I did a long circuit around the
Coniston Coppermines (where I was staying), and on Sunday I did the
Fairfield Horseshoe. The GPS was left on in Normal mode collecting data
for the whole of both walks. On each day I started out with a fresh set
of recharged NiMh batteries which lasted for the whole walk with
capacity to spare. This was particularly good since the air temperatures
were below freezing on both days.

--
o/ \\ // |\ ,_ o Mike Clark
<\__,\\ // __o | \ / /\, "A mountain climbing, cycling, skiing,
"> || _`\<,_ |__\ \> | immunology lecturer, antibody engineer and
` || (_)/ (_) | \corn computer user"

Bitstring <[email hidden]>, from the
wonderful person Mike Clark <[email hidden]> said
<snip>

Quoted message said:

I recently invested in an Ansmann Digi-Speed 4 battery charger which
senses the delta-V on each individual cell, rather than being like
my original charger which worked on paired cells and was timer based.
Since doing so I've been very impressed with the performance of my AAA
NiMh cells in my Geko301.

I have encountered one hiccup with 'smart chargers' like that - I got
some new AA (2300mAHr, Uniross) NiMHs, and charged them overnight ..
charger reported them all 'full' .. however when I went to use them (on
the hill, as it happened) one of the four was actually flat as a
pancake. Tried it again when I got home, thinking I must have forgotten
to charge it, and again it went to 'fully charged' in about 10 minutes,
but when tested was actually almost completely flat.

I had to stuff it in my old 'here's 4 hours at full current' timer
charger in order to get a charge into it. Since I did that, it seems to
be behaving. SO I guess the warning is 'delta V chargers may not do a
good job with a brand new NiMH battery' (or maybe I was just unlucky -
the others have all been fine).

The other warning is 'don't use new batteries for backups .. use ones
you know work. Put the new ones in the device!'.

Quoted message said:

Last Saturday I did a long circuit around the
Coniston Coppermines (where I was staying), and on Sunday I did the
Fairfield Horseshoe. The GPS was left on in Normal mode collecting data
for the whole of both walks. On each day I started out with a fresh set
of recharged NiMh batteries which lasted for the whole walk with
capacity to spare. This was particularly good since the air temperatures
were below freezing on both days.

--
GSV Three Minds in a Can
Outgoing Msgs are Turing Tested,and indistinguishable from human typing.

In article <BE1E8058.3F3DD%andy.howellNOSPAM@ecotrendDOTorgDOTuk>, Andy
Howell <andy.howellNOSPAM@ecotrendDOTorgDOTuk.?.invalid> writes

Quoted message said:

Of course, you won't be in the
middle of nowhere because you have a GPS!

Of course you'll "know-where" you are :-)
--
Bill Grey
http://www.billboy.co.uk