Battery Chargers

[justleesa]

My rechargeables are starting to fizzle out on me and I was wondering when I get new batteries, which are most likely going to be stronger batteries than what I have (have 2100's, new will be 2500 or more (if available)) ,will I still be able to use the same charger that I bought with the 2100's? Does it make a difference?

 

[dbh]

It shouldn't make a difference. Of course, if you are looking for an excuse to get a new one.....


Dave

 

[mike_s]

it might now be all your batteries starting to fizzle out, but just one. charging them in a bank of 4 and having one bad will affect the charging performance of the other 3 for example.

I recently ran into the same problem with my batteries and found one that wouldn't hold a charge. However, it also created the problem that it wouldn't allow the others to charge properly when put in a bank charger.

you might want to do some isolation testing.

 

[justleesa]

hmmm....good thought...what would I test it with?

 

[Sideband]

Justleesa,
As long as you get the same type of battery, i.e. Nicad or NiMH you should have no problems. Also, if you do as Mike suggests and do find a single bad cell you will want to replace it with one of the same Amp hour rating as is being replaced.

Joe

 

[Jamdiver]

I'm a big fan of the Energizer 2500NiMH batteries, i'm usually able to get a couple hundred shots of mine before needing a discharge.

In regards to the battery charger, I use the cheapo one that came with those batteries.
But that frankly isn't the best, as it takes close to 8 hours to fully charge a set of 4 AA batteries.

I'm a big fan of this webpage and especially the battery chargers recommend (Thomas Distributing I think), their chargers can condition batteries, trickle charge them, rapid charge et cetera in an hour or less.

http://www.steves-digicams.com/nimh_batteries.html

 

[mike_s]

what I did to test mine was charge them in banks of two and then just use them. typically in my digital camera. when the camera went "low battery" in a hurry I knew I had a "suspect" cell.

then I'd change the suspect up with a new battery and see what happened then and then switch if that first one wasn't bad. it's kinda lenghty process but I did it while I was on vacation and I was tired of having a bad cell/battery.

I even went to Radio Shack and bought a tester and new charger but that was a waste of money. Their charger just isn't up to the challenge of 2300mah batteries and their tester only showed "green/yellow/red" for good/low/dead. Even after the camera said they were low (or dead) the Radio Shack tester would still show a "green" charge level. Since cameras are very battery demanding, this tester was worthless.

After I got back, I started looking at battery "load" testers. ScubaLuke found one at Thomas Distributing during our conversation about testing them and ordered it a couple weeks ago. I'll email him and see if he's used it yet or not. The "load" tester will put a electrical load on a battery to simulate usage so you can tell if it will fail under load.

i'm usually able to get a couple hundred shots of mine before needing a discharge.

Jamdiver, do you discharge yours completely before recharging?

 

[Jamdiver]

Jamdiver, do you discharge yours completely before recharging?

Hey Mike, I use the batteries until the battery low indicator displays on my camera.
I recharge them after that...

 

[do it easy]

I don't think the larger capacity batteries will make a huge difference. They might take longer to charge, although it might not be noticeable unless you need the batteries as soon as the light turns green.

What kind of charger do you have? Do you have a voltmeter? The voltmeter will tell you how much juice you have left in the batteries and can help you find a bad cell.

As far as chargers, go, I have the MAHA 777plusII. I use it to charge my HID light, but it will charge just about anything- NiHM and Lithium chemistries.

 

[do it easy]

Ooops got a bit excited about battery charging- it's one of my hobbies.

The chargers in that link that Jam supplied are excellent, particularly the MAHA chargers with the independant circuits, although it sounds like you might not need to get a new charger- how about some info about the batteries- how old, how often do you charge them. They might be near the end of their useful life.