Rechargeable Battery Questions

[chrpai]

I have the DRIS 1000 and the TrustFire TR-J1. The former is currently driven by 3 "C" NiMH batteries while the later is using a single LiOn 16850 battery.

I generally like both lights. I feel they are in the same ballpark but that the DRIS feels solid in my hand, puts out a bit more punch and lasts a bit longer at max intensity. On the other hand, I like how small the TrustFire is and I like the simplicity of it being a single LiOn battery instead of 3 NiMH batteries.

And that gets me to my questions....

My NiMH chargers charge 2 at a time. The light takes 3! So I charge 6 at a time and that works out provided I do two dives. (I like fresh batts for each dive.) But sometimes I only do one dive.

I hear NiMH leaks 2% per day so I'm always wanting to keep them fresh.

Now tonight my DRIS 1000 didn't last very long at all on the dive. Very unusual. When I got home I was playing with my batteries and it seems that 1 of the 3 batteries was problematic. If I swapped that battery out with another battery it got really bright again.

Bad battery? Just didn't get a charge? ( I charged all 6 at a time. )

So in general, I need tips and pointers on how to manage this problem. Part of me is wanting to sell the DRIS 1000 and just get another TrustFire so that I'm standardized around single LiIon batteries.

 

[lonebrave]

My suggestion if you're going to keep the DRIS, get a different charger that will charge individual batteries and not require pairs. The two sites I keep seeing recommendations for are
http://www.mahaenergy.com
Largest selection of AAA, AA, C, D, 9V nimh Rechargeable Replacement Batteries, Chargers, Sanyo, Eneloop, Maha, Imedion, Powerex

 

[Ed Palma]

Verify charges with a multi-meter to get more info on the state of charge. If you don't have one yet, you should get one at the very least. I'm sure you've read all about Li-ion batteries and their requirements for proper care and handling

 

[chrpai]

My chargers are about 10 years old. They are made by Energizer and we bought them ages ago when NiMH batteries first came to our attention with the birth of our first kid and the endless need of batteries that ensued. I don't know that I want to be bothered with buying different chargers and meters. I want to be able to charge till green and then dive. I know... lazy... techie gone soft. I've read some horror stories about lithium but am I generally OK just using protected cells? Maybe there's a lot more I need to know here. It freaked me out at first ( seriously? buying electronics from honk kong and expecting to not burn the house down?) but then I read about protected cells and that the charger from trust fire was decent quality so I kind of dimissed those concerns. What do I need to know? (links? )

---------- Post Merged at 09:28 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 09:20 AM ----------

I suspect I've been given good advice and I'm just being lazy. A better charger, tester and maybe higher quality larger capacity batteries are in order. It's just buy the time I spend the money on all of that I could have just bought another TR-J1.

 

[lonebrave]

...It's just buy the time I spend the money on all of that I could have just bought another TR-J1.

If you're happy with the TR-J1 and your current solution for powering it, buy another if you feel that way about buying a new charger, multimeter, etc.

 

[D_B]

bad battery ... get another one, or better, three new higher capacity ones, you still have 3 others leaving two in reserve

 

[lucca brassi]

NiMH and Lion (or LIXXX) are charging with different voltages and different charging alogarithms ( even inside LiXXX group with different types LiFe , LiMn..... ). Get right charger with advanced controll functions

IMAX B6 Charger/Discharger 1-6 Cells (GENUINE)

 

[chrpai]

Verify charges with a multi-meter to get more info on the state of charge. If you don't have one yet, you should get one at the very least. I'm sure you've read all about Li-ion batteries and their requirements for proper care and handling

I used to have a multimeter but it disappeared. I bought a new one today and have some observations that I have not yet repeated and don't know how to explain.

I put 3 C NiMH batteries (junk energizers that have nearly the same capacity as their AA batts ) and ran my DRIS 1000 until it emiited no light. I did this twice for all 6 batts.

Some of the batts then measure .2 volts and some still measure 1.0 or even 1.2 volts.

Is this just a case of the weakest link stopping the circuit and the others still have juice? Is this typical for series configs like this?

---------- Post Merged at 08:34 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 11:56 AM ----------

Interesting. Charged all 6 (NiMH) batteries and 4 of them tested as 1.4volt and the other 2 as 1.3volt. Maybe I'll try charging them for another hour and see?

Certainly getting the point to get better batteries and a better charger.