Taperssection.com
Gear / Technical Help => Remote Power => Topic started by: stevetoney on January 05, 2010, 10:40:35 AM
-
I'm not sure if this applies to every type of rechargeable out there, but in doing some research on rechargeables recently, I read that the one of the worst things you can do for shortening the life of the rechargeable battery is let it go dead and leave it dead. Something about how the chemicals change when there's no charge stored inside the battery.
That would explain the several times that I've received batteries along with a yard sale purchase, why the batts are oftentimes DOA...because the person selling typically hasn't used the gear in a long time.
Seems to me that the moral of this story would be that, since we usually run our rechargeables down at the show, that it would be best practice to charge your rechargeables immediately or the day after the show rather than doing it like I usually do...which is to wait and recharge the day before you're ready to use the device.
Actually, I suppose the best thing would be to recharge right after the show, but then if some time passes, do it again the day before a show.
This is particularly pertinent information, I'd think for users of ...say microtrackers that have internal rechargeable batteries.
Can anyone verify if the above 'rule of thumb' is not true for any specific type of rechargeable?
-
I thought there was a percentage (such as 40% charged) that was optimum for storage. I know that some lion/lipo batteries have a chip to control overcharging/overdistribution and if you run it dead and let it sit, the chip loses power (aka death).
That would explain the several times that I've received batteries along with a yard sale purchase, why the batts are oftentimes DOA...because the person selling typically hasn't used the gear in a long time.
I've thought about that as well (if bad storage and lack of use contributes to shortened battery life).
-
For all battery chemistries, over discharge is a bad thing. However, the optimum storage charge varies by chemistry. Rather than repeat what has already been written, here is a link:
http://www.batteryuniversity.com/ (http://www.batteryuniversity.com/)
It is well worth reading the whole thing as it is both authoritative and understandable.