I have set of Panasonic NmH batteries with a Panasonic charger....
they seem they have triple the life of my Everyready NmH batteries
(same mah)....Is is because I am charging the Everyreadys in a
Panasonic charger? Is there a difference in NmH chargers? My camera
manual recommends charging their brand of batteries only with their
charger.
On Sun, 6 Jul 2008 10:20:24 -0700 (PDT), Tom777 wrote:
> I have set of Panasonic NmH batteries with a Panasonic charger....
> they seem they have triple the life of my Everyready NmH batteries
> (same mah)....Is is because I am charging the Everyreadys in a
> Panasonic charger?
If they have triple the life of your Eveready batteries, it's
probably because the Eveready batteries have lost 2/3 of their
capacity (assuming that the Panasonics haven't lost any). Under
good conditions NiMH cells should last for hundreds of charge
cycles, at which point manufacturers optimistically assume that they
will have lost about 1/5 of their original capacity. For your
Eveready batteries to have lost so much more, it might be reasonable
to assume that they have not been ideally cared for.
Over-discharging batteries before putting them back in the charger
is a common way to shorten their lives. Actually, it's possible
that not all of the Eveready cells has been damaged. Only one bad
cell can make the entire set appear to have lost most of their
capacity. Even if that's the case, you'd be better off replacing
all of them, not just the bad cell.
> Is there a difference in NmH chargers?
Yes. But almost all chargers from reputable manufacturers should
do a decent job charging your NiMH cells. It's nice to have a
charger that can independently charge cells and has a charge
indicator for each cell. One of these would allow you to also
charge individual cells or sets of three, not just sets of 2 or 4,
which is a common limitation of less expensive chargers that only
charge pairs of NiMH cells.
> My camera manual recommends charging their brand of batteries only
> with their charger.
That advice can be safely ignored in almost all cases. Exceptions
would be if the batteries are of unique, proprietary designs that
wouldn't allow them to be conveniently or safely used with commonly
available, standard NiMH chargers. If Panasonic, Sanyo or Kodak
sold cold cuts, they'd probably warn on their packages to only use
Panasonic, Sanyo or Kodak brand bread when making sandwiches.
On Jul 6, 3:12*pm, ASAAR <cau...@22.com> wrote:
> On Sun, 6 Jul 2008 10:20:24 -0700 (PDT), Tom777 wrote:
> > I have set of Panasonic NmH batteries with a Panasonic charger....
> > they seem they have triple the life of my Everyready NmH batteries
> > (same mah)....Is is because I am charging the Everyreadys in a
> > Panasonic charger?
>
> * If they have triple the life of your Eveready batteries, it's
> probably because the Eveready batteries have lost 2/3 of their
> capacity (assuming that the Panasonics haven't lost any). *Under
> good conditions NiMH cells should last for hundreds of charge
> cycles, at which point manufacturers optimistically assume that they
> will have lost about 1/5 of their original capacity. *For your
> Eveready batteries to have lost so much more, it might be reasonable
> to assume that they have not been ideally cared for.
> Over-discharging batteries before putting them back in the charger
> is a common way to shorten their lives. *Actually, it's possible
> that not all of the Eveready cells has been damaged. *Only one bad
> cell can make the entire set appear to have lost most of their
> capacity. *Even if that's the case, you'd be better off replacing
> all of them, not just the bad cell.
>
> > Is there a difference in NmH chargers?
>
> * Yes. *But almost all chargers from reputable manufacturers should
> do a decent job charging your NiMH cells. *It's nice to have a
> charger that can independently charge cells and has a charge
> indicator for each cell. *One of these would allow you to also
> charge individual cells or sets of three, not just sets of 2 or 4,
> which is a common limitation of less expensive chargers that only
> charge pairs of NiMH cells.
>
> > *My camera manual recommends charging their brand of batteries only
> > with their charger.
>
> * That advice can be safely ignored in almost all cases. *Exceptions
> would be if the batteries are of unique, proprietary designs that
> wouldn't allow them to be conveniently or safely used with commonly
> available, standard NiMH chargers. *If Panasonic, Sanyo or Kodak
> sold cold cuts, they'd probably warn on their packages to only use
> Panasonic, Sanyo or Kodak brand bread when making sandwiches. *
Thanks for your feedback. ....any other replies would be
appreciated. Has anyone found one brand better than the other. A
friend says that everyreadys have a short self-discharge rate, in
other words, after a charge they lose their power quickly just sitting
for a few weeks. Any other experiences?
Tom777 wrote:
> On Jul 6, 3:12 pm, ASAAR <cau...@22.com> wrote:
>
>>On Sun, 6 Jul 2008 10:20:24 -0700 (PDT), Tom777 wrote:
>>
>>>I have set of Panasonic NmH batteries with a Panasonic charger....
>>>they seem they have triple the life of my Everyready NmH batteries
>>>(same mah)....Is is because I am charging the Everyreadys in a
>>>Panasonic charger?
>>
>> If they have triple the life of your Eveready batteries, it's
>>probably because the Eveready batteries have lost 2/3 of their
>>capacity (assuming that the Panasonics haven't lost any). Under
>>good conditions NiMH cells should last for hundreds of charge
>>cycles, at which point manufacturers optimistically assume that they
>>will have lost about 1/5 of their original capacity. For your
>>Eveready batteries to have lost so much more, it might be reasonable
>>to assume that they have not been ideally cared for.
>>Over-discharging batteries before putting them back in the charger
>>is a common way to shorten their lives. Actually, it's possible
>>that not all of the Eveready cells has been damaged. Only one bad
>>cell can make the entire set appear to have lost most of their
>>capacity. Even if that's the case, you'd be better off replacing
>>all of them, not just the bad cell.
>>
>>
>>>Is there a difference in NmH chargers?
>>
>> Yes. But almost all chargers from reputable manufacturers should
>>do a decent job charging your NiMH cells. It's nice to have a
>>charger that can independently charge cells and has a charge
>>indicator for each cell. One of these would allow you to also
>>charge individual cells or sets of three, not just sets of 2 or 4,
>>which is a common limitation of less expensive chargers that only
>>charge pairs of NiMH cells.
>>
>>
>>> My camera manual recommends charging their brand of batteries only
>>>with their charger.
>>
>> That advice can be safely ignored in almost all cases. Exceptions
>>would be if the batteries are of unique, proprietary designs that
>>wouldn't allow them to be conveniently or safely used with commonly
>>available, standard NiMH chargers. If Panasonic, Sanyo or Kodak
>>sold cold cuts, they'd probably warn on their packages to only use
>>Panasonic, Sanyo or Kodak brand bread when making sandwiches.
>
>
> Thanks for your feedback. ....any other replies would be
> appreciated. Has anyone found one brand better than the other. A
> friend says that everyreadys have a short self-discharge rate, in
> other words, after a charge they lose their power quickly just sitting
> for a few weeks. Any other experiences?
I have found the same problem with Eveready. They would loose the charge
in a few days. I have since switched to Duracell and have not
experienced the same self discharge problem that the Eveready batteries had.
On Sun, 6 Jul 2008 15:04:34 -0700 (PDT), Tom777 wrote:
> Thanks for your feedback. ....any other replies would be
> appreciated. Has anyone found one brand better than the other. A
> friend says that everyreadys have a short self-discharge rate, in
> other words, after a charge they lose their power quickly just sitting
> for a few weeks. Any other experiences?
There's nothing wrong with Eveready cells. They're just the
traditional NiMH type of cell, similar to NiCads, that can't hold
most of their charge for months at a time. If your friend doesn't
like Eveready batteries, he's going to have a problem with batteries
from all manufacturers. There are basically two types of NiMH
cells. Standard and low self-discharge. The latter type can hold a
significant charge for a year or two, but they have less capacity
than standard NiMH cells, 2,000-2,100mah vs. about 2,600-2,800mah
for the higher self-discharge 'standard' NiMH cells. For heavy use,
standard cells are better because they're generally cheaper, and
last longer before needing to be recharged. For light use, such as
where cells can last a month or more between charges, low
self-discharge cells are usually preferable. As far as I'm aware,
all of the companies that produce low self-discharge batteries also
sell standard NiMH cells.
The low self-discharge cells typically go by different names.
Sanyo calls theirs "Eneloop". RayOVac's are called "Hybrid". The
ones packaged by Radio Shack don't seem to have a special name.
What they have in common is that they're sold "pre-charged", and the
package should say somewhere on it that they can be used
immediately, without needing to first put them in a charger.
Several manufacturers have stated that their low self-discharge
cells can be charged using any properly designed NiMH charger. If
you still have questions, manufacturer's websites often have data
sheets and application notes that can be very informative.
ASAAR wrote:
> On Sun, 6 Jul 2008 15:04:34 -0700 (PDT), Tom777 wrote:
>
>> Thanks for your feedback. ....any other replies would be
>> appreciated. Has anyone found one brand better than the other. A
>> friend says that everyreadys have a short self-discharge rate, in
>> other words, after a charge they lose their power quickly just sitting
>> for a few weeks. Any other experiences?
>
> There's nothing wrong with Eveready cells. They're just the
> traditional NiMH type of cell, similar to NiCads, that can't hold
> most of their charge for months at a time. If your friend doesn't
> like Eveready batteries, he's going to have a problem with batteries
> from all manufacturers. There are basically two types of NiMH
> cells. Standard and low self-discharge. The latter type can hold a
> significant charge for a year or two, but they have less capacity
> than standard NiMH cells, 2,000-2,100mah vs. about 2,600-2,800mah
> for the higher self-discharge 'standard' NiMH cells. For heavy use,
> standard cells are better because they're generally cheaper, and
> last longer before needing to be recharged. For light use, such as
> where cells can last a month or more between charges, low
> self-discharge cells are usually preferable. As far as I'm aware,
> all of the companies that produce low self-discharge batteries also
> sell standard NiMH cells.
>
> The low self-discharge cells typically go by different names.
> Sanyo calls theirs "Eneloop". RayOVac's are called "Hybrid". The
> ones packaged by Radio Shack don't seem to have a special name.
> What they have in common is that they're sold "pre-charged", and the
> package should say somewhere on it that they can be used
> immediately, without needing to first put them in a charger.
> Several manufacturers have stated that their low self-discharge
> cells can be charged using any properly designed NiMH charger. If
> you still have questions, manufacturer's websites often have data
> sheets and application notes that can be very informative.
>
Yes, Radio Shack low discharge didn't seem to have a special name, but
last time I saw them displayed they did seem to have a special price
(grin). While I'm on that subject, I notice some Walmart stores are
displaying low self discharge Duracell and again significantly more
expensive than other brands. I paid $12 for my eneloops a couple of
years back at Ritz and I consider them the best choice.
Dave Cohen
ASAAR wrote:
> On Sun, 6 Jul 2008 15:04:34 -0700 (PDT), Tom777 wrote:
>
>
>>Thanks for your feedback. ....any other replies would be
>>appreciated. Has anyone found one brand better than the other. A
>>friend says that everyreadys have a short self-discharge rate, in
>>other words, after a charge they lose their power quickly just sitting
>>for a few weeks. Any other experiences?
>
>
> There's nothing wrong with Eveready cells. They're just the
> traditional NiMH type of cell, similar to NiCads, that can't hold
> most of their charge for months at a time. If your friend doesn't
> like Eveready batteries, he's going to have a problem with batteries
> from all manufacturers. There are basically two types of NiMH
> cells. Standard and low self-discharge. The latter type can hold a
> significant charge for a year or two, but they have less capacity
> than standard NiMH cells, 2,000-2,100mah vs. about 2,600-2,800mah
> for the higher self-discharge 'standard' NiMH cells. For heavy use,
> standard cells are better because they're generally cheaper, and
> last longer before needing to be recharged. For light use, such as
> where cells can last a month or more between charges, low
> self-discharge cells are usually preferable. As far as I'm aware,
> all of the companies that produce low self-discharge batteries also
> sell standard NiMH cells.
>
> The low self-discharge cells typically go by different names.
> Sanyo calls theirs "Eneloop". RayOVac's are called "Hybrid". The
> ones packaged by Radio Shack don't seem to have a special name.
> What they have in common is that they're sold "pre-charged", and the
> package should say somewhere on it that they can be used
> immediately, without needing to first put them in a charger.
> Several manufacturers have stated that their low self-discharge
> cells can be charged using any properly designed NiMH charger. If
> you still have questions, manufacturer's websites often have data
> sheets and application notes that can be very informative.
>
I disagree. I purchased several packs of Evereadys and after a couple
months they began to leak current badly. After several months they were
completely useless. None had been recharged more then a couple dozen
times and all were charged with the same charger I'm currently using on
Duracells that are performing so much better than the Evereadys. Too
me, it certainly seems like Eveready had a seriously bad production run.
> I disagree. I purchased several packs of Evereadys and after a couple
> months they began to leak current badly. After several months they were
> completely useless. None had been recharged more then a couple dozen
> times and all were charged with the same charger I'm currently using on
> Duracells that are performing so much better than the Evereadys. Too
> me, it certainly seems like Eveready had a seriously bad production run.
A bad production run is certainly possible, but so is damage that
occurred after being purchased. I've used many NiMH brands and it
has been several years since any of them suffered from anything
other than old age. I'm still using fairly old "Evereadys"
(actually 2,500mAh Energizer cells) as well as Duracells and they
don't show any significant difference in performance. YMM(it does)V.
NmH battery chargers- all the same? 
Linear Mode
