I don't think you need to drain your eneloops completely, can charge them anytime... They are NiMH and do not have memory effect anyway...
How do u charge ur batteries?
- Thread starter daohuay
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that's a good way to kill NiMH batts. they may reverse polarity if u drain the voltage too low. i should know, cos i consistently drained my AAs in the past, then i wonder why they dun last. :embrass:
once in a while though, good to use the "refresh" function on ur charger to condition the batts. it will drain the battery (to a safe level) then recharge it. do that once every month or two will be good enuff
for eneloops, if u dun use them at all, i guess u dun need to refresh. but after draining halfway then charging them a few times, refresh will be good
zac08
Senior Member
Those torchlights without circuit protection can totally drain the batteries and leave you with a set of dead batteries. No point in doing so.
Get a good charger and refresh the batteries instead.
hey guys, i have some experience from the R/C hobby, let me share my experience with u.
NiMH, NiCD - these are your popular rechargable AAs. They can be discharged to full dicharge (0V), no problem. They also suffer from the "memory effect" whereby if you dont discharge it fully, after some cycles of use it will "remember" its "actual" lifespan, which means that if you dont discharge it fully, your batt life will drop significantly after awhile. but fret not, you can counter this by fuly charging and discharging your batt for a few cycles. in the RC world, there are dedicated DISchargers and chargers, and this is called "cycling" your batt. But take note, it wont recover your batt life 100%.
Li-ion/ Li-Po - these are the newer technologies... lighter, more energy density, etc etc. Also, no memory loss, so you can always charge it when it is half full. The critical thing about it is that Li-Pos CANNOT drop below a certain cutoff voltage, otherwise permanent harm will be done to your batt. In almost all devices, this is prevented by the machine showing "low batt" once the batt drops to the cutoff voltage. So dont worry, for LiPo, even when out of batt on your cam, it's not near the point where you are doing damage to it.
Storage wise, you'll need to take note, because batteries, for some reason, self discharge. Hence if you store your LiPo near the cut-off voltage, it might discharge and the voltage may drop to a dangerous level. Hence, for LiPos, always store them with at least half charge inside. For NiMh, it's better to fully discharge to prevent damage, then cycle them when u wanna use them to "wake them up".
I hope i've managed to show u all some tips on maintaining the diff kinds of batts. =)
NiMH, NiCD - these are your popular rechargable AAs. They can be discharged to full dicharge (0V), no problem. They also suffer from the "memory effect" whereby if you dont discharge it fully, after some cycles of use it will "remember" its "actual" lifespan, which means that if you dont discharge it fully, your batt life will drop significantly after awhile. but fret not, you can counter this by fuly charging and discharging your batt for a few cycles. in the RC world, there are dedicated DISchargers and chargers, and this is called "cycling" your batt. But take note, it wont recover your batt life 100%.
Li-ion/ Li-Po - these are the newer technologies... lighter, more energy density, etc etc. Also, no memory loss, so you can always charge it when it is half full. The critical thing about it is that Li-Pos CANNOT drop below a certain cutoff voltage, otherwise permanent harm will be done to your batt. In almost all devices, this is prevented by the machine showing "low batt" once the batt drops to the cutoff voltage. So dont worry, for LiPo, even when out of batt on your cam, it's not near the point where you are doing damage to it.
Storage wise, you'll need to take note, because batteries, for some reason, self discharge. Hence if you store your LiPo near the cut-off voltage, it might discharge and the voltage may drop to a dangerous level. Hence, for LiPos, always store them with at least half charge inside. For NiMh, it's better to fully discharge to prevent damage, then cycle them when u wanna use them to "wake them up".
I hope i've managed to show u all some tips on maintaining the diff kinds of batts. =)
Hi Friend ,
camera batteries (Li-Ion) cannot (and must not) be drained totally. The camera will stop working below a certain level (indicating the lowest possible discharge point). If you try to discharge further you'll damage the battery. Charge them soonest and keep them charged.
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JediKnight
New Member
Never had any problems with all my li-ion batteries for different cameras over the years. Just charge full when it is low 10%-20%. Why make life so difficult and worry so much
Okay science,
There are many kind of rechargable, but now we take about 2 of them
1) nickel-metal-hydride (NiMH)
2) lithium-ion (Li-Ion)
Both type has different way charging which your charger will handle. At different voltage, the charging current and voltage will change.
NiMH has memory effect is battery term is cyclic memory, which mean it remember how many times it have been charged and discharge. As the number of cycle increase, the voltage output and total energy discharge decrease.
This happened because chemical inside the battery form crystal onto the electrode plate, it will happen no matter what you do. This crystallization increase when the battery is charged for too long or it is not totally discharge before charging.
To remove these crystal, a process call conditioning is used. A small discharge current of low voltage is pump into the battery, it will "exercise" or breakup the crystal. Some advance battery charger will do that. Otherwise, try to discharge the NiMH every 3 months use or no use to increase it life.
Li-Ion battery dun have the memory effect, thus it can be charged at anytime. But due to old thinking, manys discharge totally. Being discharge totally actually cause strain to the battery, as the chemical do not like heat. It is the heat that cause aging. The battery actually like slow charging and little charging as possible. So you should charge as soon as you can. Total charging and discharge cause a lot of heat to the battery.
Another tip, remove the battery from laptop once it is charged, if u are still using it. The heat from laptop age the battery.
There are many kind of rechargable, but now we take about 2 of them
1) nickel-metal-hydride (NiMH)
2) lithium-ion (Li-Ion)
Both type has different way charging which your charger will handle. At different voltage, the charging current and voltage will change.
NiMH has memory effect is battery term is cyclic memory, which mean it remember how many times it have been charged and discharge. As the number of cycle increase, the voltage output and total energy discharge decrease.
This happened because chemical inside the battery form crystal onto the electrode plate, it will happen no matter what you do. This crystallization increase when the battery is charged for too long or it is not totally discharge before charging.
To remove these crystal, a process call conditioning is used. A small discharge current of low voltage is pump into the battery, it will "exercise" or breakup the crystal. Some advance battery charger will do that. Otherwise, try to discharge the NiMH every 3 months use or no use to increase it life.
Li-Ion battery dun have the memory effect, thus it can be charged at anytime. But due to old thinking, manys discharge totally. Being discharge totally actually cause strain to the battery, as the chemical do not like heat. It is the heat that cause aging. The battery actually like slow charging and little charging as possible. So you should charge as soon as you can. Total charging and discharge cause a lot of heat to the battery.
Another tip, remove the battery from laptop once it is charged, if u are still using it. The heat from laptop age the battery.
twisted illusion
Senior Member
all my bluetooth earpiece goes dead this way, storing too long without charging... and if u decide to charge it... they wont charge any more...
anyone take note of total number of charge per battery before it totally dead? my freind from S*** said the battery normally has a limited number of charge, whether you use it until 1 bar left or charge it when there is still 3 bars left.... no difference. my Sony P1i, according to him...should be around 500 cycle charging max. i believe the same applied to camera battery. so to maximize the battery life span, should avoid frequent charging.
joelagustin
New Member
Dun care just charge even still have power.
this is called memory effect and does not affect Li-on. many people still have that misconception.
Edwin Francis
Senior Member
Another good source of information on batteries:
http://www.batteryuniversity.com/
http://www.batteryuniversity.com/
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