Batteries explained, 10 interesting facts

Author: 
Jessica Vreeswijk
Posted Date: 
June 16, 2009
Filed Under: 
Blog

One of my favourite websites to watch is EnviroGadget - seeing new messages in the RSS feed for this site always means they have some new and funky environmentally friendly gagdet.  Today Dan, the primary writer for EnviroGagdet, puts on his researchers hat and pulls together the most interesting and important to know facts about batteries.  Check out his article here and sign up for the newsletter or feeds - you won't be disappointed.  What are your favourite websites to watch?  Post a comment below with yours.

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There are few things we need to know before using batteries properly. Each device use certain voltages and fittings that need to be considered. You really gave us some interesting details here, considering there are so many types of batteries and chargers. This article should eliminate any confusions.
Samm at Procell

The article apparently misses what I have found most useful in my dealings with rechargables and outsmarting the memory effect, at least somewhat.

How often do you or others you know have phones & computers with batteries that die constantly, or barely retain a charge? I rarely have this issue. Most of my electronics die before the batteries do. Here's why.

The first thing I do when I get a new alectronic device is find out what type of battery it has.

Ni-Cd or Ni-MH: These types of batteries are in most small home appliances, and most home cordless phones. They can suffer from the typical memory effect. I NEVER charge (put on base) unless it is completely dead, and I always go out of my way to fully run out the juice. So when my Oral-B electric toothbrush starts to whine and slow down, I set it on the counter, left on. It eventually stops. I turn it on agan. It stops. I take off the brush (ie the "load") and turn it on a few more times until it won't turn on. Unfortunatley, my recent cordless razor has a silly "lockout" that turns off the unit when the battery gets below about 10%. I reactivate this a couple times by touching it brifly to the charger, then drawing it down a little more. In this case, it is pretty much guaranteed that the batteries fail before the device does.

Li-Ion or Li-Poly: These types of batteries are very high capacity and very lightweight, and for that reason are in almost every cell/mobile phone these days, as well as most laptops and portable video/game/music players. While the chemistry is slowly evolving and improving, for the most part these batteries suffer from what I consider the "reverse memory effect". That is, they absolutely hate it when drawn down to empty! They love it when they are constantly topped up. I take every oppourtunity to "trickle" charge my laptop and cell phone. In this way I might encounter a "charge cycle" limit, but I generally don't care because I've compltely avoided the more common and earlier problem of losing charge capacity. Also, Li-Ion itself almost guarantees a mildly intelligent charger, which will not overcharge. (Very intelligent chargers use various schemes to reduce charge cycles too!) If you ever get a new product which reccomends completely draining the battery and charging it up a few times first, be wary. And NEVER completely discharge a Li-Ion. (At least current technology) I've lost count of friends that have even used manufacturer provided utilities (plastered with warnings of course) that would allow them to "deep cycle" their laptop battery to regain charge capacity. Almost without fail, the battery is toast afterwards. If they're lucky, they might be able to use their laptop plugged with a battery at zero charge. This is also why I have increased the typical "Critical Level" on my laptop, which triggers Hibernate, to ~10%. This doesn't always help in my case though, as my buggy laptop often decides to wake on it's own. FAIL! Perhaps a rant for another day. ;)

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