Re: [Paddlewise] Rechargeable Battery Life

NiMH are currently the best "type" of battery available.  In another
lifetime I sold cellular phones and we had the first generation of
batteries to power them.  I watched the market develop from the old
alkaline to hydride to the now Nickle Metal Hydride that are still in use
today.  They last a lot longer and are better batteries but the old rules
about using batteries still apply.

Only let the battery stay in the charger for the period that it takes to
charge it fully.  Do not sit it in the charger indefinitely thinking that
it will be ready to go when you are.  What you are doing is burning it up.
 Think of a water kettle placed on the stove.  You turn the heat on and
eventually you will boil the water out of the kettle.  Heat on low, high,
does not matter, that kettle will go dry!  Same thing with a battery.

Also, the best thing to do is to charge the battery, and then use it up
completely.  And I mean use it up totally.  Turn whatever the device is on
and leave it on till the battery dies.  Don't go using it for a while and
then charging it back up again.  This "topping it off" constantly is just
the same as putting it back on the stove.  Your going to boil it out
sooner.

Turn it on, leave it on, recharge it for the period it takes to complete a
full charge.  If you charge it and sit it on the shelf it will retain the
charge for a period of time, figure a 20 percent discharge rate a week.
But Murphy's Law states that when you need it, it will be near the end of
it's discharge cycle and fail on you when you need it the most.  And
counting on using them in this manner is setting yourself up for a
failure.  I charge my units up, use them, and then make sure they are
depleated and then charge them up prior to use again.  If this is going to
go over a long period between usage, I do it about twice a month to keep
things active in them.

My units last for quite a while because I do this.  Also know that
batteries have a life cycle of their own.  Two or three years out and they
are going to die of old age no matter how well they are used.
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