> Any general consensus on the life of a charge on NiMH batteries? I mean, if > I charge them and leave them sitting around without using them, how long > before the charge degrades to a point they need to be recharged. Inquiring > minds want to know! 1st question: It depends on how low current your unit can take, and still be functional. NiMH are reportedly better than alcaline - in charge retaining time as well. I have a 4AA submersible Princeton Tech LED flashlight, with alcaline rechargeables. It sits in my daypack all the time, just in case, and LED still produces a usable amount of light after several months, sometimes after a year, without recharge. But this is only because it can take a very low current. Other LEDs, not to mention GPS, wouldn't function at all with these AA unless recharged. 2nd question: Very good professional advice from Blackey here. You should NOT recharge them when the charge degrades to a certain amount, - but only after you've made sure that they are completely discharged. Turn it on and leave until it stops working. I prefer carrying a 4-pack of long-life non-rechargeables as a backup, because rechargeables are complicated things with those cyclical processes going inside, and temperature affects their life too, and you may suddenly find that newly replaced NiMH (charged a few days ago) stopped working after a very short period, much sooner than you anticipated. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed Dec 05 2007 - 15:35:20 PST
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