| David Lee 2005-05-19, 12:22 pm |
| Zero_Enigma wrote...
>I use Energizer 1850 mAh batteries myself. they are pretty decent and on a
> battery enthuists page they were independanty rated at about 1827 mAh
> which
> is pretty good as you're getting what you've paid for.
> ....
> ....
You need to be aware that to get any benefit from larger capacity batteries
you must have an "intelligent" charger that monitors the charge level via
the rate of change of voltage and/or temperature (-dV, dT detection) and is
designed for batteries of up to that capacity or else buy a new basic
charger designed for the larger capacity cells.
Cheaper chargers simply pass a current for a fixed time (ie a fixed amount
of charge) so that a larger capacity battery than that for which it was
designed will just be under-charged. Since -dV detection can be unreliable
for NiMH cells, most chargers have a "safety timer", which is designed to
prevent gross over-charging, by turning off after a pre-set period.
Obviously this period must be long enough to fully charge your highest
capacity cells - I have seen chargers on sale with "new improved" batteries
that acually exceed the maximum capacity of the charger and so will never be
fully charged (actually I bought one but soon took it back for a refund!).
David
|