New type batteries for the future?

ASAAR wrote:
On Wed, 26 Oct 2005 10:37:19 -0400, Larry wrote:

Saw an ad for an LED flashlight that provides lots of light after a 30
second shake. Probably a strong magnet, big coil, diode, charge a big
capacitor type thing. Also we now have 30 second wind-up radios that
play for half an hour. Will we next see a wind-up or shake me digital
camera?
Perhaps ordinary batteries are doomed for extinction.

Not likely, but you may need to actually use one of those radios
or lights to understand why. Shaking and cranking every half hour
gets old very fast when you realize that LED lights and radios are
available that operate hundreds of hours from a single set of AA
batteries. Not many of these windup or crankable devices will ever
be used when batteries are unable to be purchased, but that's how
they're usually promoted. The original Freeplay radio was, IIRC,
designed for use in remote areas of Africa where batteries were
either very expensive or not readily available. Makes more sense
there. Here, such radios appeal mostly to gadget collectors and
survivalists waiting (and possibly hoping) for Armageddon.

I've got a couple of Grundig hand-crank radios. It's kind of a fun
thing to have handy, although I typically use NiMH AAs.

However - I once saw a piece on US Army troops in Iraq. They were
cranking it up one of these Grundig radios before listening. I
suppose one could get alkaline AAs, but it might be handy to have
a hand crank radio if batteries run scarce every now and then.

I also wonder exactly what that kind of intense heat does for
battery storage life or the life of the rechargeable cells.

Fuel cells have several advantages that I'm aware of:

1. Higher energy density.

Articles I have read claim that fuel cells have double the
energy density of the best known battery technology. For
a given weight, you can get more usage from your camera,
cell phone, I-Pod, or whatever.

2. Fast recharge.

If you have a cylinder of hydrogen, you can refill your
fuel cell in whatever time it takes to attach it to the
cylinder and open the valve. No waiting 30 minutes
or 15 hours, or whatever your recharger requires, to
fill up a battery.

3. Independence from electricity sources.

If you go on a trip in the Amazon, or Antartica, or the Congo
and are out of touch with electric power, you can bring a
pound or two of hydrogen in a cylinder and possibly get
tens of thousands of images from your camera with it
(now where did I put my 200 GB memory card :-)

For most camera uses, batteries are probably cheaper,
easier to deal with, and more convenient. But the fuel
cell technology is worth exploring and may find some
application.

Alan

Better be careful. Knowing Canon's first attempts at things,
the batteries would probably leak hydrogen into the camera,
causing it to explode like a bomb!
-Rich

Cathy wrote:
"Ron Hunter" wrote in message
...
Cathy wrote:
"Ron Hunter" wrote in message
...

Cathy wrote:
I thought maybe some of you battery fans might be interested in
the
article below which was on CityTV Toronto today on a local news
website.

Wonder what they plan to do with the water generated by hydrogen
fuel
cells. I really don't think I want my camera or cell phone to make
a
puddle on my foot. Grin.
Haha Ron . Thats funny.

Cathy

Maybe a drop or two down the neck would get some people off the cell
phone. NAWWWW.

I'd like to do more than that to some of them especially if I am behind
their vehicle when making a left turn at a busy intersection and they
are weaving around because they are on a cell phone and not paying
attention.

Cathy

I know what you mean. Around here it is common to see someone driving a
3 ton SUV at 75 MPH with a cell phone attached to his/her ear.... Scary!


--
Ron Hunter

(PeteCresswell) wrote:
Per Rich:
Better be careful. Knowing Canon's first attempts at things,
the batteries would probably leak hydrogen into the camera,
causing it to explode like a bomb!

The cells I was hearing about something like a year ago were to be
alcohol-fueled. Anybody know that happened to that idea?

Someone drank the alcohol, so they couldn't test them?


--
Ron Hunter

On 27 Oct 2005 12:36:47 -0700, y_p_w wrote:

I've got a couple of Grundig hand-crank radios. It's kind of a fun
thing to have handy, although I typically use NiMH AAs.

However - I once saw a piece on US Army troops in Iraq. They were
cranking it up one of these Grundig radios before listening. I
suppose one could get alkaline AAs, but it might be handy to have
a hand crank radio if batteries run scarce every now and then.

I agree that they're fun gadgets, and I considered getting the
Grundig a couple of years ago but its quality seemed a bit lacking,
at least compared to Sony's ICF-B200 generator radio. It's smaller
than the Grundig but much more rugged, has excellent audio for such
a small radio, has a smooth, precise, backlash free vernier tuner,
and has very good sensitivity and selectivity on both AM and FM. I
don't know which version of the Grundig the troops had, but it would
have been fitting if it was the one with the "camouflage" design.


I also wonder exactly what that kind of intense heat does for
battery storage life or the life of the rechargeable cells.

Probably shortens the life somewhat, but alkalines have a long
shelf life of about 8 years, so if they lose a year or two due to
high temperatures that shouldn't be a real problem. For temperature
extremes, lithium AA batteries are the ones to get. Many people are
aware that they're recommended for use at low temperatures (down to
40º below zero), but most people don't realize that they're also
rated for operation at temperatures as high as 140º F.

Per Rich:
Better be careful. Knowing Canon's first attempts at things,
the batteries would probably leak hydrogen into the camera,
causing it to explode like a bomb!

The cells I was hearing about something like a year ago were to be
alcohol-fueled. Anybody know that happened to that idea?
--
PeteCresswell

ASAAR wrote:
On 27 Oct 2005 12:36:47 -0700, y_p_w wrote:

I've got a couple of Grundig hand-crank radios. It's kind of a fun
thing to have handy, although I typically use NiMH AAs.

However - I once saw a piece on US Army troops in Iraq. They were
cranking it up one of these Grundig radios before listening. I
suppose one could get alkaline AAs, but it might be handy to have
a hand crank radio if batteries run scarce every now and then.

I agree that they're fun gadgets, and I considered getting the
Grundig a couple of years ago but its quality seemed a bit lacking,
at least compared to Sony's ICF-B200 generator radio. It's smaller
than the Grundig but much more rugged, has excellent audio for such
a small radio, has a smooth, precise, backlash free vernier tuner,
and has very good sensitivity and selectivity on both AM and FM. I
don't know which version of the Grundig the troops had, but it would
have been fitting if it was the one with the "camouflage" design.

Nah - it was one of the original grayish-brown FR-200 models. I've
got one of those bought at Rat Shack. I also found the FR-250 at
Restoration Hardware. It's even got a port that can supply power
to charge a cell phone.

I also wonder exactly what that kind of intense heat does for
battery storage life or the life of the rechargeable cells.

Probably shortens the life somewhat, but alkalines have a long
shelf life of about 8 years, so if they lose a year or two due to
high temperatures that shouldn't be a real problem. For temperature
extremes, lithium AA batteries are the ones to get. Many people are
aware that they're recommended for use at low temperatures (down to
40º below zero), but most people don't realize that they're also
rated for operation at temperatures as high as 140º F.

I've had problems with "heavy duty" batteries that sat in my trunk
during the summer. A few leaked a bit, and the rest just didn't
last very long. Even alkalines that sat in the trunk for extended
periods were leaking or otherwise short-lived.

On Thu, 27 Oct 2005 20:32:24 -0700, "(PeteCresswell)"
wrote:

Per Rich:
Better be careful. Knowing Canon's first attempts at things,
the batteries would probably leak hydrogen into the camera,
causing it to explode like a bomb!

The cells I was hearing about something like a year ago were to be
alcohol-fueled. Anybody know that happened to that idea?

I'd put it right up there with breakthroughs in nanotechnology.
Lots of talk, very little result. See: Ballard Power for
a history of fuel cells.
-Rich

Per Ron Hunter:
I know what you mean. Around here it is common to see someone driving a
3 ton SUV at 75 MPH with a cell phone attached to his/her ear.... Scary!

They used to scare me.

Now it's the ones that look tb doing email on their Blackberries that really get
to me...
--
PeteCresswell