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AA NiCad's: bad luck with Radio Shack "High-Capacity" batteries



 
 
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  #1  
Old January 7th 05, 07:10 AM
Ben
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Posts: n/a
Default AA NiCad's: bad luck with Radio Shack "High-Capacity" batteries

I have since switched to NiMH batteries for many of my AA rechargeable
battery needs (walkie-talkies, cameras) but I still need NiCad's for
devices that originally came with NiCad batteries and corresponding
charging circuits; CD players that both my kids were given 12/25/03, a
Garrity flashlight that came with four 600 mAh NiCad's, and my
Norelco razor that I replace the batteries on with 600 mAh RS batteries
that come with terminal strips.

A couple years ago I bought a couple packs of AA "high-capacity"
NiCad's from Radio Shack. I first bought some blue ones (cat. #
23-149A) rated 1000 mAh expecting much longer usage times. Instead I
got performance much worse than the yellow Eveready's I had been
using (capacity not stated on the battery) and than some yellow
Sanyo's I had been using (600 mAh), and by "much worse" I mean
probably less than 1/3 of the usage time (I've used them in
walkie-talkies, and in AA flashlights). I didn't bitch to RS
thinking maybe I ought to try other batteries, so I bought some silver
ones (cat. # 23-325, 700 mAh looking for a capacity closer to that of
the yellow ones that seemed to provide more use per chg. The silver
ones also gave out after only very short usage times.

The disk players my Kids got a little over a year ago seem to play for
quite a few hours on a charge. Both Kids use them hours every day. My
daughter's started refusing a charge recently, and apparently one of
the original batteries must have been defective because it had what
looked like corrosion on it. My son's are still going strong. You
can't find NiCad's easily any more (I checked Wal-Mart, Kmart,
Target, Staples, etc.) and reluctantly went to RS again. They only
carry "high-cap." NiCad's now. I complained to the sales guy
about how poorly the RS batteries performed that I had bought in the
past. He assured me that I must have somehow abused the previous ones
I had bought, and I finally (not having a quick alternative) bought
another set of four blue ones (the only NiCad's they had). They look
a little different now and have a yellow recycling seal, and they've
left off the words "high-capacity", so I was hoping for better
performance. But it turns out they're the same batteries; 1000 mAh
cat. # 23-149A costing about $13 for 4. In neither CD player will they
accept a charge that lasts more than a few minutes (even though my
son's original JVC batteries still go for hours on a charge in either
CD player after a year of heavy use).

WHAT IS GOING ON??? To me this has been very frustrating and expensive
too (the 12 batteries I can't use cost over 30 bucks). I must admit
that the batteries I also got from RS (600 mAh yellow ones with
terminal strips) have been working well. But their high-capacity
NiCad's are horrible. I WILL return these last four (I bought them
last week). I never use any of the Radio Shack batteries with a
capacity over 600 mAh (the ones in my razor being the only RS
rechargeable that I use). I still use my older yellow batteries and
get much more use out of them (Kids' Walkies, flash lights).

I don't know where to get batteries to get my daughter's CD player
working (without an adapter). Should I order on-line and pay the cost
of batteries plus S&H? What vendor? What type and capacity of
battery? Can anyone come up with an explanation of my experiences with
these "high capacity batteries"? By the way, I do try not to abuse
the batteries; I charge them fully before first use, I try to
deep-cycle them to prevent the memory effect, I don't drop them. In
any case, the JVC's, and the yellow ones (the Eveready's and
particularly the Sanyo's) work well under similar usage conditions.

Any help on this would be much appreciated. Please E-mail a copy of
your reply to as will so I don't miss it. Thanks
much again.

Ben

  #2  
Old January 7th 05, 07:32 AM
Phil Stripling
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Posts: n/a
Default

Ben, hon -- your razor, your kids' CD player, your flashlight -- this is
rec.photo.digital, hon. And you want replies emailed so you don't miss
them. Ben, Ben, Ben.
--
Phil Stripling | email to the replyto address is presumed
The Civilized Explorer | spam and read later. email from this URL
http://www.cieux.com/ | http://www.civex.com/ is read daily.
  #3  
Old January 7th 05, 07:32 AM
Phil Stripling
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Posts: n/a
Default

Ben, hon -- your razor, your kids' CD player, your flashlight -- this is
rec.photo.digital, hon. And you want replies emailed so you don't miss
them. Ben, Ben, Ben.
--
Phil Stripling | email to the replyto address is presumed
The Civilized Explorer | spam and read later. email from this URL
http://www.cieux.com/ | http://www.civex.com/ is read daily.
  #4  
Old January 7th 05, 07:55 AM
SteveB
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Throw out the NiCds and use NiMH for everything. Take them out of the
appliance to charge in a fast smart charger.
You'll get much longer run times, the only downside is that there's a faster
self discharge rate with NiMH, so they need charging every month at least.
Your bad RS NiCd batteries may have internal shorts caused by not being used
for ages, how long were they on Radio Shack's shelves I wonder?



"Ben" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have since switched to NiMH batteries for many of my AA rechargeable
battery needs (walkie-talkies, cameras) but I still need NiCad's for
devices that originally came with NiCad batteries and corresponding
charging circuits; CD players that both my kids were given 12/25/03, a
Garrity flashlight that came with four 600 mAh NiCad's, and my
Norelco razor that I replace the batteries on with 600 mAh RS batteries
that come with terminal strips.

A couple years ago I bought a couple packs of AA "high-capacity"
NiCad's from Radio Shack. I first bought some blue ones (cat. #
23-149A) rated 1000 mAh expecting much longer usage times. Instead I
got performance much worse than the yellow Eveready's I had been
using (capacity not stated on the battery) and than some yellow
Sanyo's I had been using (600 mAh), and by "much worse" I mean
probably less than 1/3 of the usage time (I've used them in
walkie-talkies, and in AA flashlights). I didn't bitch to RS
thinking maybe I ought to try other batteries, so I bought some silver
ones (cat. # 23-325, 700 mAh looking for a capacity closer to that of
the yellow ones that seemed to provide more use per chg. The silver
ones also gave out after only very short usage times.

The disk players my Kids got a little over a year ago seem to play for
quite a few hours on a charge. Both Kids use them hours every day. My
daughter's started refusing a charge recently, and apparently one of
the original batteries must have been defective because it had what
looked like corrosion on it. My son's are still going strong. You
can't find NiCad's easily any more (I checked Wal-Mart, Kmart,
Target, Staples, etc.) and reluctantly went to RS again. They only
carry "high-cap." NiCad's now. I complained to the sales guy
about how poorly the RS batteries performed that I had bought in the
past. He assured me that I must have somehow abused the previous ones
I had bought, and I finally (not having a quick alternative) bought
another set of four blue ones (the only NiCad's they had). They look
a little different now and have a yellow recycling seal, and they've
left off the words "high-capacity", so I was hoping for better
performance. But it turns out they're the same batteries; 1000 mAh
cat. # 23-149A costing about $13 for 4. In neither CD player will they
accept a charge that lasts more than a few minutes (even though my
son's original JVC batteries still go for hours on a charge in either
CD player after a year of heavy use).

WHAT IS GOING ON??? To me this has been very frustrating and expensive
too (the 12 batteries I can't use cost over 30 bucks). I must admit
that the batteries I also got from RS (600 mAh yellow ones with
terminal strips) have been working well. But their high-capacity
NiCad's are horrible. I WILL return these last four (I bought them
last week). I never use any of the Radio Shack batteries with a
capacity over 600 mAh (the ones in my razor being the only RS
rechargeable that I use). I still use my older yellow batteries and
get much more use out of them (Kids' Walkies, flash lights).

I don't know where to get batteries to get my daughter's CD player
working (without an adapter). Should I order on-line and pay the cost
of batteries plus S&H? What vendor? What type and capacity of
battery? Can anyone come up with an explanation of my experiences with
these "high capacity batteries"? By the way, I do try not to abuse
the batteries; I charge them fully before first use, I try to
deep-cycle them to prevent the memory effect, I don't drop them. In
any case, the JVC's, and the yellow ones (the Eveready's and
particularly the Sanyo's) work well under similar usage conditions.

Any help on this would be much appreciated. Please E-mail a copy of
your reply to as will so I don't miss it. Thanks
much again.

Ben



  #5  
Old January 7th 05, 08:11 AM
Ben
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


Phil Stripling wrote:
Ben, hon -- your razor, your kids' CD player, your flashlight -- this

is
rec.photo.digital, hon. And you want replies emailed so you don't

miss
them. Ben, Ben, Ben.
--
Phil Stripling | email to the replyto address is presumed
The Civilized Explorer | spam and read later. email from this URL
http://www.cieux.com/ | http://www.civex.com/ is read daily.



Phil, dear -- neither my Canon PowerShot G2, nor my Dimage A2 use
NiMH or NiCads. I do read this group and am aware of the content. But
I also notice that there are a lot of folks knowledgeable about
batteries. Sure I can use NiMH batteries (I have a Maha MHC401FS
charger and over a dozen high-cap NiMH batteries) but

1. I am ****ed about the RS batteries and just wanted to know what
was going on with them nad if others had had the same experiences
and 2. It's much more convenient and easier on the CD player to
leave the batteries in and let the player's charging circuit handle the
charging,

Thanks anyway Phil, Phil, Phil

  #6  
Old January 7th 05, 08:11 AM
Ben
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


Phil Stripling wrote:
Ben, hon -- your razor, your kids' CD player, your flashlight -- this

is
rec.photo.digital, hon. And you want replies emailed so you don't

miss
them. Ben, Ben, Ben.
--
Phil Stripling | email to the replyto address is presumed
The Civilized Explorer | spam and read later. email from this URL
http://www.cieux.com/ | http://www.civex.com/ is read daily.



Phil, dear -- neither my Canon PowerShot G2, nor my Dimage A2 use
NiMH or NiCads. I do read this group and am aware of the content. But
I also notice that there are a lot of folks knowledgeable about
batteries. Sure I can use NiMH batteries (I have a Maha MHC401FS
charger and over a dozen high-cap NiMH batteries) but

1. I am ****ed about the RS batteries and just wanted to know what
was going on with them nad if others had had the same experiences
and 2. It's much more convenient and easier on the CD player to
leave the batteries in and let the player's charging circuit handle the
charging,

Thanks anyway Phil, Phil, Phil

  #7  
Old January 7th 05, 08:29 AM
Ben
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

I didn't even try to use the old batteries in the CD players, only the
new ones. I too had assumed that the old ones were useless. It just
seems so absurd that high-capacity batteries could truly be so bad.

And it is so much easier to let the AC jack on the players provide the
recharging power. And what about the razor (I feel self-conscious
after Phil's post even asking about this). The set of 600 mAh
batteries I soldered in are still providing a week's worth of shaving
(they had initially provided over a month of shaves) after over three
years of use (and they are RS batteries too).

I am just vexed by this whole situation. RS has a pretty good
reputation (or so I thought) when it comes to batteries, buy my
personal experience with their high-capacity NiCads has made me steer
clear of them when it comes to any batteries at all.

Again, has anyone had similar experiences, and can anyone recommend a
source for reliable NiCads.

By the way Steve, the NiMH batteries I have have performed
magnificently -- there's no question that NiMH is the way to go.
Still, my Kids will destroy their players if they have to pull the
batts out to charge them.

Thanks Steve (and thanks all for putting up with my slightly
"off-group" question.

Ben

  #8  
Old January 7th 05, 08:45 AM
Ben
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

and I want to add also that if the player is turned off and left
plugged in, that's when the charging circuit does it's job. Would that
damage NiMH batteries is they were in the unit? When the batts go dead
they'll use AC to listen to it; I'm sure they'd forget to unplug the
unit half the time when they weren't using it.

  #9  
Old January 7th 05, 08:53 AM
Ken Weitzel
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default



Ben wrote:

I have since switched to NiMH batteries for many of my AA rechargeable
battery needs (walkie-talkies, cameras) but I still need NiCad's for
devices that originally came with NiCad batteries and corresponding
charging circuits; CD players that both my kids were given 12/25/03, a
Garrity flashlight that came with four 600 mAh NiCad's, and my
Norelco razor that I replace the batteries on with 600 mAh RS batteries
that come with terminal strips.

A couple years ago I bought a couple packs of AA "high-capacity"
NiCad's from Radio Shack. I first bought some blue ones (cat. #
23-149A) rated 1000 mAh expecting much longer usage times. Instead I
got performance much worse than the yellow Eveready's I had been
using (capacity not stated on the battery) and than some yellow
Sanyo's I had been using (600 mAh), and by "much worse" I mean
probably less than 1/3 of the usage time (I've used them in
walkie-talkies, and in AA flashlights). I didn't bitch to RS
thinking maybe I ought to try other batteries, so I bought some silver
ones (cat. # 23-325, 700 mAh looking for a capacity closer to that of
the yellow ones that seemed to provide more use per chg. The silver
ones also gave out after only very short usage times.

The disk players my Kids got a little over a year ago seem to play for
quite a few hours on a charge. Both Kids use them hours every day. My
daughter's started refusing a charge recently, and apparently one of
the original batteries must have been defective because it had what
looked like corrosion on it. My son's are still going strong. You
can't find NiCad's easily any more (I checked Wal-Mart, Kmart,
Target, Staples, etc.) and reluctantly went to RS again. They only
carry "high-cap." NiCad's now. I complained to the sales guy
about how poorly the RS batteries performed that I had bought in the
past. He assured me that I must have somehow abused the previous ones
I had bought, and I finally (not having a quick alternative) bought
another set of four blue ones (the only NiCad's they had). They look
a little different now and have a yellow recycling seal, and they've
left off the words "high-capacity", so I was hoping for better
performance. But it turns out they're the same batteries; 1000 mAh
cat. # 23-149A costing about $13 for 4. In neither CD player will they
accept a charge that lasts more than a few minutes (even though my
son's original JVC batteries still go for hours on a charge in either
CD player after a year of heavy use).

WHAT IS GOING ON??? To me this has been very frustrating and expensive
too (the 12 batteries I can't use cost over 30 bucks). I must admit
that the batteries I also got from RS (600 mAh yellow ones with
terminal strips) have been working well. But their high-capacity
NiCad's are horrible. I WILL return these last four (I bought them
last week). I never use any of the Radio Shack batteries with a
capacity over 600 mAh (the ones in my razor being the only RS
rechargeable that I use). I still use my older yellow batteries and
get much more use out of them (Kids' Walkies, flash lights).

I don't know where to get batteries to get my daughter's CD player
working (without an adapter). Should I order on-line and pay the cost
of batteries plus S&H? What vendor? What type and capacity of
battery? Can anyone come up with an explanation of my experiences with
these "high capacity batteries"? By the way, I do try not to abuse
the batteries; I charge them fully before first use, I try to
deep-cycle them to prevent the memory effect, I don't drop them. In
any case, the JVC's, and the yellow ones (the Eveready's and
particularly the Sanyo's) work well under similar usage conditions.

Any help on this would be much appreciated. Please E-mail a copy of
your reply to as will so I don't miss it. Thanks
much again.

Ben


Hi Ben...

My suspicion is - and it's only a suspicion - is that the day
of the NiCd is over. What you're buying now is old stock
that's been lying around since who knows when. They do have
a finite shelf life.

Some here will surely take me to task for saying it, but
the devices that have NiCd's and chargers now in your
possession can almost certainly use NiMh's. Positively
use them if they are of the slow charge 12 or 24 hour type.

Give it a try with one of your older set of camera batteries.

First give them a lecture. Stern fatherly lecture. That they
never ever remove them themselves, never carry them loose.
Never transfer them from one device to another. They are
dangerous - I'm an old retired super cautious electrical
guy, and I have the burn marks on my leg to prove it.

Ken

  #10  
Old January 7th 05, 12:51 PM
Joseph Meehan
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Posts: n/a
Default

Ben wrote:

....
WHAT IS GOING ON???

.....
Ben


I suspect that for one thing you are over reacting. Second you are
forgetting that sh&* happens and there are things like bad runs that make it
past quality control or old stock etc. It also happens that some batteries
require a cycle or two before they come up to capacity.

Take a deep breath. Consider the real meaning of life and consider
moving on. Try NiMH's for the uses you are not using old technology for,
charging them outside the device. They will work for many such devices.
Also try running the old tech batteries through a few cycles to see if they
improve.

Life is short. Don't sweat the small stuff, this is really small stuff.

--
Joseph Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math


 




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