More NiMH 101, please

After going on the same sets of NiMH batteries for a few years, I just
went out and got some new panasonic ones, rated at 2300 mAh (impulse
purchase - I got home and saw that there are 2500 mAh ones, and I'm sure
others will tell me of even more powerful ones).

The older batteries still work fine and I'm going to use them in another
camera I have.

But for the new batteries, can I expect more shots off of them than off
of my old ones? One set of old ones was 1500 mAh and the other was
1800; these are 2300.

And do I need to do anything special with the new batteries to make them
work most effectively? I put them in a charger, where three hours
later, the "charging" lights had gone out for each cell. Will they work
at their peak at this point, or do I need to do something else (I just
have a plain vanilla Kodak battery charger; it doesn't "condition" the
batteries)?

"TommyC" wrote in message
...
After going on the same sets of NiMH batteries for a few years, I just
went out and got some new panasonic ones, rated at 2300 mAh (impulse
purchase - I got home and saw that there are 2500 mAh ones, and I'm sure
others will tell me of even more powerful ones).

The older batteries still work fine and I'm going to use them in another
camera I have.

But for the new batteries, can I expect more shots off of them than off
of my old ones? One set of old ones was 1500 mAh and the other was
1800; these are 2300.

In theory the higher rated batteries should give you a longer life.


And do I need to do anything special with the new batteries to make them
work most effectively? I put them in a charger, where three hours
later, the "charging" lights had gone out for each cell. Will they work
at their peak at this point, or do I need to do something else (I just
have a plain vanilla Kodak battery charger; it doesn't "condition" the
batteries)?

You need to charge, use the batteries, and charge them again about two or
three times to give you the maximum output they are capable of. I put some
brand new batteries in an MP3 player and they lasted about 1 hr. The second
charge the player lasted about 10 hours.

"TommyC" wrote in message
...
After going on the same sets of NiMH batteries for a few years, I just
went out and got some new panasonic ones, rated at 2300 mAh (impulse
purchase - I got home and saw that there are 2500 mAh ones, and I'm sure
others will tell me of even more powerful ones).

The older batteries still work fine and I'm going to use them in another
camera I have.

But for the new batteries, can I expect more shots off of them than off
of my old ones? One set of old ones was 1500 mAh and the other was
1800; these are 2300.

In theory the higher rated batteries should give you a longer life.


And do I need to do anything special with the new batteries to make them
work most effectively? I put them in a charger, where three hours
later, the "charging" lights had gone out for each cell. Will they work
at their peak at this point, or do I need to do something else (I just
have a plain vanilla Kodak battery charger; it doesn't "condition" the
batteries)?

You need to charge, use the batteries, and charge them again about two or
three times to give you the maximum output they are capable of. I put some
brand new batteries in an MP3 player and they lasted about 1 hr. The second
charge the player lasted about 10 hours.

Hi Tommy,

Yes, the 2300mAh should give you longer battery life. mAh measures
power over time (I think -- my memory of physics studies is a bit hazy)
so in theory, a larger rating will give longer life.

I usually leave the batteries in the charger overnight on the first
charge - not exactly sure about the technical reasons, but that's what
they recommend for nimh mobile phone batteries.

Regards,
Julian
http://www.shuttertalk.com - the friendliest digital photography forums
on the net!


TommyC wrote:
After going on the same sets of NiMH batteries for a few years, I
just
went out and got some new panasonic ones, rated at 2300 mAh (impulse
purchase - I got home and saw that there are 2500 mAh ones, and I'm
sure
others will tell me of even more powerful ones).

The older batteries still work fine and I'm going to use them in
another
camera I have.

But for the new batteries, can I expect more shots off of them than
off
of my old ones? One set of old ones was 1500 mAh and the other was
1800; these are 2300.

And do I need to do anything special with the new batteries to make
them
work most effectively? I put them in a charger, where three hours
later, the "charging" lights had gone out for each cell. Will they
work
at their peak at this point, or do I need to do something else (I
just
have a plain vanilla Kodak battery charger; it doesn't "condition"
the
batteries)?

Hi Tommy,

Yes, the 2300mAh should give you longer battery life. mAh measures
power over time (I think -- my memory of physics studies is a bit hazy)
so in theory, a larger rating will give longer life.

I usually leave the batteries in the charger overnight on the first
charge - not exactly sure about the technical reasons, but that's what
they recommend for nimh mobile phone batteries.

Regards,
Julian
http://www.shuttertalk.com - the friendliest digital photography forums
on the net!


TommyC wrote:
After going on the same sets of NiMH batteries for a few years, I
just
went out and got some new panasonic ones, rated at 2300 mAh (impulse
purchase - I got home and saw that there are 2500 mAh ones, and I'm
sure
others will tell me of even more powerful ones).

The older batteries still work fine and I'm going to use them in
another
camera I have.

But for the new batteries, can I expect more shots off of them than
off
of my old ones? One set of old ones was 1500 mAh and the other was
1800; these are 2300.

And do I need to do anything special with the new batteries to make
them
work most effectively? I put them in a charger, where three hours
later, the "charging" lights had gone out for each cell. Will they
work
at their peak at this point, or do I need to do something else (I
just
have a plain vanilla Kodak battery charger; it doesn't "condition"
the
batteries)?

TommyC wrote:
After going on the same sets of NiMH batteries for a few years, I just
went out and got some new panasonic ones, rated at 2300 mAh (impulse
purchase - I got home and saw that there are 2500 mAh ones, and I'm sure
others will tell me of even more powerful ones).

The older batteries still work fine and I'm going to use them in another
camera I have.

But for the new batteries, can I expect more shots off of them than off
of my old ones? One set of old ones was 1500 mAh and the other was
1800; these are 2300.

And do I need to do anything special with the new batteries to make them
work most effectively? I put them in a charger, where three hours
later, the "charging" lights had gone out for each cell. Will they work
at their peak at this point, or do I need to do something else (I just
have a plain vanilla Kodak battery charger; it doesn't "condition" the
batteries)?

NIMH batteries usually take a few recharge cycles to achieve full use
life. You should get almost 1/3 more pictures with the 2300mAh
batteries over the 1800 mAh ones. No conditioning is required for NIMH
batteries, just use them and enjoy.


--
Ron Hunter

TommyC wrote:
After going on the same sets of NiMH batteries for a few years, I just
went out and got some new panasonic ones, rated at 2300 mAh (impulse
purchase - I got home and saw that there are 2500 mAh ones, and I'm sure
others will tell me of even more powerful ones).

The older batteries still work fine and I'm going to use them in another
camera I have.

But for the new batteries, can I expect more shots off of them than off
of my old ones? One set of old ones was 1500 mAh and the other was
1800; these are 2300.

And do I need to do anything special with the new batteries to make them
work most effectively? I put them in a charger, where three hours
later, the "charging" lights had gone out for each cell. Will they work
at their peak at this point, or do I need to do something else (I just
have a plain vanilla Kodak battery charger; it doesn't "condition" the
batteries)?

NIMH batteries usually take a few recharge cycles to achieve full use
life. You should get almost 1/3 more pictures with the 2300mAh
batteries over the 1800 mAh ones. No conditioning is required for NIMH
batteries, just use them and enjoy.


--
Ron Hunter

Dave Etchells' website
http://www.imaging-resource.com/
has a webpage about batteries,
and also has a hotlink to Thomas Distributing Company (retail source
for chargers and batteries).

Dave Etchells' website
http://www.imaging-resource.com/
has a webpage about batteries,
and also has a hotlink to Thomas Distributing Company (retail source
for chargers and batteries).

Julian Tan wrote:
Hi Tommy,

Yes, the 2300mAh should give you longer battery life. mAh measures
power over time (I think -- my memory of physics studies is a bit
hazy) so in theory, a larger rating will give longer life.


You're correct. Plain simple - 2300 mAh means 2300 milliamper hours, which
is...let's say this way - if you drain battery with 2300 mA current, it will
last one hour, while if you have 1800 mAh one, it will last one hour if you
drain it with lower current, that is 1800 mA, while draining it with 2300 mA
will last only about 45 minutes.



I usually leave the batteries in the charger overnight on the first
charge - not exactly sure about the technical reasons, but that's what
they recommend for nimh mobile phone batteries.


In any case it's a good idea to have good quality fast charger, and if you
do, you can leave batteries overnight or even longer (for weeks) in it
without any harm, since charger after they are full switches to trickle
charging. So, if you do that you only pick up batteries and go. Leaving them
in a drawer will cause self-draining of about 1 % per day...so after 3
months they are empty or after 4 weeks they will loose about 30% of the
charge.
It's also a good idea to completely discharge them every now and then to
prevent from memory effect, which DOES exists, even though some say it
doesn't . It does, it's just much lower than one at NiCD cells.



Regards,
Julian
http://www.shuttertalk.com - the friendliest digital photography
forums on the net!


TommyC wrote:
After going on the same sets of NiMH batteries for a few years, I
just went out and got some new panasonic ones, rated at 2300 mAh
(impulse purchase - I got home and saw that there are 2500 mAh ones,
and I'm sure others will tell me of even more powerful ones).

The older batteries still work fine and I'm going to use them in
another camera I have.

But for the new batteries, can I expect more shots off of them than
off of my old ones? One set of old ones was 1500 mAh and the other
was 1800; these are 2300.

And do I need to do anything special with the new batteries to make
them work most effectively? I put them in a charger, where three
hours later, the "charging" lights had gone out for each cell. Will
they work at their peak at this point, or do I need to do something
else (I just have a plain vanilla Kodak battery charger; it doesn't
"condition" the batteries)?