Quantcast
Subscribe to magazine

Blogs

    Digital Focus

  • Dave Johnson's expert tips promise to enhance your expertise with your digital camera, scanner, printer, and image editing software.
  • Subscribe to this blog

Digital Focus: Manage Mounds of Photo Files

Dave Johnson

Q&A: Getting the Most From Rechargeable Batteries

I have several rechargeable batteries, and I want to make them last as long as possible. I have heard that some kinds of batteries develop a "memory" if not charged properly. Also, will overcharging them affect their lives? Some say you can't overcharge a battery, but others seem to disagree.

--Phil Lee, Pueblo, Colorado

First-generation rechargeable batteries were based on Nickel and Cadmium, and hence were known as NiCads. NiCad batteries were notorious for their "memory effect," which means that if you consistently recharged the battery at about the same point in its discharge, say, when it had 50 percent of its charge left, then it would begin to think it was completely discharged at that point and you'd end up with a battery that ran out of power way too soon after each charge.

These days, NiCad batteries have been largely replaced by NiMH (Nickel-Metal Hydride) batteries, and these don't suffer as badly from memory effects as old-fashioned NiCads once did. Like all rechargeables, though, NiMH batteries have a limited lifespan of about 500 charges or so, and they'll die more quickly if you aren't careful about your charging technique.

If you own a smart charger--which automatically shuts down when the battery is charged--you don't have to worry so much about this problem. But most less-expensive battery chargers tend to leave the battery in trickle-charge mode even after it's fully charged. That keeps the battery hot, and the heat causes the battery's internal components to break down and not work as well, eventually affecting the battery's ability to hold a charge. So if you leave your batteries in a charger for days at a time, you're taking months or years off of their life. Bottom line: It's a good idea to get them out of the charger as soon as they are charged.

  • Recommend this story?
  • 0 Yes
    0 No

Print 50% more pages than with refilled inks. Trust Original HP Inks. Hit Print Reliably.

Featured APC Accessories For Your System
10% Off Entire Cart at Online Store

  • APC Back-UPS ES Safeguards your equipment from damaging surges and spikes that travel along your utility & data lines.
  • APC SurgeArrest Performance Highest level of protection for your professional computers, electronics and connected devices, as well as provides surge protection.

Focus on Personal Productivitysponsored by Microsoft

  • Personal Finance 2.0 These free and fee-based Web services not only aggregate data from your online bank accounts, they give you tools for managing your money.
  • High-Tech Travel Tips Plenty of stories provide advice for elite mobile professionals. But what about you, the unproductive traveler?

People who read this also read:

Digital Focus

All PC World Blogs

  • 2007 Microsoft Office Suites Comparison This paper compares and contrasts four suites of the 2007 Microsoft Office system: Microsoft Office Standard 2007, Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007, Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007 and Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007. This paper is intended to help organizations understand the applications and capabilities offered, and to identify the suite that best fits their needs.
  • Windows Vista Migration: The Business Proposition It's not so much a matter of "if" but "when" for most organizations regarding migration to Windows Vista. Laying the groundwork now for this migration can yield higher ROI than waiting until later. This Computerworld Technology Briefing explains it all.

Today's Special Offers