Any Battery Gurus Among Us?

[Carbo]

I have a set of 8 Energizer Rechargeable NiMH batteries, rated at 2,500 mAH. I use them in two devices mainly, a wireless mouse for the PC and my digital camera.
Lately I have noticed that in the mouse the batteries are drained after only four or five days. Is this normal? Can a mouse be such a consumer of energy? Seems awfully quick to need a recharge.
And I have also noticed that the batteries, fully charged and stored at room temp, are completely drained after only about a week.
If it matters, the charger I use is a Powerex MH-C204W. And the batteries were all purchased about 8 months ago.
I understand that rechargeable NiMH batteries lose their charge over time sitting unused. But every time I try and use my digital camera, I'll pop the batteries in and they are dead, after having been charged fully only a week before.
Also, anyone familiar with the disposable lithium batteries now on the market? The big advantage claimed is that they hold their charge for years. Making them ideal as a backup for when I need the camera for that once-in-a-lifetime shot, , and my NiMH's are dead again.
Thanks.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: Carbo
I have a set of 8 Energizer Rechargeable NiMH batteries, rated at 2,500 mAH. I use them in two devices mainly, a wireless mouse for the PC and my digital camera.
Lately I have noticed that in the mouse the batteries are drained after only four or five days. Is this normal? Can a mouse be such a consumer of energy? Seems awfully quick to need a recharge.
And I have also noticed that the batteries, fully charged and stored at room temp, are completely drained after only about a week.
If it matters, the charger I use is a Powerex MH-C204W. And the batteries were all purchased about 8 months ago.
I understand that rechargeable NiMH batteries lose their charge over time sitting unused. But every time I try and use my digital camera, I'll pop the batteries in and they are dead, after having been charged fully only a week before.
Also, anyone familiar with the disposable lithium batteries now on the market? The big advantage claimed is that they hold their charge for years. Making them ideal as a backup for when I need the camera for that once-in-a-lifetime shot, , and my NiMH's are dead again.
Thanks.

Just sounds like you have a bad set.

Actually all it takes is for one bad battery to make a set look bad.

Test each battery for charge holding ability after a full charge cycle. You will find culprits that way.

 

[trOver]

you need to go to a real battery store that sells REAL batteries and not this energizer titanium bs. I did the same thing, got a name brand, and they went dead after a while too. Then i went to a batteries plus store, and they hooked me up good. These batteires were AA just as yours, and they were bulletproof. they are also nimh, but they are about a year old now, and still going strong. I use them in my camera as you do, my mouse, and in radio transmiters for r/c stuff. hope this helps

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: trOver
you need to go to a real battery store that sells REAL batteries and not this energizer titanium bs. I did the same thing, got a name brand, and they went dead after a while too. Then i went to a batteries plus store, and they hooked me up good. These batteires were AA just as yours, and they were bulletproof. they are also nimh, but they are about a year old now, and still going strong. I use them in my camera as you do, my mouse, and in radio transmiters for r/c stuff. hope this helps

Batteries Plus Rechargeables (Called Nutron) are the best ones I have.

I also have Energizers and Rayovac

 

[Carbo]

trOver, what kind of usage do you get with these batteries in your mouse? As I said, I am burning through a pair every four or five days.
The other big problem I'm running into is that they don't hold a charge. Fully charged today means they are dead by next weekend when I go to use them in my camera. Frustrating as hell.
I was thinking of trying another set of 8 AA's, maybe these, and then using these disposable lithiums as a backup, since they claim to hold up their charge for years.

dmcowen, thanks for your replies. I'm surprised to hear that those Nutrons compare so favorably to the name brands you mentioned.

 

[RU482]

sounds like the batteries are shot (self discharge)

I would also go with a better quality charger

 

[kami333]

Those are probably the Made in Japan Sanyo ones, there was a bad batch or something last year and are notorious for fast self discharge. I've found Energizer NiMH to be very good in general but the 2500mah are kind of hit or miss, my 2300mah are great though.

 

[IEC]

GE/Sanyo works better than the "name brand" crap. I've got 2500mAH Sanyo AA's and they last me a LONG time on a full charge.

 

[kami333]

Originally posted by: ariafrost
GE/Sanyo works better than the "name brand" crap. I've got 2500mAH Sanyo AA's and they last me a LONG time on a full charge.

Most GE and Energizer are rebadged Sanyo.

 

[trOver]

Originally posted by: Carbo
trOver, what kind of usage do you get with these batteries in your mouse? As I said, I am burning through a pair every four or five days.
The other big problem I'm running into is that they don't hold a charge. Fully charged today means they are dead by next weekend when I go to use them in my camera. Frustrating as hell.
I was thinking of trying another set of 8 AA's, maybe these, and then using these disposable lithiums as a backup, since they claim to hold up their charge for years.

dmcowen, thanks for your replies. I'm surprised to hear that those Nutrons compare so favorably to the name brands you mentioned.

i use them in my logitech mx3000 set, and the mouse batteries last about 6 months, and the keyboard up to a year...

 

[Dessert Tears]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674
Just sounds like you have a bad set.

Actually all it takes is for one bad battery to make a set look bad.

Test each battery for charge holding ability after a full charge cycle. You will find culprits that way.

Ditto. You can take 1 cell, hook it up to a fixed resistor and periodically check the voltage until it discharges. This test is very common, and I think there are detailed instructions online.

An alternative is to get something like the LaCrosse BC-900, which charges each cell independently (instead of in pairs), has a capacity test built-in, and other features.

 

[Carbo]

Originally posted by: redly1
sounds like the batteries are shot (self discharge)

I would also go with a better quality charger

The charger I have is actually very highly rated. At least according to several online sources that I researched while I was looking for one.

Originally posted by: trOveri use them in my logitech mx3000 set, and the mouse batteries last about 6 months, and the keyboard up to a year...

6 months?! And I'm lucky to stretch it out to six days! Something is rotten in Denmark.