MS Sidewinder X8 rechargeable battery died

[Wag]

Bought one of these, nice mouse and all but a little miffed it arrived with a dead battery. The help file says replace with the same rate (it comes with 2100mAh), but couldn't I purchase a more powerful one at this point? Would it even work and recharge? (Using an alkaline right now).

Hmm. Maybe I should just contact MS and try to get them to send me a free battery...

 

[corkyg]

Isn't that battery rechargeable? I would expect it to arrive uncharged. Have you tried to charge it? I see no problem in replacing it with a battery with greater mAh. The important thing is the voltage. MAh only indicates the charge capacity. It is supposed to be good for about 30 hours of use. How does it charge? USB? Can you put it in a AA battery charger?

 

[Wag]

I tried recharging it and it was a no-go. I put in a different NimH I had lying around (a lower powered one) and it worked just fine, although it only lasted for a day. You recharge the mouse by hooking it up to the USB wireless "puck" and it has this sort of magnetic connection. The mouse showed there was a problem while recharging, while the 1600mAh I put in recharged fine.

I could put it in a AA recharger if I had two batteries of the same stregnth (I have one of those little rechargers that work in twos).

 

[corkyg]

If you are going to use 1600 mAh AA batteries, it might be useful to charge two at a time. I use Eneloops in my Logitech Nano VX. It takes 2 AA's.

Is there any switch on the mouse to turn it off when not using it? One day is probably par for the course for a 1600. Try a 2500.

I suspect the charging "problem" is that the USB circuitry charger is calibrated to charge a 2100 mAh battery. Sort of like trying to put 5 lbs. of stuff in a 1 lb. bag.

 

[Wag]

Well I'm stuck anyways as I called up MS and they told me the warranty doesn't cover the battery (even though it arrived with a dead one). Lame.

 

[corkyg]

I'm really surprised they ship with the battery installed and charged. Those things lose charge over time even without being used. Agree - a lame response!

 

[Wag]

At any rate I just purchased 8 AA 2100mAh NIMH Rayovacs off Amazon for $12.49. That should last me for a good while. Good deal.

 

[Ika]

Where did you buy it from? If you bought it new the merchant could be responsible for shipping you new batteries.

 

[ecom]

Did you buy low self-discharge NiMH batteries? In low draw application like a mouse, they would be better suited than regular NiMH cells. The regular ones will self-discharge faster and require more frequent replacement.