Rechargeable AA batteries suddenly can't hold charge? EDIT 2: Is it the camera?

[KingstonU]

Edit 2: Ok now I am thinking it must be the camera (shitty Canon A560 from work that is like ~5-6 years old). Any batteries I put in it die within 5 minutes. New Alkalines, charged NiMH, whatever, they die almost right away. Is this possible? I tried scrapping the battery contacts and still same... So do I need a new camera?

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I've had my Sanyo Eneloop AA batteries for about 2.5 years now and they've been fantastic and last a very long time. Just this week they suddenly seem to be unable to hold a charge for more than 5 minutes in my digital camera. I've tried letting them charge for 3 hours to as much as 12 hours and still get only about 5 minutes of use. Could they go bad over such a short period of time?

Sanyo claims these can be charged 1000 times among other benefits over other NiMH brands and there's is no way I've charged them even close to that many times in 2.5 years. Eneloop website

Or could it be my charger? I've had that for maybe 5 years. Do chargers go bad over time?


EDIT This is the charger: (Those are not the batteries) Should I chuck this too and buy a new one?

 

[Rastus]

All batteries have a short lifespan, regardless of what the manufacturers say.

 

[bobdole369]

Nope batteries have reached the end of their useful life. Chuck em and start over. It happens. Digital camera duty is incredibly hard on rechargeables. I'd be surprised if you got 250 uses out of em. 1000 uses is best case.

 

[amdhunter]

That's funny. I had a pair of Eneloops go out the same way. I got about 7 months out of them, and then they refused to hold a charge. I've just been buying bulk alkaline batteries from Microcenter every so often.

Rechargeables get on my nerves...lol

 

[IronWing]

I'm afraid you have an infestation of ghosts. You've probably noticed the house feeling colder the past few weeks as the ghosts leach off all available energy sources, including your batteries.

 

[strep3241]

I have several pairs of energizer rechargeable batteries that I use for my camera. There is not a single pair that works anymore. Either the charger will not charge them or they seem to take a charge and still do not work in the camera.

 

[lxskllr]

Anything electronic can go bad. Hell, anything can go bad. Even a hammer will wear out eventually, but my money is on beat batteries. You can test the charger to make sure though. See if it's putting out current.

 

[FoBoT]

yeah, they go bad. chuck them and start over

 

[FoBoT]

Rechargeables get on my nerves...lol

yeah, it seems like such a good idea and money savings etc
but it becomes a bit of a chore keeping track of them and the rotations etc

 

[0roo0roo]

what kind of charger?

 

[ShawnD1]

I have several pairs of energizer rechargeable batteries that I use for my camera. There is not a single pair that works anymore. Either the charger will not charge them or they seem to take a charge and still do not work in the camera.

Are you using the right charger? Old nicad battery chargers completely ruin nimh batteries.

 

[Texashiker]

Get a 15 minute quick charger, and get some new batteries.

 

[Engineer]

Get a 15 minute quick charger, and get some new batteries.

Get something that's not a "brute force" time based charger (i.e. smart charger) and possibly one that will trickle charge after the batteries are full. LaCrosse and many others like it will suffice. Doesn't hurt to run a refresh cycle on the batteries once and a while also.

 

[Jeff7]

what kind of charger?

Second.

The trend has been toward quicker chargers.


Long ago, I had a bunch of AA Nicad batteries, which were used in things like RC cars and other electronic toys. They were usually run until they were dead. Those batteries must have lasted 5-7 years. Ancient things. They lost favor primarily because of the arrival of NiMH on the market.
They were also charged by a slow GE-brand charger. 8+ hours for a charge.

Quick chargers are harder on batteries. Some of them try for a charge in 15 minutes. I'd like to have a long-term charger like that again. Especially with the low-self-discharge cells, I can just get enough of them so that I don't need to hit them with a high-speed charge.
Some chargers also go cheap on the circuitry by charging in pairs, rather than charging and monitoring each individual cell. It might ok like that, but the obsessive side of me says that batteries should get individual attention. (For example, I don't like battery packs that lack balancing or equalization for each cell. If one cell in a battery consistently weakens before the others, it can end up bringing down the entire pack's performance.:\)

BC-9009 - allows as low as 200mA charge rate.

Get something that's not a "brute force" time based charger (i.e. smart charger) and possibly one that will trickle charge after the batteries are full. LaCrosse and many others like it will suffice. Doesn't hurt to run a refresh cycle on the batteries once and a while also.

How does this trickle-charge stuff affect an LSD cell though? Regular NiMH lost so much from internal leakage that I wouldn't expect a trickle charge to pose any problems. But the LSD cells don't have that. Would the trickle charge end up causing damage, or do the chargers only apply what the cells can handle?

 

[Texashiker]

Get something that's not a "brute force" time based charger (i.e. smart charger) and possibly one that will trickle charge after the batteries are full. LaCrosse and many others like it will suffice. Doesn't hurt to run a refresh cycle on the batteries once and a while also.

I have a 15 minute energizer charger, and its all I have used for the past 2 - 3 years.

In that 2 - 3 years, I might have had 2 or 3 AA batteries go bad.

Keep in mind I do video blogging on youtube and nature photography. From my experiences, an energizer AA battery will take hundreds of quick charges.

I also have a trickle charger, but have not had to use it in years. I think I gave my trickle charger to my step daughter because I used it so little.

 

[0roo0roo]

yea i use a 15 min duracell charger, i'm sure it lowers the cycle life a bit but hundreds of charges are still pennies a use, so really no big deal. main thing is that it has a pretty decent fan for active cooling and at that level each battery is monitored on its own, none of that pair charging bs.

 

[ShawnD1]

Get something that's not a "brute force" time based charger (i.e. smart charger) and possibly one that will trickle charge after the batteries are full. LaCrosse and many others like it will suffice. Doesn't hurt to run a refresh cycle on the batteries once and a while also.

Simply put: get an expensive charger. You can put a car battery on a trickle charge for 6 months and it's fine. NiMH batteries absolutely will not tolerate overcharge unless it's at a very very low current. Using a simple time based charger with no intelligence is a great way to kill the batteries in a short time.

 

[BoomerD]

I've had mixed luck "reviving" Ni-Cd batteries by hitting them with a short (5 seconds or so) blast of 12v...but I don't think that works with Ni-MH batteries.

 

[KingstonU]

This is the charger: (Those are not the batteries) Should I chuck this too and buy a new one?

 

[ShawnD1]

I've had mixed luck "reviving" Ni-Cd batteries by hitting them with a short (5 seconds or so) blast of 12v...but I don't think that works with Ni-MH batteries.

My dad says that also works with car batteries. If the car battery doesn't take a charge, hit the charger's 100A boost for a second then try.

 

[BoomerD]

My dad says that also works with car batteries. If the car battery doesn't take a charge, hit the charger's 100A boost for a second then try.

Depends. Probably won't do anything for a dead cell in that car battery...it MIGHT, as long as there's nothing physically wrong.

I've seen automotive batteries explode. NOT something I want to have happen under the hood of one of my vehicles.

 

[manly]

Get something that's not a "brute force" time based charger (i.e. smart charger) and possibly one that will trickle charge after the batteries are full. LaCrosse and many others like it will suffice. Doesn't hurt to run a refresh cycle on the batteries once and a while also.

LaCrosse's refresh cycle has been known to rehab finicky batteries that have been stashed in a drawer too long.

 

[ShawnD1]

Depends. Probably won't do anything for a dead cell in that car battery...it MIGHT, as long as there's nothing physically wrong.

I've seen automotive batteries explode. NOT something I want to have happen under the hood of one of my vehicles.

What is supposed to happen when you slam a battery with very high current or voltage? He claims that the trick does work and he's done it before, but I don't quite understand what a big surge or current does.

 

[BoomerD]

What is supposed to happen when you slam a battery with very high current or voltage? He claims that the trick does work and he's done it before, but I don't quite understand what a big surge or current does.

NiCd batteries form crystals which "short out" the battery and keep it from charging properly. (I'm sure one of the EE's here will come correct me)

I use this method:

http://www.ehow.com/how_6053443_revive-18v-drill-battery.html#ixzz1H0KNWoeO

 

[0roo0roo]

This is the charger: (Those are not the batteries) Should I chuck this too and buy a new one?

any charger that charges in pairs is dumb charger..so yes, get something better, its just roasting your batteries assuming they are always empty when it starts.

duracell for fast 15 min or lacrosse for more gentle/more info charge.