Sonicare toothbrushes...

[jahawkin]

I just got a sonicare toothbrush recently (works great) and was wondering....Anyone know how its battery gets charged?? The bottom of the toothbrush (the part you put in the charging base) and charging base itself are all plastic, so there's no direct charging.....I would think it would be some sort of induction, but I'm not sure...

 

[RavnShield]

Yea, its chargin. I forget how it works, shouldn't have fallen asleep in phys class.

 

[Electric Amish]

Yes, via induction.

amish

 

[Nitemare]

Got one a couple of weeks.

Takes forever to charge because of that plastic base as well. I think the molded plastic is to keep it from letting water get to the motor. Some sort of radiation type battery is my guess...

 

[loup garou]

Magnetic inductance.

Sonicare rocks!

 

[manly]

I like Sonicare, but I find that a manual toothbrush is better at removing plaque build-up. I'll use a standard brush occasionally whenever I feel the surface of my teeth are not clean enough.

There were some recent studies (linked on Slashdot) that indicated that Sonicare doesn't clean any better than a regular toothbrush. However, I feel it definitely does a better job at the gumline. The studies seemed to give an advantage to rotating brushes such as the Oral-B, but I can't recall exactly.

My other complaint with Sonicare is that a lot more saliva is produced while brushing.

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: manly
I like Sonicare, but I find that a manual toothbrush is better at removing plaque build-up. I'll use a standard brush occasionally whenever I feel the surface of my teeth are not clean enough.

There were some recent studies (linked on Slashdot) that indicated that Sonicare doesn't clean any better than a regular toothbrush. However, I feel it definitely does a better job at the gumline. The studies seemed to give an advantage to rotating brushes such as the Oral-B, but I can't recall exactly.

My other complaint with Sonicare is that a lot more saliva is produced while brushing.

I've found that using Plax with my Sonicare to be more effective than Plax + manual toothbrush. And I'm with you on the saliva thing. I look like a rabid dog when I'm brushing my teeth now.

 

[mpitts]

Sonicare rocks. I will never go back to a regular brush. We just got ours a few weeks ago and I love it.

 

[Doggiedog]

Just one tip for you Sonicare guys.

Before you use a new head, you should take the magnets on the underside and coat them in nailpolish or something to prevent them from rusting.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Induction-
What happens is there is current flowing through the base. That creates a magnetic field, which in turn induces another electric current in the handle. this is what charges the battery

 

[Digobick]

Same technology used in electric cars (so that you can charge your vehicle during a rainstorm). More on induction:

Inductive charging is achieved without direct metal-to-metal contact. The charge paddle and the charge port are a high frequency transformer that can be taken apart (Note: they only work when together). Electrical energy is transferred via this electro-magnetic coupling. The charger takes the normal 60 Hertz electrical service and sends out the high frequency to the paddle which induces the companion high frequency AC in the charge port; that is then rectified and converted to DC (direct current) to charge the vehicle's battery pack. (High frequency is used to reduce the size of the paddle and the charge port.) A communication link is also established between the charger and the battery pack computer ? with the battery pack computer controlling the charger.

In conductive charging, connections are made by conductive (metal-to-metal) contact. AC electricity from the local utility or other source is transformed to the voltage required by the car's battery pack, converted into DC, and fed to the batteries.