[TriLUG] IC3 Misinformation (was batteries in laptops thread)

[Tanner Lovelace]

On 6/27/05, James Brigman <jbrigman at nc.rr.com> wrote:
> Dudes, would you please read the manual that came with the IC3 charger?
> 
> http://www.radioshack.com/images/ProductCatalog/Manuals/OME23-038.pdf
> 
> It says:
>         - don't mix IC3 batteries with NiMH batteries,
>         - Leave NiMH batteries in overnight
>         (ie: they don't charge in 15 minutes)
> 
> IC3 batteries are not typical NiMH batteries, which are charged at far

I thought that was evident, but it is true that the IC3 batteries are
NiMH also.  It says that right on the battery.

> lower rates over timespans of 16 hours or so. As Tanner hinted, this is
> because IC3 batteries have a built-in charge regulator (IC3 = In-Circuit
> Charge Control). The NiMH units will charge in the IC3 charger, but not
> in 15 minutes. You're not getting a full charge on your NiMH batteries
> if you think you can leave them in for 15 minutes and you're done.

No, and I never claimed that.  I claimed that the IC3 batteries, which
are a specific type of NiMH batteries, would charge in 15 minutes.

> For the first 300-odd charges, the IC3 batteries ought to reach 70-85%
> charge in 15 mins. As you progress toward the end of the 1000-charge
> lifecycle of these batteries, you're going to start seeing significant
> increases in generated heat and completed charge rates of 50-55% or
> worse. I expect that charger is going to fail toward the end of the
> battery lifetime. (Exactly what the vendor wants to happen.) As a point
> of comparison, I still own and use all the chargers I've ever purchased,
> and I have some NiMH batteries I've used for over 5 years that I've
> bought from well-known battery suppliers at the major hamfests.

Yes, but how many times have you used them?  *All* batteries will
start failing to hold a charge after that many charges.  This is not
something different just for the IC3 batteries.

> The pro camera dudes are debating the IC3 batteries fairly energetically
> primarily because of the hot cells that come out of the charger:
> 
> http://www.stevesforums.com/forums/view_topic.php?id=44078&forum_id=51

Yes, they are hot when they finish recharging, but not overly so.
I've never had a problem with them.

> Most folks are getting great results from the IC3 batteries and
> chargers, and I'm glad for that, I hate to see anyone get ripped off.
> But they don't yet seem to know that the charger will eventually fail as
> the batteries become hotter and hotter, the chemical breakdown due to
> heat dropping their internal resistance increases over time, making it
> harder for the ICCC to control the delivered current. The charger will
> get hotter with the increased load and most likely fail as the batteries
> deteriorate.

Everything fails.  The question is whether you get good use out of them
beforehand and for myself the answer is absolutely yes.  Just the time
saved by being able to charge in 15 minutes is worth a lot.

> I can assure anyone reading this list that it is completely true that
> NiMH batteries are more sensitive to heat than NiCD batteries. (Is it
> possible to be anything but "completely true"?) In any case, excessive
> or prolonged heat is going to shorten the life of all but the molten
> sulfur or fuel cell technologies.

Perhaps, but since everything is a trade-off, this is one I'll gladly take.
Life's too short to be obsessing about getting the absolute maximum 
possible lifetime out of your batteries and waiting long periods of time
to recharge them because of that.

And, since this has gone way off topic, I'll stop now before I annoy
any more people. :-)

Cheers,
Tanner
-- 
Tanner Lovelace
clubjuggler at gmail dot com
http://wtl.wayfarer.org/
http://www.freeiPods.com/?r=8127171
(fieldless) In fess two roundels in pale, a billet fesswise and an
increscent, all sable.