OTish: NiMH failure mode
 

The other day, without warning, the battery in my mobile died. It still
appeared to have about 80% charge in it at lunchtime, in the afternoon
when I next looked at it, it wouldn't even switch on. I had left it on, I
normally do because I get a good week's use on one charge. A couple of
people I have talked to say that this has happened to them. I only have
had a couple of this type of battery, so my sample size is too small to be
meaningful. There must be some of you out there who have much larger
experience of NiMH. How often does this sort of total failure occur
relative to gradual?

John Schmitt

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OTish: NiMH failure mode
 

John Schmitt wrote:

The other day, without warning, the battery in my mobile died. It still
appeared to have about 80% charge in it at lunchtime, in the afternoon
when I next looked at it, it wouldn't even switch on. I had left it on,
I normally do because I get a good week's use on one charge. A couple
of people I have talked to say that this has happened to them. I only
have had a couple of this type of battery, so my sample size is too
small to be meaningful. There must be some of you out there who have
much larger experience of NiMH. How often does this sort of total
failure occur relative to gradual?

John Schmitt

Its all too familar.

Lithium ions are better at that sort of thing - they tend to die more
gradually.

NiMh has pretty horrible self discahrge anyway, and it ends its life by
discharging itself in a day rather than the usual 6 weeks ...

Strongly advise updating to lithium, - check tghe net - loads of
aftermarket lithium batteries from specialist companies.

OTish: NiMH failure mode
 

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...
John Schmitt wrote:

The other day, without warning, the battery in my mobile died. It still
appeared to have about 80% charge in it at lunchtime, in the afternoon
when I next looked at it, it wouldn't even switch on. I had left it on, I
normally do because I get a good week's use on one charge. A couple of
people I have talked to say that this has happened to them. I only have
had a couple of this type of battery, so my sample size is too small to
be meaningful. There must be some of you out there who have much larger
experience of NiMH. How often does this sort of total failure occur
relative to gradual?

John Schmitt

Its all too familar.

Lithium ions are better at that sort of thing - they tend to die more
gradually.

NiMh has pretty horrible self discahrge anyway, and it ends its life by
discharging itself in a day rather than the usual 6 weeks ...

Strongly advise updating to lithium, - check tghe net - loads of
aftermarket lithium batteries from specialist companies.

On the other hand you could, like me, solder in some new NiMH cells for
under a fiver :-)

OTish: NiMH failure mode
 

On Fri, 04 Nov 2005 06:19:35 GMT, gentlegreen wrote:

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...
John Schmitt wrote:

The other day, without warning, the battery in my mobile died. It still
appeared to have about 80% charge in it at lunchtime, in the afternoon
when I next looked at it, it wouldn't even switch on. I had left it on, I
normally do because I get a good week's use on one charge. A couple of
people I have talked to say that this has happened to them. I only have
had a couple of this type of battery, so my sample size is too small to
be meaningful. There must be some of you out there who have much larger
experience of NiMH. How often does this sort of total failure occur
relative to gradual?

John Schmitt

Its all too familar.

Lithium ions are better at that sort of thing - they tend to die more
gradually.

NiMh has pretty horrible self discahrge anyway, and it ends its life by
discharging itself in a day rather than the usual 6 weeks ...

Strongly advise updating to lithium, - check tghe net - loads of
aftermarket lithium batteries from specialist companies.

On the other hand you could, like me, solder in some new NiMH cells for
under a fiver :-)

Yes, but they still have the 'orrible self discharge feature. Even new
ones.

I only use NiMh when its something that is in constant use.
And constantly charged.

OTish: NiMH failure mode
 

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 04 Nov 2005 06:19:35 GMT, gentlegreen wrote:

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...
John Schmitt wrote:

The other day, without warning, the battery in my mobile died. It still
appeared to have about 80% charge in it at lunchtime, in the afternoon
when I next looked at it, it wouldn't even switch on. I had left it on,
I
normally do because I get a good week's use on one charge. A couple of
people I have talked to say that this has happened to them. I only have
had a couple of this type of battery, so my sample size is too small to
be meaningful. There must be some of you out there who have much
larger
experience of NiMH. How often does this sort of total failure occur
relative to gradual?

John Schmitt

Its all too familar.

Lithium ions are better at that sort of thing - they tend to die more
gradually.

NiMh has pretty horrible self discahrge anyway, and it ends its life by
discharging itself in a day rather than the usual 6 weeks ...

Strongly advise updating to lithium, - check tghe net - loads of
aftermarket lithium batteries from specialist companies.

On the other hand you could, like me, solder in some new NiMH cells for
under a fiver :-)

Yes, but they still have the 'orrible self discharge feature. Even new
ones.

I only use NiMh when its something that is in constant use.
And constantly charged.

I paid 15 quid for my Motorola in Marks and Sparks 4 years ago - (don't
think I've used a tenner's worth of Orange PAYG units so far !) .. so I am a
prime candidate for Liion - so even my new batteries are flat in my
"emergency phone" by the time I need to make a call.
(though at least I can now make a call before the thing dies).

But I've just done this for a colleague who does use hers a bit.

Interestingly her older pack had a heat sensing diode whereas mine didn't -
which may explain why mine died much sooner.

OTish: NiMH failure mode
 

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 04 Nov 2005 06:19:35 GMT, gentlegreen wrote:

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...
John Schmitt wrote:

The other day, without warning, the battery in my mobile died. It still
appeared to have about 80% charge in it at lunchtime, in the afternoon
when I next looked at it, it wouldn't even switch on. I had left it on,
I
normally do because I get a good week's use on one charge. A couple of
people I have talked to say that this has happened to them. I only have
had a couple of this type of battery, so my sample size is too small to
be meaningful. There must be some of you out there who have much
larger
experience of NiMH. How often does this sort of total failure occur
relative to gradual?

John Schmitt

Its all too familar.

Lithium ions are better at that sort of thing - they tend to die more
gradually.

NiMh has pretty horrible self discahrge anyway, and it ends its life by
discharging itself in a day rather than the usual 6 weeks ...

Strongly advise updating to lithium, - check tghe net - loads of
aftermarket lithium batteries from specialist companies.

any links ?

just tried Googling but without success ...

OTish: NiMH failure mode
 

On Sat, 05 Nov 2005 06:05:30 GMT, gentlegreen wrote:

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 04 Nov 2005 06:19:35 GMT, gentlegreen wrote:

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...
John Schmitt wrote:

The other day, without warning, the battery in my mobile died. It still
appeared to have about 80% charge in it at lunchtime, in the afternoon
when I next looked at it, it wouldn't even switch on. I had left it on,
I
normally do because I get a good week's use on one charge. A couple of
people I have talked to say that this has happened to them. I only have
had a couple of this type of battery, so my sample size is too small to
be meaningful. There must be some of you out there who have much
larger
experience of NiMH. How often does this sort of total failure occur
relative to gradual?

John Schmitt

Its all too familar.

Lithium ions are better at that sort of thing - they tend to die more
gradually.

NiMh has pretty horrible self discahrge anyway, and it ends its life by
discharging itself in a day rather than the usual 6 weeks ...

Strongly advise updating to lithium, - check tghe net - loads of
aftermarket lithium batteries from specialist companies.

any links ?

just tried Googling but without success ...

http://www.eurobatteries.com/sitepag...ebatteries.asp
???

OTish: NiMH failure mode
 

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 05 Nov 2005 06:05:30 GMT, gentlegreen wrote:

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 04 Nov 2005 06:19:35 GMT, gentlegreen wrote:

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...
John Schmitt wrote:

Strongly advise updating to lithium, - check tghe net - loads of
aftermarket lithium batteries from specialist companies.

any links ?

just tried Googling but without success ...

http://www.eurobatteries.com/sitepag...ebatteries.asp
???

thanks .. unfortunately they only seem to be offering NiMH for my Motorola
T180 :-(