I believe the NiMH batteries are sensitive to being over charged. If you are
using a good charger that detects when the batteries are fully charged, then
switches over to a very small trickle charge you shouldn't have a problem
leaving the batteries in the charger for fairly long times.
Olympus made a very nice charger which seemed to take good care of the
batteries. I had several battery sets last for years. I have lately been
using a charger that works for both NiCads and NiMH (because someone kept
putting NiCads in my charger, MAHA MH-C401FS). It also seems to handle the
batteries very well. However before I had years of experience with that
charger, my family members began raiding my batteries. Someone is putting
the batteries into something that is brutal on them. I think the MAHA
charger is probably as good as the Olympus charger but I can't say for
certain. Some of the cheaper MAHA chargers aren't very good though.
I had a Panasonic charger that heated the batteries up so much that I was
afraid it would start a fire. If your batteries heat up significantly while
charging, you are likely reducing their lifespan.
Some of the "industrial strength" alkaline batteies are very nice. I bought
a T32 flash which had some in it. I was very impressed with the batteries.
At work, the purchasing department buys major brand name batteries that are
labled industrial strength but they are terrible batteries. They are likely
from lowest bidder and the batteries may have a questionable history.
If you have a source for free Alkaline batteries use them and you will
probably be happy with them. If, when you charge your NiMH batteries, you
find that one of them charges at a much different rate, it is probably bad.
(I've never noticed a memory effect with NiCads either.)
-jeff
----Original Message Follows----
From: "Candace Lemarr" <CandaceRocks@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Thank you, Chuck.
I just took them to the local battery store, and they tested them for
me. All but one were good. Could be that one bad apple was spoiling the
bunch ;-)) I try to make sure I take them right out of the charger when I
use them for the FL-50. It's good to know that I can just "top them off",
that makes a lot of sense, i.e., I have them in the FL-50, but haven't used
it for a day or two, so they are draining themselves.
I did go ahead and pick up the lithium batteries as well. It will be
interesting to see how those work. Have a young lady who wants her senior
portraits done up on the Grand Mesa (for those of you familiar with G.J.),
so I want to be sure I have everything I need, and then some. (now I just
have to remember not to throw those in the charger!!!!) hahahaha
Thank you for the info...there you go again being so wise ;-))
Candace
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chuck Norcutt"
> It could be that the NiMH are old and tired but it may also be that you
> don't understand the oddities of NiMH batteries. While they pack a lot
> more power than an alkaline or NiCad cell they also have a very high
> self-discharge rate. Just sitting on the shelf doing nothing they lose
> about 3% of their charge *per day*. Let them sit around for a week or
> two and they begin to look like weaklings.
>
> If it's been more than a few days since you've used them it's always a
> good idea to top them up. Topping up was a no-no for NiCad cells
> because of their "memory effect" but is a necessity for NiMH.
>
snip
>
> Chuck Norcutt
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