There is a new High current, safe , Li battery technology which is only been
out a fairly short
time.
This is based on LiFe Phosphate chemistry and in some variations, nanoparticles
with LiFe
Phosphate.
The nanoparticle versions (like A123 corp) are much better, but not available
in small cells which
would fit MD, yet.
The good :
Safe do not easily explode/ catch fire like normal Li cells
easier to charge safely and not so picky as NiMh or regular Li
(Likely Can Just charge with a fixed 3.6-3.7V/cell voltage regulated
charger)
very long cycle life ~1000
low self discharge ,( realy nice for MD use)
a bit higher energy density than nimH (in large cells, not true for small
cells yet
unfortunately)
High current capable (although again does not seem quite so good in small
sized cells so far)
Available in small "9V " battery which likely can be dissembled to fit into
MD? (It contains 3
cells internally so it would need to be measured to see if 5 cells can fit
inside the MD battery
case.
The bad: Capacity rating of currently available device is only a bit higher
than the original NiCd
in MD and lower than currently available NiMh.
The data sheet of the only small 9V battery currently available in
LiFePO4,(that I know of) is not
detailed enough to really know how well they will perform in an actual MD, but
what is listed is
promising (in particular capable of 2.4A, the MD needs about 1.6A pk):
http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=3322
(~$6/9V battery)
Although these are Chinese made batteries, my guess is the LiFe Material is
licensed/manufactured
from Valence Technology, a company specializing in this area.
You would have to add a 3 terminal voltage regulator chip and two resistors to
the Olympus charger
for this to work. I have not checked the oly charger circuit for a long time,
so this is from
memory,but worst case you might have to use a 3rd party wall wart supply with
regulator.
Regards,
Tim Hughes
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