My experience supports the negative aspects of Ni-Mh batteries. I have had
experience with two laptop computers with Ni-Mh batteries and the batteries
do not even last 2 years, even when the computers are run off mains 900f
the time. Given the incredible cost of these batteries this is not good.
An HP engineer told me he recommended removing the battery pack at regular
intervals and shorting it with an appropriate resistor - forget the value -
to ensure a complete discharge then fully charging the pack and discharging
it again - perhaps doing this a couple of times! This little proceedure
was certainly not in the manual!
To my mind Ni-Mh have a far worse memory effect than NiCad and then there
is the horrendous self-discharge.
The best technology seems to be rechargeable Lithium Ion batteries -
negligable self discharge even after a year, high current delivery, NO
memory effect at all, higher energy density than Ni-Mh or NiCad and I
believe William indicated they function at low temperatures - or was that
only the non rechargeable Lithiums?
The only drawback is cost and charging. They are very expensive and
require a rigorous charging regime - or they go boom. I purchased a Sony
Li-Ion battery intended for a camcorder - NP-F530. It is a single pack (70
x 37 x 20mm) and is nominaly rated at 7.2v and 1350mAh. I use this battery
with a portable DAT player that absolutely eats NiCads. I had to go to
some lengths to construct a suitable charger for this battery (if anyone
wants details contact me off list). My experience - absolutely fantastic!
Now this may not be directly applicable to OM use but I believe there are
more conventionaly sized Li-ion batteries available which might be able to
be used in situations where cost-no-object performance is required.
http://houseofbatteries.com:80/
Giles
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