Cordless phone batteries, why do they not last?

[Ignoramus30138]

We have a couple of cordless phone systems in the house, a Uniden and
a Panasonic (they all seem very similar).

In all of them, the handset batteries simply do not last. The
replacements last even less.

I would like to know why this is so: are the batteries poorly made, or
are the charging stations overcharging them? What is the story?

Say, the batteries in my Nikon camera last forever and always recharge
very well on the standard Nikon charger. Similarly, the batteries on
my DeWALT drill also last a long time and are not ruined by
recharging. Further, I have seen many cheap cordless drills thrown out
because of ruined batteries.

Lastly, is there a phone system that is made honestly (like my Nikon
camera), with good batteries and smart chargers? I do not mind paying
a significant premium for that.

To me they all seem to be the same, a lot of cheap software "features"
with bad usability, and bad basic qualities like phone durability or
battery lifetime.

Thanks

i

 

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article <9fudnejUCIqDPpbQnZ2dnUVZ_g6dnZ2d@giganews.com>,
Ignoramus30138 <ignoramus30138@NOSPAM.30138.invalid> wrote:

We have a couple of cordless phone systems in the house, a Uniden and
a Panasonic (they all seem very similar).

In all of them, the handset batteries simply do not last. The
replacements last even less.

I would like to know why this is so: are the batteries poorly made, or
are the charging stations overcharging them? What is the story?

Say, the batteries in my Nikon camera last forever and always recharge
very well on the standard Nikon charger. Similarly, the batteries on
my DeWALT drill also last a long time and are not ruined by
recharging. Further, I have seen many cheap cordless drills thrown out
because of ruined batteries.

Lastly, is there a phone system that is made honestly (like my Nikon
camera), with good batteries and smart chargers? I do not mind paying
a significant premium for that.

To me they all seem to be the same, a lot of cheap software "features"
with bad usability, and bad basic qualities like phone durability or
battery lifetime.

I was going to say Panasonic. I've got through several cordless phones
over the years and found Panasonic to be the best in every respect.

Are the batteries always warm? If so it suggests they are being
overcharged.

--
*To err is human. To forgive is against company policy.

Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

 

[mm]

On Fri, 17 Dec 2010 11:51:26 -0600, Ignoramus30138
<ignoramus30138@NOSPAM.30138.invalid> wrote:

We have a couple of cordless phone systems in the house, a Uniden and
a Panasonic (they all seem very similar).

In all of them, the handset batteries simply do not last. The
replacements last even less.

I would like to know why this is so: are the batteries poorly made, or
are the charging stations overcharging them? What is the story?

Say, the batteries in my Nikon camera last forever and always recharge
very well on the standard Nikon charger. Similarly, the batteries on
my DeWALT drill also last a long time and are not ruined by
recharging. Further, I have seen many cheap cordless drills thrown out
because of ruined batteries.

Lastly, is there a phone system that is made honestly (like my Nikon
camera), with good batteries and smart chargers? I do not mind paying
a significant premium for that.

To me they all seem to be the same, a lot of cheap software "features"
with bad usability, and bad basic qualities like phone durability or
battery lifetime.

Thanks

I don't want to hijack your thread, but it seems related.

Why do cordless phones no longer have a switch to turn off the
wireless when you're not talking on the phone. They often have a
swtich for the bell, which makes it even sillier. I can hear the real
phone ring, and I don't need to hear the cordless phone ring, and the
batteries would last 4 to 9 times as long or longer if it didn't drain
the battery sitting there 90% of the time waiting for the phone to
ring. More than 90% since I do most of my calling, answering, and
talking on a wired phone.

It's not in the charger because I took it to the sofa while I watch
tv, or I took it to bed because I need to make a call early in the
morning, and don't want to have to get out of bed to answer it.

 

[D Yuniskis]

Ignoramus30138 wrote:

We have a couple of cordless phone systems in the house, a Uniden and
a Panasonic (they all seem very similar).

In all of them, the handset batteries simply do not last. The
replacements last even less.

I would like to know why this is so: are the batteries poorly made, or
are the charging stations overcharging them? What is the story?

Say, the batteries in my Nikon camera last forever and always recharge
very well on the standard Nikon charger. Similarly, the batteries on
my DeWALT drill also last a long time and are not ruined by
recharging. Further, I have seen many cheap cordless drills thrown out
because of ruined batteries.

I think you will find that the chargers are cooking your batteries.
Do you recharge your cell phone after EVERY call? Do you recharge your
cordless drill after every hole you drill?

Cordless phone bases operate on the premis that they should recharge
the battery each time the phone is re-placed into the cradle.

You can argue that a charger should/could be smarter. But, how do
you balance this against battery running low while you are on the
"next" call?

I.e., *you* assume the responsibility for your cell phone (and drill,
etc.) charging policy. If *you* forget to charge it, you blame
yourself when/if it runs out of charge.

OTOH, if your cordless phone "ran out" during a call because the
cradle opted *not* to top off the battery, you would claim the
charger/phone was the problem. So, it errs on the side of keeping the
battery topped off at all times.

Note that you can take responsibility for your cordless phone's
charging policy -- just don't put it on the cradle until you
*think* it needs more charge...

Lastly, is there a phone system that is made honestly (like my Nikon
camera), with good batteries and smart chargers? I do not mind paying
a significant premium for that.

To me they all seem to be the same, a lot of cheap software "features"
with bad usability, and bad basic qualities like phone durability or
battery lifetime.

I've seen all sorts of cordless phones -- none of which I really
have liked. One feature I now miss is a battery-backed *base*
(the last cordless system had this feature -- you only miss it
when the power fails and you can neither make or receive calls!)

 

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Ignoramus30138:

the handset batteries simply do not last. The
replacements last even less.

How many years did you get out of the originals?

Replacements?

On my Uniden system, bought back in 2001, I got 8 years and six
months out of the originals. Just replaced all of them last
month.
--
PeteCresswell

 

[Ignoramus7337]

On 2010-12-18, (PeteCresswell) <x@y.Invalid> wrote:

Per Ignoramus30138:
the handset batteries simply do not last. The
replacements last even less.

How many years did you get out of the originals?

About 1.5 or 2.

i

Replacements?

On my Uniden system, bought back in 2001, I got 8 years and six
months out of the originals. Just replaced all of them last
month.

 

[BillW50]

In news:iegqeb$v4a$1@speranza.aioe.org,
D Yuniskis typed on Fri, 17 Dec 2010 16:15:47 -0700:
[...]

I've seen all sorts of cordless phones -- none of which I really
have liked. One feature I now miss is a battery-backed *base*
(the last cordless system had this feature -- you only miss it
when the power fails and you can neither make or receive calls!)

I have some VTech phones (about 8 years old) that use the same battery
in the base that the handset uses and they are really easy to swap.
Although LCD screen is unreadable after a year or two. So they were a
great idea up to this point.

But why not do what I do? Just use an UPS (uninterruptedly power supply)
for the base, lights, clocks, computer, etc. that you don't want to shut
down when you lose power. Sure you have to buy them large enough to
power all of the things that you want to run (and probably more than one
for different locations). But the base station would probably run for
days easy even with a smaller modest one. They usually start at around
30 bucks and go up way past tens of thousands of dollars for a whole
house one. But you probably don't want to do the whole house anyway. ;-)

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Centrino Duo 1.83G - 2GB - Windows XP SP3

 

[D Yuniskis]

Hi Bill,

On 12/26/2010 8:24 AM, BillW50 wrote:

I've seen all sorts of cordless phones -- none of which I really
have liked. One feature I now miss is a battery-backed *base*
(the last cordless system had this feature -- you only miss it
when the power fails and you can neither make or receive calls!)

I have some VTech phones (about 8 years old) that use the same battery
in the base that the handset uses and they are really easy to swap.
Although LCD screen is unreadable after a year or two. So they were a
great idea up to this point.

Yes, we had one before (had a little "drawer" in the base that
held the battery pack and kept it charged).

But why not do what I do? Just use an UPS (uninterruptedly power supply)
for the base, lights, clocks, computer, etc. that you don't want to shut
down when you lose power. Sure you have to buy them large enough to
power all of the things that you want to run (and probably more than one
for different locations). But the base station would probably run for
days easy even with a smaller modest one. They usually start at around
30 bucks and go up way past tens of thousands of dollars for a whole
house one. But you probably don't want to do the whole house anyway. ;-)

I have three ~1500VA units in my office area and a couple of
500VA units elsewhere. The phone base is in the kitchen, though.
Putting even one of the *tiniest* UPS's there would be an eyesore.

Power outages here are not common (though the half-second "wink outs"
sometimes are -- at least often enough to warrant the UPS's on
the computers). I suspect we have only had one "long" one (more
than an hour) in ~20 years. It was during this outage that it
dawned on me that we had no phone service because of the
unpowered base! :>

(I dragged an old Trimline corded set out and plugged it into
a walljack to solve that problem)