How to store NiCd batteries up to a year.

[Tibur Waltson]

I have many laptop and camera NiCd batteries that I charge and stash
away. When I come back to use them half a year later they have no
life. I recharge them, stash them away and they have no power again
six months later. Will I kill my batteries by doing this to them? What
happens if I completely drain them with a light bulb and stash them
away for a year?
TIA, Tibur

 

[Keith R. Williams]

In article <2df428ff701d0d47b97fc22c3d748eca@news.bubbanews.com>,
Toush@hi.com says...

I have many laptop and camera NiCd batteries that I charge and stash
away. When I come back to use them half a year later they have no
life. I recharge them, stash them away and they have no power again
six months later. Will I kill my batteries by doing this to them? What
happens if I completely drain them with a light bulb and stash them
away for a year?

If you don't need them, simply let them self-discharge. NiCds like to
be stored in the discharged state, but there is no reason for you to do
it. They're capable of discharging themselves. ;-)

--
Keith

 

[DarkMatter]

On Fri, 09 Jan 2004 14:26:23 GMT, "Tibur Waltson" <Toush@hi.com> Gave
us:

I have many laptop and camera NiCd batteries that I charge and stash
away. When I come back to use them half a year later they have no
life. I recharge them, stash them away and they have no power again
six months later. Will I kill my batteries by doing this to them? What
happens if I completely drain them with a light bulb and stash them
away for a year?
TIA, Tibur

Depending on temperature, they will lose charge over time.

They don't lose capacity and merely need to be recharged.

"Charge and stash away" doesn't work. You have to top 'em off every
other month. Some more.

You should use NiMH in your camera. Much better performer likely.

Still loses charge over time and temperature though.

 

[Bob Myers]

"Tibur Waltson" <Toush@hi.com> wrote in message
news:2df428ff701d0d47b97fc22c3d748eca@news.bubbanews.com...

I have many laptop and camera NiCd batteries that I charge and stash
away. When I come back to use them half a year later they have no
life. I recharge them, stash them away and they have no power again
six months later. Will I kill my batteries by doing this to them? What
happens if I completely drain them with a light bulb and stash them
away for a year?

NiCds can be stored in any state of charge, but they WILL
self-discharge and need to be recharged again before use
after a long idle period. Just don't OVER-charge them., as this
leads to the voltage depression phenomenon that is often
mistakenly referred to as "memory."

Intentionally draining a NiCd BATTERY (i.e., more than a
single cell in series) through an external load below a certain point
(as specified by the manufacturer, but usually the do-not-go-below
limit is somewhere around 0.6V/cell or so) is NOT recommended,
as it can lead to reverse-charging of one or more cells
in the battery, which in turn can seriously damage that cell.


Bob M.

 

[Ian Stirling]

DarkMatter <DarkMatter@thebarattheendoftheuniverse.org> wrote:

On Fri, 09 Jan 2004 14:26:23 GMT, "Tibur Waltson" <Toush@hi.com> Gave
us:

I have many laptop and camera NiCd batteries that I charge and stash
away. When I come back to use them half a year later they have no
life. I recharge them, stash them away and they have no power again
six months later. Will I kill my batteries by doing this to them? What

Stick them in the fridge in a baggie, to greatly slow charge loss.

Depending on temperature, they will lose charge over time.

They don't lose capacity and merely need to be recharged.

"Charge and stash away" doesn't work. You have to top 'em off every
other month. Some more.

You should use NiMH in your camera. Much better performer likely.

Still loses charge over time and temperature though.

Several times faster than NiCd.

 

[Fritz Schlunder]

"Ian Stirling" <root@mauve.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:JPALb.12503$tQ6.303660@wards.force9.net...

You should use NiMH in your camera. Much better performer likely.

Still loses charge over time and temperature though.

Several times faster than NiCd.

Not necessarily. Not all NiMH cells are designed alike. The same is also
true of NiCd batteries. See the graph under the section titled "Storage
characteristics" of this document:

http://www.panasonic.com/industrial/battery/oem/images/pdf/Panasonic_NiMH_Overview.pdf

I've got some 1450mA 'AA' Sanyo NiMH cells I stored in a flashlight for
almost exactly one year in my car. After removing them I found they still
retained an estimated 400mAh of capacity. I live in Phoenix, Arizona so
heat was most certainly present for much of that storage period.