Storing rechargeable batteries

[Ken Weitzel]

Hi...

Gosh, I'd really suggest NOT throwing NiMh's in your pocket!!!

Was outside taking pictures of flowers, grand kids decided to
ride their bikes to the park. Wanted to go with them, so
put the 4 spares I had outside with me in my (reasonably
tight) jeans pocket. Figured there was no way they could
arrange themselves in a way to short any of 'em.

Was terribly terribly wrong. One of the batt's had a
tiny flaw in the plastic wrap near the pos terminal, it
shorted and I would have sworn my pants were on fire.

Awfully hot, awfully painful. And to add insult to injury
permanently ruined the battery too

Please be careful.

Ken

Dave Cohen wrote:

Thousands if not millions of rechargeable batteries are in use. My
completely uneducated guess is that the writer of the article you quote plus
a couple of his close friends and confidants carefully store their
rechargeables upright. The rest of us (thousands if not millions), just
throw in them in their pockets, camera bags, whatever, so I wouldn't lose
any sleep over it.
Dave Cohen

"Top Spin" <ToppSpin@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:j8jouv4p9nf77jfdql8lbeu23biiiro89p@4ax.com...

On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 15:36:23 -0500, Alan Browne
alan.browne@FreeLunchVideotron.ca> wrote:


Cool dry place, upright (+ve terminal up) so the vents operate
correctly. Somebody (Al Jacobs?) suggested boring .410 holes in a piece
of wood to hold thems ecurely upright.

In a camera bag, strap 4 batteries together with a an elastic band and
find a pocket that will ensure the batteries are +ve terminal up as much
as possible.

I have never heard of this. Does it really make a big difference which
direction the batteries are oriented? Is this just for rechargeables?

If this were a big factor, I would think that manufacturers of
battery-operated equipment (such as cameras) would have the battery
housings oriented so the batteries are ALL pointing up, rather than
alternating up and down as most do.

--
Using an Olympus C-700 Ultra Zoom
Running Win2K SR-1
For email, use Usenet-20031220 at spamex.com

 

[Top Spin]

On Fri, 26 Dec 2003 20:06:35 GMT, Ken Weitzel <kweitzel@shaw.ca>
wrote:

Hi...

Gosh, I'd really suggest NOT throwing NiMh's in your pocket!!!

Was outside taking pictures of flowers, grand kids decided to
ride their bikes to the park. Wanted to go with them, so
put the 4 spares I had outside with me in my (reasonably
tight) jeans pocket. Figured there was no way they could
arrange themselves in a way to short any of 'em.

Was terribly terribly wrong. One of the batt's had a
tiny flaw in the plastic wrap near the pos terminal, it
shorted and I would have sworn my pants were on fire.

Awfully hot, awfully painful.

Why was it hot? Did it leak chemicals? It couldn't have been the
electricity, could it?

And to add insult to injury permanently ruined the battery too

But no permanent damage to the jeans or the leg?

--
Using an Olympus C-700 Ultra Zoom
Running Win2K SR-1
For email, use Usenet-20031220 at spamex.com

 

[imbsysop]

"Top Spin" <ToppSpin@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:td7puvsid5vurdqsr6nhkmt347g87bogic@4ax.com...

On Fri, 26 Dec 2003 20:06:35 GMT, Ken Weitzel <kweitzel@shaw.ca
wrote:

Hi...

Gosh, I'd really suggest NOT throwing NiMh's in your pocket!!!

Was outside taking pictures of flowers, grand kids decided to
ride their bikes to the park. Wanted to go with them, so
put the 4 spares I had outside with me in my (reasonably
tight) jeans pocket. Figured there was no way they could
arrange themselves in a way to short any of 'em.

Was terribly terribly wrong. One of the batt's had a
tiny flaw in the plastic wrap near the pos terminal, it
shorted and I would have sworn my pants were on fire.

Awfully hot, awfully painful.

Why was it hot? Did it leak chemicals? It couldn't have been the
electricity, could it?

a short on a 2.1A battery ever imagined how hot that goes ?

 

[Ken Weitzel]

Hi...


imbsysop wrote:

"Top Spin" <ToppSpin@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:td7puvsid5vurdqsr6nhkmt347g87bogic@4ax.com...

On Fri, 26 Dec 2003 20:06:35 GMT, Ken Weitzel <kweitzel@shaw.ca
wrote:


Hi...

Gosh, I'd really suggest NOT throwing NiMh's in your pocket!!!

Was outside taking pictures of flowers, grand kids decided to
ride their bikes to the park. Wanted to go with them, so
put the 4 spares I had outside with me in my (reasonably
tight) jeans pocket. Figured there was no way they could
arrange themselves in a way to short any of 'em.

Was terribly terribly wrong. One of the batt's had a
tiny flaw in the plastic wrap near the pos terminal, it
shorted and I would have sworn my pants were on fire.

Awfully hot, awfully painful.

Why was it hot? Did it leak chemicals? It couldn't have been the
electricity, could it?


a short on a 2.1A battery ever imagined how hot that goes ?


Hot enough to blister my leg....

Another thought I should have mentioned the first time
around...

Please, please, please don't let youngsters use them in
their toys... putting them in backward would be terrible.

Store them out of reach. Fooling with them along with
a set of keys; a piece of holiday tinsel, anything
conductive could be disastrous.

Take care.

Ken

 

[Dave Martindale]

Top Spin <ToppSpin@hotmail.com> writes:

In a camera bag, strap 4 batteries together with a an elastic band and
find a pocket that will ensure the batteries are +ve terminal up as much
as possible.

I have never heard of this. Does it really make a big difference which
direction the batteries are oriented? Is this just for rechargeables?

Ordinary alkaline or NiMH batteries are supposed to be sealed in normal
operation. Thus, it doesn't matter what orientation they are used or
stored in. If the vent leaks, position might matter, but in that case
you've got a damaged battery that will eventually fail.

Dave

 

[Dave Martindale]

"imbsysop" <imbsysop@yahoo.com> writes:

a short on a 2.1A battery ever imagined how hot that goes ?

It is not a "2.1 A battery". The battery is rated for about 2 Amp-Hours
of capacity, meaning it can deliver 2 amps for an hour, or 1/2 amp for 4
hours, etc. But the rating tells you nothing about peak output current.

If you short an AA-sized NiMh cell, the current can easily be more than
10 A. That's enough to make an external current conductor hot. It's
also possible to damage the battery internally.

Dave

 

[Ron Hunter]

Dave Cohen wrote:

Thousands if not millions of rechargeable batteries are in use. My
completely uneducated guess is that the writer of the article you quote plus
a couple of his close friends and confidants carefully store their
rechargeables upright. The rest of us (thousands if not millions), just
throw in them in their pockets, camera bags, whatever, so I wouldn't lose
any sleep over it.
Dave Cohen

"Top Spin" <ToppSpin@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:j8jouv4p9nf77jfdql8lbeu23biiiro89p@4ax.com...

On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 15:36:23 -0500, Alan Browne
alan.browne@FreeLunchVideotron.ca> wrote:


Cool dry place, upright (+ve terminal up) so the vents operate
correctly. Somebody (Al Jacobs?) suggested boring .410 holes in a piece
of wood to hold thems ecurely upright.

In a camera bag, strap 4 batteries together with a an elastic band and
find a pocket that will ensure the batteries are +ve terminal up as much
as possible.

I have never heard of this. Does it really make a big difference which
direction the batteries are oriented? Is this just for rechargeables?

If this were a big factor, I would think that manufacturers of
battery-operated equipment (such as cameras) would have the battery
housings oriented so the batteries are ALL pointing up, rather than
alternating up and down as most do.

--
Using an Olympus C-700 Ultra Zoom
Running Win2K SR-1
For email, use Usenet-20031220 at spamex.com



Dave,

Speaking from unpleasant experience, it is very unwise to put a NIMH
battery (or Lithium) in a pocket unless the terminals are safely
covered. They can come in contact with coins or keys and complete a
short circuit resulting in excessive (and uncomfortable) heating of the
battery and could cause a bad case of 'hot pants'. Doesn't do the
battery any good either...

 

[Ron Hunter]

Dave Martindale wrote:

"imbsysop" <imbsysop@yahoo.com> writes:


a short on a 2.1A battery ever imagined how hot that goes ?


It is not a "2.1 A battery". The battery is rated for about 2 Amp-Hours
of capacity, meaning it can deliver 2 amps for an hour, or 1/2 amp for 4
hours, etc. But the rating tells you nothing about peak output current.

If you short an AA-sized NiMh cell, the current can easily be more than
10 A. That's enough to make an external current conductor hot. It's
also possible to damage the battery internally.

Dave

It is certainly enough to make the battery hot. Believe me!

 

[imbsysop]

"Dave Martindale" <davem@cs.ubc.ca> wrote in message
news:bsje6d$qpf$1@nntp.itservices.ubc.ca...

"imbsysop" <imbsysop@yahoo.com> writes:

a short on a 2.1A battery ever imagined how hot that goes ?

It is not a "2.1 A battery". The battery is rated for about 2 Amp-Hours
of capacity,

correct .. my typo .. to the indulgant understander it was meant to be A/h

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Ron Hunter wrote:

Dave,
Speaking from unpleasant experience, it is very unwise to put a NIMH
battery (or Lithium) in a pocket unless the terminals are safely
covered. They can come in contact with coins or keys and complete a
short circuit resulting in excessive (and uncomfortable) heating of the
battery and could cause a bad case of 'hot pants'. Doesn't do the
battery any good either...

Cops in a couple towns in SW Ohio used to carry spare bullets in
their pants pocket. They would carry a spare battery pack for their
handheld radio in another pocket. One idiot forgot he had bullets in the
pocket he dropped his battery pack in. A couple minutes later a round
went off and took a chunk of flesh with it.

Needless to say, a policy change was made, right away.
--
Merry Christmas!

Take care, and God bless.
Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

 

[Dave Martindale]

Ron Hunter <rphunter@charter.net> writes:

It is certainly enough to make the battery hot. Believe me!

Yes, indeed. It was only imbsysop's explanation that was wrong.

Dave

 

[Dave Martindale]

"imbsysop" <imbsysop@yahoo.com> writes:

correct .. my typo .. to the indulgant understander it was meant to be A/h

The pedantic observer of scientific units (where I think pedantry is a
virtue) will note that A/h means amperes per hour (amperes divided by
hours), a rather strange unit for measuring the rate of change of
current. It's not useful for measuring battery capacity.

Battery capacity is measured in A-h or Ah, with is amperes multiplied by
hours, which is a measure of the total number of electrons that can be
delivered by the battery. It *is* useful.

It's like reading your electric meter. The amount of power you've used
is measured in kilowatt-hours, thousands of watts times hours. Your
current instantaneous consumption is measured in just plain watts or
kilowatts. Kilowatts per hour is pretty nearly meaningless in this
context.

Dave

 

[imbsysop]

"Dave Martindale" <davem@cs.ubc.ca> wrote in message
news:bslff4$me4$1@nntp.itservices.ubc.ca...

"imbsysop" <imbsysop@yahoo.com> writes:

correct .. my typo .. to the indulgant understander it was meant to be
A/h


The pedantic observer of scientific units (where I think pedantry is a
virtue) will note that A/h means amperes per hour (amperes divided by
hours), a rather strange unit for measuring the rate of change of
current. It's not useful for measuring battery capacity.

correcting a typo with a typo .. it happens you know ..
ever considered that possibility ?