How do you know when your rechargeables are old&tired and need changing?

[cornholio223]

+1. The ZTS MBT-1 is £70 here! Given that all my li-ion lights are single cell, I can't justify that price just to test a few li-ions. If I really want to test them, I'll rig two DMMs and a load up and do some maths for half that price.

I would love to see this test rig and hear a little more theory on this idea. you would be testing the mah of the battery correct? I am very new to batterys and lights but my understanding is : you would rig the battery in series with a ammeter and a load and then use the second meter to see when you hit a threshold voltage.(as to not over-discharge a lithium cell) You would time this to see how long it took for the battery to go from fully charged to "empty" and then just "math it out" to find the mah. Correct?

 

[gravelmonkey]

I would love to see this test rig and hear a little more theory on this idea. you would be testing the mah of the battery correct? I am very new to batterys and lights but my understanding is : you would rig the battery in series with a ammeter and a load and then use the second meter to see when you hit a threshold voltage.(as to not over-discharge a lithium cell) You would time this to see how long it took for the battery to go from fully charged to "empty" and then just "math it out" to find the mah. Correct?

Yeah, something like that to work out capacity of secondary cells to allow them to be safely used in series BUT Im not an electrical whiz so I was going to follow a tutorial I had found here. Doesn't seem to be there any more, though it is quite possible I imagined the whole thing....

 

[N_N_R]

Today I found one of my rechargeables........ rattle when you shake it. I mean, literally, no kidding. It rattles when you shake it. Have you had any such battery issues? lol. I posted this on another forum already, one person advised me not to use the battery. It still works, though. It's a Tronic AA and It's hardly had even 5 cycles of recharging, more likely 2-3. Anyway, I don't care as much as to give details about my charger, for how long it charges, etc. I'm only interested if you've had any rattling/noise producing batteries when shaken ?! Wtf?!

 

[SilverFox]

Hello N N R,

Since anything rattling inside a cell may cause a short circuit, it is probably best to recycle it. When fully charged and shorted nickle chemistry can produce a lot of heat and blow apart.

If you are curious you can take the cell outside and make an attempt to dismantle it and find out the cause of the rattle.

Tom

 

[N_N_R]

Hello N N R,

Since anything rattling inside a cell may cause a short circuit, it is probably best to recycle it. When fully charged and shorted nickle chemistry can produce a lot of heat and blow apart.

If you are curious you can take the cell outside and make an attempt to dismantle it and find out the cause of the rattle.

Tom

Okay, since another person's advising me to get rid of it, I guess I'll have to do it... As for dismantling, I've never done it, will see if I'll manage, lol.

 

[cckw]

Okay, since another person's advising me to get rid of it, I guess I'll have to do it... As for dismantling, I've never done it, will see if I'll manage, lol.

use eye protection

 

[N_N_R]

use eye protection

Yeah, thanks. I haven't gotten down to doing it yet, though.

 

[N_N_R]

Okay, now yet another, Tronic rechargeable, but now an AAA battery, has started rattling when shaken, too *crazy* wtf.

 

[gravelmonkey]

Okay, now yet another, Tronic rechargeable, but now an AAA battery, has started rattling when shaken, too *crazy* wtf.

Sounds stupid but I've seen it happen before, you sure its not something around your wrist making the noise?

 

[N_N_R]

Sounds stupid but I've seen it happen before, you sure its not something around your wrist making the noise?

Yeah, a mysteriously occurring noise which disappears when I do it with other batteries but comes back with the two "speacial" Tronics ....

 

[RWeis]

I am new to Li-ion cells, but since it is a chemical reaction when charging I thought it would be a good idea to use an IR gun to measure the heat generated during charging, and that might provide me a guideline when a cell is not performing correctly during charge.

I know that different cells might be more or less discharged, but the charging cycle should be primarily longer and NOT hotter.

Thoughts about using an IR gun to tell you when a cell is not charging properly and is a candidate for disposal?

Bob Weis