Nickel Metal Hydride ( NiMH )  Battery Pack & Batteries Q & A #1

Q: What are the advantages of the Nickel Metal Hydride batteries or packs?

A: Ni-MH (Nickel Metal Hydride) batteries are fast becoming the most popular choice of digital camera users, photgraphers,cellular phone and laptop users, and many others because these batteries have a much higher capacity and are virtually memory free. These batteries do not need to be discharged every time before recharging. Ni-MH batteries can be damaged from heat by overcharging but this is easily avoided by using a high quality, microprocessor controlled battery charger or a charger designed for Ni-MH batteries and charging as directed.

• No memory effect like Ni-CD batteries.
• Higher capacity, smaller size! 50-100% increase in capacity over NiCD battery pack
• Long life, 500-1,000 charge/discharge cycles.
• Light weight
• Environmental friendly
• C/10 Overcharge / reverse polarity protection
• Flat discharge curve: The battery will remain in full voltage in 80% of the usage

 

Q: Can the NiMH batteries or battery packs work with the charger from radio manufacturer?

A1: If you have a slow charger or wall adapter:

Our Maha Ni-MH batteries or battery packs can work with slow charger/wall adapter, or any charging method with a charge rate less than C/10 or 1/10 of battery capacity. Batteries can be continuously overcharged, at C/10 or lower charge rate. This battery also has chemical built-in reverse polarity protection. Also observe the following while using a wall adapter:    WALL TYPE 4 CELL NiMH/NiCAD CHARGER

• If the wall charger / trickle charger goes through the radio, be sure the radio is OFF during the charging.

• If the wall charger goes DIRECTLY to the battery pack, please also administer the following:

• The charge current must be less than 1/10 of the battery capacity. (i.e.: If your battery pack is 1800mAh, then the maximum charge current must not exceed 180mA.  This is also true with our 1300mAH "AA" battery cells, which should not exceed a charge current of 130mA . Exceeding this charging current or charging any NiMH battery beyond its recommended charge times can shorten its useful life. 
• The polarity of the charger connector is the same as labeled on the battery pack casing, or charging socket protective rubber.

A2: If you have a rapid charger:

Our Maha NiMH batteries or battery packs will work with compatible rapid battery chargers, with proper termination. Check if your charger meet any of the termination methods:

• Temperature Cut-off termination
• Negative Delta V termination, with 10-15 mV per cell
• Peak Voltage Cut-off

If the battery charger does not meet any of the above termination methods, our Maha battery packs are equipped with built-in temperature cut-off termination. Note that once the battery pack temperature rises to 55 degree C, the charging circuit will be shut-off. BUT after 1-2 hours, the charging circuit will be reactivated, after the temperature drops. It is highly recommended that you use a regular slow charger or wall adapter or use a Maha NiMH / NiCD Charging System.

Q: Are all NiMH chargers the same ?

A: No. First the charge rate is usually different on most wall type charges.  The charge rate determines how fast the batteries are recharged to their useful state. Other chargers have what is known as a battery conditioning cycle and circuitry that shuts the charger off after it determines that the batteries have been recharged to their full potential like our MAHA-MH-C204F or the MAHA C-777 charger.  This helps to assure a long and useful life for your rechargeable batteries. 

Q: Do some Chargers charge better than others?

A: Actually the answer to is a qualified yes.  Most chargers only charge the batteries faster, and faster is not always better.  Fast chargers should have a shut off when fully charged and or temperature control circuitry for preventing batteries from overcharging.  Our MAHA WALL Charger is rated at 80mA , and at this charge current, there is little danger of damage from overcharging our NiMH Batteries in case you forget to remove them from the charger once the recommended charge time has been reached as long as the charge rate is 1/10 or less of battery capacity.  

Q: Do I need to allow the batteries to fully charge in the charger before I use them?

A: Absolutely not!  You can remove the batteries from the charger at any time and recharge them at any time. That is what is great about our NiMH batteries. No Memory Effect.  Of course you will not get as much usage out of your batteries when they are not fully charged, but in a pinch it is nice to know that you can do it with no adverse effects or problems.

Q: What is the life of a Nickel Metal Hydride battery or battery pack?

A: If the customer is using a rapid charger (Average charge rate: 1C), they can have about 450-600 charge/discharge cycles. If the customer is using a slow charger / wall adapter (Average charge rate: 0.1C), they will have about 500-1000 charge/discharge cycles (Under best environment variable). Granted these are just estimates and your mileage may vary.  But any way you slice it, NiMH batteries are very cheap alternative to alkaline batteries. 

We do have to admit that many people have become way too concerned with the technical aspects of NiMH batteries, which in our opinion is a waste of time. Which battey is best , which battery lasts longer, etc....    When was the last time you were in a store and you heard some one asking for detailed information about which alkaline battery is best, which battery lasts longer ?    Even though they were about top pay $5.00 for 4 "' AA " alkaline batteries and then just throw them away when they were completely run down.     Yet now when they can purchase a set of 4 NiMH rechargeable batteries for About $ 10.00 to $15.00 on average, and considering they will effectively replace 500 to 1000 sets of alkaline batteries, saving Thousands of dollars in batteries, what else do they need to know.      

Your Choices when buying your batteries for your New Digital Camera during its useful lifetime. 

1. Purchase 500 packs of  4 "AA" Alkaline Batteries at your local discount store at about $4.00 a pack and get maybe 15 to 30 pictures per pack. That equals $2000.00 plus tax.
   
   or
   
2. Purchase 4 NEXcell 1350 mAH NiMH Batteries and a MAHA-MH-2A4 wall charger at about $20.00 plus shipping and then recharge them 500 to 1000 times and get in the excess of 100 or more pictures per charge, thus saving over $2000.00 to $4000.00 or more in batteries, tax, and of course any gas used by your vehicle to drive back and forth while hauling all those batteries.

Q: Since the capacity is higher, is the case also larger?

A: No. Due to NiMH technology, our batteries or battery packs have higher energy density, which means we can fit more capacity in the same size. Some models are even smaller than original manufacturer.

Q: Where are these NiMH batteries made from?

A: Maha NiMH battery packs are assembled by Maha Manufacture Group using state of art hardware, and engineering team. Battery Packs and individual cells are made by GPi® Battery (Golden Peak International®), Toshiba ®, and Panasonic® and of course NEXcell ®.  All of Maha battery cells are professionally matched prior to assembly.

Q: How long will the battery or battery pack loose its charge, if I don’t use it?

A: Our NiMH batteries or battery packs are specially designed to hold the charge for about 50-60 days. It is much longer than the traditional Nickel Metal Hydride batteries(About 30 days for traditional one).   However we always top our batteries off prior to any use to insure quality operation of any equipment we use them in.

Techfacts Q & A #2