How to use your NiMH batteries so they last longer

[@albibarti3951]

I recently got a new battery pack/charging station for my Xbox controller, so I checked if I can let it sit overnight, but then I saw this it was a Nimh type battery and I read/watched that it can damage the batteries if I would let them charge at night. It also said in the manual but I wasn’t sure. The reason I am asking this is because I mostly play at night and afternoon, so I usually would let them sit in the charging station. Any help? Thanks!

[@TheTenergybattery]

Hi Albi, we can't give you confident answer since it's not a Tenergy charger product. Generally, you should avoid overcharging the controller if you're trying to maximize the controller's battery lifespan, but even if you do the damage the controller's battery it could be a negligible amount. It's also possible that charger is smart enough to stop charging when the controller is full - that's why, we strongly suggest you try reaching out to the manufacturer of your xbox controller charger, to confirm how much damage is caused by leaving the controller in the charging bay.

[@albibarti3951]

@@TheTenergybattery ok thanks👍

[@12groney]

How hot should my NIMH batteries get during charging? I have the Nuon brand from Batteries Plus with a four hour charger. They get very warm and have a metallic smell while charging. It's supposed to be a smart charger that shuts off at full charge. Is this normal?

[@galaxycaptain672]

A very good presentation - I have rechargeable batteries using a USB cable. The device is working fine now but I use it only once a month. Should I leave the batteries fully charged or let them run down occasionally to maintain their life? Thanks for your time. Ed

[@CatFoodDraino]

As soon as mine are charged, I take them off the charger. If I don’t use them in a month, I pop them back on the charger. My charger also has a discharge function, so I use this every few months to fully discharge and fully charge. I’ve been doing this for years with good results.

[@dragoconte]

i have a doubt, should i fully discharge to 1v my nimh batteries before charging them ? (to increase lifetime?)

[@zachm241]

How do I clean NiMH corrosion from equipment that hasn't been properly maintained?

[@Incommensurabilities]

Thanks for the info. Do NiMH batteries have any kind of memory effects? And is it best to fully cycle the batteries or do they prefer part cycling like Li batteries?

[@TheTenergybattery]

Hi Chris, No, NiMH does not have memory effect and not required to cycle. Generally you will only need to do that for nickel-cadmium based batteries which suffer from a memory effect.

[@jimmybrad156]

If they've been flat (like 0.8v) for a long time then it's worth cycling them a few times. Loosen up a bit more capacity.

[@northwiebesick7136]

So... Am I reading these comments correctly, and is it basically just a good idea to have an advanced smart battery charger, that I would use in the place of the original, for special uses like reconditioning and activating, and use the original charger the rest of the time, or is it not a good idea to use the original charger?(note that I'm not talking a specific charger brand, just what comes with the batteries, Panasonic/eneloop, in my case) also, is this battery care information brand agnostic, or is it basically just for tenergy?

[@jimmybrad156]

@@northwiebesick7136 handy to have a charger like the bt-c3100 for capacity test, cycling and dv/dt charging, but the IKEA 4-slot charger will still do dv/dt charging for 4 independent slots. Personally I decided to spend a little more for the bt-c3100 cause it's still a low price and it's nice to have the capacity test.

[@northwiebesick7136]

@@jimmybrad156 ah, thanks... I was actually looking at a charger that's a BIT more advanced than these kinds of advanced chargers, like the ISDT C4(either Air or Evo model) as it has just the amount of spaces I need, and I prefer a color LCD or phone screen, over those LCD 8 segment displays as shown in this video, mainly because of the whole advanced graphing capabilities, but it's still WAY out there that I really look at something like that, so might still choose something cheaper... Might have to look at the charger model you mentioned and add it to my list of potential candidates... As I've mentioned, I only need 4 slots for my current use case anyway, specifically 2 wireless mic's at the church I volunteer at, and battery maintenance and care information that's easy to understand, is hard to come by outside of this stuff I've seen here from tenergy. Honestly, I wonder why that is, as outside of these, all I've been able to find for competent care instructions are heavily accented videos from "Indian English" as one title called it, speakers... Yes it's serviceable, but these guys, either the real or fake sounding voices, are more understandable to me since I speak "American English"(I'm using the language naming scheme that someone else thought up, in case anyone has problems with it, so don't blame me) I take it, it's a good idea to use batteries as much as possible before charging, without actually running out of juice? I've seen people say that the amount of charging should be kept as minimal as possible to help longevity...

[@victorialee5238]

My cordless phone (landline) uses a nickel metal hydride rechargeable battery. How can I tell if the base prevents overcharging? Is it best to remove the handset from the base once it's fully charged, and not put it back in the base until the battery runs low? Or can I leave the handset in the base all the time when I'm not talking on the phone? I'd appreciate your expert opinion!

[@TheTenergybattery]

Hi Victoria, it's difficult for us to give a clear cut answer here since there are tons of various phone designs.. generally it is a good idea to not put the phone back on the charging base until the battery runs low. In this case we would suggest reaching out the manufacturer of the phone or reviewing their manual for a more precise answer.

[@victorialee5238]

@@TheTenergybattery Thanks for taking the time to respond! I appreciate your help!

[@adid.5585]

I'm in the same situation as you are. I've always kept the DECT phone in its base when it was not in use and, although it "technically" kept charging, I didn't notice anything bad happening to those batteries. As long as the battery gauge shows full, I didn't feel the phone warm to the touch on the battery cover or anything like that. Only if the batteries were discharged and they were legitimately charging, then I would feel a temperature increase, but it never got too hot to the touch that it would make me worried. With such a phone, if the batteries aren't right, I think you should notice the backlight flickering, especially when trying to make phone calls. That's what happens on old cell phones at least, but the situation is worse there because the battery cells are sealed inside a battery pack and it's not very easy to replace them, here one needs the help of a skilled electrician, especially one who worked with cell phone battery packs before and knows how to replace them.

[@sylviesas2992]

Should I charge my led candle batteries when they still have a little charge and are just weak or is it better to let it completely discharged before charging?

[@TheTenergybattery]

Hi Sylvie, it's easy to miss recharging batteries for for LED Candles, so taking them out to charge them now when you notice them weak is more ideal versus running the risk of forgetting (which runs into the issue of over-draining, and this can lead to damaged batteries).

[@sylviesas2992]

@@TheTenergybattery Thank you... very helpful

[@jeromekoay]

Hello, recenetly bought a pack of Tenegy Pro AA NiMh batteries, one of the battery does not reach the full capacity even when on a charger overnight. And the battery is very hot to touch! The other 3 in the pack of 4 charges fully. Would you have an advice on how to solve this issue.

[@TheTenergybattery]

Hi Jerome, please contact our team at [e-mail] and we can help figure out what's going on and how we can fix the issue.

[@masoudbj8916]

What is the difference between full discharge and over discharge?

[@TheTenergybattery]

Nimh batteries are empty when they are discharged to 1V anything beyond that and you're in the over discharged territory.

[@cristiandelvigo6107]

Is completely discharging Ni-MH batteries before recharging them a good or bad thing?

[@TheTenergybattery]

Discharging a Ni-Mh battery before recharging it is fine, just remember to not leave an empty battery inside a device or it can over-discharge which is not good for the battery.

[@cristiandelvigo6107]

@@TheTenergybattery Thanks for the answer but let me explain better because I didn't explain myself well: When the camera turns off because the batteries are exhausted (exhausted for the camera), I take out the batteries and connect them to a small incandescent light bulb and I leave them connected until the light goes out completely, then I recharge them. Is it correct or is it better to recharge the batteries as soon as I take them out of the camera without completely discharging them with the light bulb method?

[@adid.5585]

What can I do if the cell phone I use, although it has a technically new NiMH battery pack, when it tries to make phone calls or search for network, the backlight starts flickering and the phone shuts off after a couple of seconds, even if the battery is fully charged. The device stays on only if it is in stand-by mode or I perform non-network-straining activities on it. I think this is a drop in the battery's voltage, but I'm not sure, I'm no electrician. How can I fix these voltage drops on the battery pack? Or is this fixable?

[@R3cce]

Bruh what kind of a phone uses a nimh battery. 99% of the phones on the market come with li ion or li polymer batteries.

[@adid.5585]

@@R3cce This answer is not helping. I wanted a practical answer strictly related to the battery, not a troll message.

[@R3cce]

@@adid.5585 I’m not trolling. I’m just surprised that you still get phones with nimh batteries. The issues you are facing might be due to 2 reasons. The battery itself is faulty or the battery is not making good contact. That’s all i can think of.

[@adid.5585]

@@R3cce All good then. The way you wrote the comment made it sound like you're trolling. I'm talking about old cell phones, from 1998 to 2002. Some lower end models still used NiMH Batteries in 2002. The phenomenon that I'm trying to understand is how can a new battery, that has not been used before and was charged correctly on its first use, show signs of low voltage like backlight flickering and sudden shut-offs even with a full charge. I have to turn on the phone without a SIM card in order for it to stay on, meaning no network activity. I can't find anything online on the topic, so I'm asking the experts.

[@mrheart1139]

Can I use nimh in smoke detector and how last long?

[@TheTenergybattery]

NiMH will likely work, but the run time won't compare to alkaline or lithium 9 volt batteries. Also, a NiMH in a smoke detector will likely need to be recharged frequently throughout the year. Feel free to reach out to use direct at [e-mail] if you're looking for suggestions on which 9V batter is ideal for a smoke detector.

[@Afrocanuk]

My question is: Can a NiCd battery fast charger be used for NiMH batteries of the same power rating?

[@TheTenergybattery]

If the charger is for NiCD batteries only, no it cannot be used to charge NiMH batteries. A NiMH charger can do both NiCD and NiMH. We recommend for you to check with the charger's manufacturer to confirm if it can support both. If you're unsure, feel free to reach out to our team at [e-mail] with a photo of your charger and we can help confirm.

[@Afrocanuk]

@@TheTenergybattery Thanks!

[@Fakgcz]

Dobrý den, potřeboval bych prosím video v češtině.

[@vegetablepolice1]

I have the same charger it's need to put out higher amprige so that rechargeable c and d batterys can charge faster man

[@pieinthesky4106]

All good info.

[@richardyao9012]

Isn’t humidity in a refrigerator lower than outside the refrigerator? Also, the cold reduces the self discharge rate. I have only ever stored alkaline, nicd, lithium and lithium ion batteries in a refrigerator, so I have not tried NiMH in a refrigerator yet, but I imagine it would be nothing but beneficial. I did store my nicd batteries in a ziplock bag, but I doubt it matters.

[@mutantbaby1672]

I used to store rechargables in the freezer. lol

[@zuneid375]

You will ruin it

[@R3cce]

Heres an easy way to test if a nimh is dead or fully charged. Use a multimeter to check the voltage. 1,4 volt is fully charged. 1,3 volt is half way charged and 1 volt is dead.

[@udance4ever]

wow - this is really great educational video. thanks for putting aside the shill! :)

[@Betonoszlop]

My batteries will never reach their maximum cycles since they are being dropped regularly

[@antekaramatic3382]

😎