Nimh battery type question

"Bill" wrote

Fully charged NiMH and NiCad battery cells should be 1.44v per cell.
Nominal voltage is 1.20v per cell. Depleted cells should read 1.00v per
cell. Going below 1.00v is not healthy and they should never be deep
cycled (fully discharged).

There's absolutely nothing wrong with depleting a NiMH cell fully to 0v. It
will not damage it. People have that mistaken belief, because it *is* true
that you should never fully deplete a NiMH battery made up of more than 1
cell in series. Doing so risks that some of the cells will drain before
others and be "reverse charged". That will damage the weaker cells.

But if your device only uses 1 cell, you can leave it on for weeks and not
risk damaging the cell.

"Bill" wrote

Fully charged NiMH and NiCad battery cells should be 1.44v per cell.
Nominal voltage is 1.20v per cell. Depleted cells should read 1.00v per
cell. Going below 1.00v is not healthy and they should never be deep
cycled (fully discharged).

There's absolutely nothing wrong with depleting a NiMH cell fully to 0v. It
will not damage it. People have that mistaken belief, because it *is* true
that you should never fully deplete a NiMH battery made up of more than 1
cell in series. Doing so risks that some of the cells will drain before
others and be "reverse charged". That will damage the weaker cells.

But if your device only uses 1 cell, you can leave it on for weeks and not
risk damaging the cell.

Bones wrote:

There's absolutely nothing wrong with depleting a NiMH cell fully to 0v. It
will not damage it. People have that mistaken belief, because it *is* true
that you should never fully deplete a NiMH battery made up of more than 1
cell in series. Doing so risks that some of the cells will drain before
others and be "reverse charged". That will damage the weaker cells.

But if your device only uses 1 cell, you can leave it on for weeks and not
risk damaging the cell.

Yes, but how many digital cameras use only one AA cell?

The argument does apply for all those that use two or four cells,
or especially flashlights like maglights that take 2 AAs. If the
cells run down to near zero, then the light is left on the shelf so
that one cell self-discharges to 0V, that cell will be fried when
the person next tries the light.

We've had the argument here before, and people will argue one way or
the other til the cows come home. The person who made the point that
cells are relatively cheap has it right. If it doesn't bother you,
go ahead and do it and if you wind up with a fried cell, you've been
warned but it's not such a big deal.

--
Ken Tough

Bones wrote:

There's absolutely nothing wrong with depleting a NiMH cell fully to 0v. It
will not damage it. People have that mistaken belief, because it *is* true
that you should never fully deplete a NiMH battery made up of more than 1
cell in series. Doing so risks that some of the cells will drain before
others and be "reverse charged". That will damage the weaker cells.

But if your device only uses 1 cell, you can leave it on for weeks and not
risk damaging the cell.

Yes, but how many digital cameras use only one AA cell?

The argument does apply for all those that use two or four cells,
or especially flashlights like maglights that take 2 AAs. If the
cells run down to near zero, then the light is left on the shelf so
that one cell self-discharges to 0V, that cell will be fried when
the person next tries the light.

We've had the argument here before, and people will argue one way or
the other til the cows come home. The person who made the point that
cells are relatively cheap has it right. If it doesn't bother you,
go ahead and do it and if you wind up with a fried cell, you've been
warned but it's not such a big deal.

--
Ken Tough

"Ken Tough" wrote

But if your device only uses 1 cell, you can leave it on for weeks and not
risk damaging the cell.

Yes, but how many digital cameras use only one AA cell?

Bill specifically referred to "cell", not "battery" or "multiple cells". I
do have flashlights that use a single cell, and therefore have no worries
about draining it completely.

If you use cells of the same brand, capacity, and purchase date, you're
probably pretty safe with letting them drain just about completely, even in
a flashlight. i.e., you could leave the flashlight on until it's producing
no light. Those cells will have very similar capacities, and all drain to
near 0v at the same time. (Besides, if one cell is significantly weaker, you
probably want to replace it anyway because it's defective. So who cares
about damaging an already defective cell?)

"Ken Tough" wrote

But if your device only uses 1 cell, you can leave it on for weeks and not
risk damaging the cell.

Yes, but how many digital cameras use only one AA cell?

Bill specifically referred to "cell", not "battery" or "multiple cells". I
do have flashlights that use a single cell, and therefore have no worries
about draining it completely.

If you use cells of the same brand, capacity, and purchase date, you're
probably pretty safe with letting them drain just about completely, even in
a flashlight. i.e., you could leave the flashlight on until it's producing
no light. Those cells will have very similar capacities, and all drain to
near 0v at the same time. (Besides, if one cell is significantly weaker, you
probably want to replace it anyway because it's defective. So who cares
about damaging an already defective cell?)