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

Q: What are theadvantages 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 havea much higher capacity and are virtually memory free. These batteries do not need to bedischarged every time before recharging. Ni-MH batteries can be damaged from heat byovercharging but this is easily avoided by using a high quality, microprocessor controlledbattery 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 capacityover NiCD battery pack
• Long life, 500-1,000 charge/discharge cycles.
• Light weight
• Environmental friendly
• C/10 Overcharge / reverse polarity protection
• Flatdischarge curve: The battery will remain in full voltage in 80% of the usage

 

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

A1: If you have a slow charger orwall adapter:

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

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

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

• The charge current must be less than 1/10 of thebattery capacity. (i.e.: If your battery pack is 1800mAh, then the maximum charge currentmust not exceed 180mA.  This is also true with our 1300mAH "AA" batterycells, which should not exceed a charge current of 130mA . Exceeding this charging currentor charging any NiMH battery beyond its recommended charge times can shorten its usefullife. 
• The polarity of the charger connector is the same aslabeled 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 withcompatible rapid battery chargers, with proper termination. Check if your charger meet anyof 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 abovetermination methods, our Maha battery packs are equipped with built-in temperature cut-offtermination. Note that once the battery pack temperature rises to 55 degree C, thecharging circuit will be shut-off. BUT after 1-2 hours, the charging circuit will bereactivated, after the temperature drops. It is highly recommended that you usea 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 usuallydifferent on most wall type charges.  The charge rate determines how fast thebatteries are recharged to their useful state. Other chargers have what is known as abattery conditioning cycle and circuitry that shuts the charger off after it determinesthat 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 anduseful life for your rechargeable batteries. 

Q: Do some Chargers charge better thanothers?

A: Actually the answer to is a qualifiedyes.  Most chargers only charge the batteries faster, and faster is not alwaysbetter.  Fast chargers should have a shut off when fully charged and or temperaturecontrol 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 therecommended charge time has been reached as long as the charge rate is 1/10 or less ofbattery capacity.  

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

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

Q: What is the life of a Nickel MetalHydride 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 thecustomer is using a slow charger / wall adapter (Average charge rate: 0.1C), they willhave about 500-1000 charge/discharge cycles (Under best environment variable). Grantedthese are just estimates and your mileage may vary.  But any way you slice it, NiMHbatteries are very cheap alternative to alkaline batteries. 

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

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

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

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

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

Q: Where are these NiMH batteries madefrom?

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

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

A: Our NiMH batteries or battery packs arespecially designed to hold the charge for about 50-60 days. It is much longer than thetraditional 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 ofany equipment we use them in.

Techfacts Q & A#2