Error in charging batteries

9 years 4 months ago #417273 by Kelly Lambert
How do you know when your rechargeable AA batteries are no longer good? I have 8 rechargeable AA batteries that I've owned for a couple years.  I've used them nearly the whole time.  They have been sitting in my office drawer uncharged at least 2 or 3 months.  I finally dug out my charger yesterday and started charging all of them.  Well I'm getting half of them that will charge properly and the other 4 will give me a charge error. 

So, how do you know it's the battery vs the charger?  It seems strange that 4 now won't charge. 


Any advice? 

Nikon D700: 50mm, 14-24mm, 85mm, 105mm 70-200mm, 150-500mm (Sigma), SB-900
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9 years 4 months ago #417285 by Don Fischer
No more than AA charger's cost, get a new one and try it. If it's not the charger, throw away the suspect battery's and get new ones. I don't shoot anywhere near as much as the rest of the people on here but I'd still be happy with two years service from a battery. I bought a new charger yesterday that does AA, AAA and 9V. Paid $24 for it. Considering the service life of rechargeable battery's, that's pretty expensive I think.


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9 years 4 months ago #417322 by garyrhook
You do not mention brand nor battery type. Possibly useful pieces of information.

In general...

If you put battery A into the charger, and it charges fine, then put battery B into the same spot and it does not charge, then it's the battery (B).  You can also put battery A where B did not work and see if it charges in that location. This will tell you about the charger.

When a battery will not hold a charge, either sitting idle, or in use, then it has reached the end of its life and should be replaced. It's no different from an alkaline batter in that respect.

Last word: Eneloops.


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9 years 4 months ago #417346 by Joves
:agree:
Yep it is the batteries in that case. That is just the luck of the draw sometimes. Also second Eneloops as well. They hold their charge when not in use for up to a year.


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9 years 4 months ago #417371 by Don Fischer
The instruction's with the new charger say that if the battery's haven't been used for 30 days or more they should be charged to get back to full charge.  ?


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9 years 4 months ago #417386 by Shadowfixer1

Don Fischer wrote: The instruction's with the new charger say that if the battery's haven't been used for 30 days or more they should be charged to get back to full charge.  ?

That's because they lose their charge over time. If you don't charge them and use them, they will be at less than full power and will run down quicker.
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9 years 4 months ago #417426 by Glen Martin
Sounds like the charger has gone on the fritz IMO


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9 years 4 months ago #417445 by Screamin Scott
Use Eneloops & get a good charger (like a Maha).... The Eneloops hold their charge much longer & the better chargers will show remaining power on a battery. Plus, they will charge individual batteries if needed & have a feature that will discharge a battery , if needed, before charging it up... Some batteries require that.... Personally, I'd stay away from the batteries that you see in most stores like Walmart as most are "Rapid chargers" & they tend to shorten the number of recharge cycles a battery will get.

Scott Ditzel Photography

www.flickr.com/photos/screaminscott/

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9 years 4 months ago #417642 by Ben Vanderbilt
After 4 years, had my first Eneloop go bad on me last month


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