Submission + - What to do with 700 used 9V batteries
Dunkirk writes: "At our medium-sized church, we have 7 Shure wireless microphones. Five are newer, SLX-based models, which use 2 AA batteries. Two are older, UC-based models, which use a single 9V. The SLX's are very easy on their batteries. They can go several weeks before needing to be replaced. The UC's only last one week before losing enough voltage that they'll start dropping signal. Now, I don't want to just throw the 9V's in the trash, for fear that their contacts will touch, the batteries will heat up, and they'll cause a fire, so I've collect many hundreds of batteries, all connected in a chain, 2 batteries wide, with all of their opposing contacts connected. (I got my hands across one of those chains once. I'm always cautious around them now...) I thought about recycling them, but the only place I could find wants to charge me about $60/pound for the "privilege." It's been suggested that we could recharge these things with newer, alkaline rechargers, but that idea has a bad reputation from my youth. Have times changed? Can we recharge them, knowing that we need the _voltage_ to drive the signal? (It has to get them back to their 1.5V+ level.) Or is this a waste of time, and someone can point me to a place that actually recycles this stuff, gets some value out of it, and doesn't charge me for that service?"
