Comment Re:A few tips (Score 1) 896
One important tip. Devices made with alkaline batteries in mind expect a nominal voltage of 1.5V. Many of them don't have a DC-DC voltage converter which means that if you put NiMH cells in them they will think they are partially discharged. NiMH cells have nominal voltage of 1.2V.
So if your device shuts off at 1.15V, which for an alkaline cell would indicate "empty", your NimH cell would still have plenty juice remaining. This of course means that for some devices, you won't be able to use all the energy stored in a NiMH cell.
My NEX-II mp3 player has this problem. Supposedly the newer model called NEX-IIe doesn't.
Battery Palm Pilots can be told what cells they have in 'em.
With flashlights it won't matter much except they will be significantly dimmer. Check this out: I=V/R, P=V*I so: Power P=V*V/R.
For 1.5V: P=2.25/R
For 1.2V: P=1.44/R
Which means that fresh alkalines will be 56% brighter than freshly charged NimH cells, but due to their discharge characteristics they will drop voltage much more than NiMHs will.
Summary: If your device can work/tolerate voltages down to 1.05V per cell, then the only difference between alkaline and nimh will be increased usage times.
So if your device shuts off at 1.15V, which for an alkaline cell would indicate "empty", your NimH cell would still have plenty juice remaining. This of course means that for some devices, you won't be able to use all the energy stored in a NiMH cell.
My NEX-II mp3 player has this problem. Supposedly the newer model called NEX-IIe doesn't.
Battery Palm Pilots can be told what cells they have in 'em.
With flashlights it won't matter much except they will be significantly dimmer. Check this out: I=V/R, P=V*I so: Power P=V*V/R.
For 1.5V: P=2.25/R
For 1.2V: P=1.44/R
Which means that fresh alkalines will be 56% brighter than freshly charged NimH cells, but due to their discharge characteristics they will drop voltage much more than NiMHs will.
Summary: If your device can work/tolerate voltages down to 1.05V per cell, then the only difference between alkaline and nimh will be increased usage times.
