Rechargable batteries and information

Why "hybrid" then, usually means a mixture of techniques or technologies, much like this
random cross-post

 

(17/06/10 15:35), Brian Gregory [UK]:

Seconded. I have a Kodak digital camera that was particularly fussy
about rechargeable batteries.
It annoyed me so much I went to the lengths to hack the camera firmware
and tamper with the low voltage trigger points.
The camera runs on two AA batteries. The warning trigger point was set
at 2.78V, and the shutdown point was at 2.50. That means 1.25V per
battery. I mean, 1.25V!!!
And - by the way - since when is the voltage of a battery an indication
of the residual power in it?
I have lowered the thresholds to 2.5V and 2.2V three years ago, and is
running fine, even using the flash. Not a corrupted picture, NOTHING.
In fact, I have the proof the camera manufacturers purposely keep the
threshold high to sell you their specific (and hugely expensive) custom
battery packs. I got one to sample it, and the output voltage - fresh
out of the box - was 3.89V. Almost one volt over the standard.
All devices that are built to use rechargeable batteries, and declare
they accept rechargeable batteries in their literature, must be
engineered and built with a 1.2V per unit target.
A NiMH battery at 1.0V has a massive amount of energy left in it, so the
device MUST adapt and accept lower voltages to squeeze every ounce of
energy out of the battery.
In the light of the new "green this and that" I would vouch to declare
illegal any device that doesn't follow this sensible and proper guidelines.
If a device you buy doesn't use energy efficiently, get your money back
and let the company know you find their products and standards of
manufacturing not acceptable, that what I did with Kodak.
Although you might think "They're a giant, they don't care", I can tell
you THEY DO. A LOT. they're particularly twitchy in these days if you
hit the "green" button with customer relations.

--
Bodincus - The Y2K Druid
************************
Law 42 on computing:
Anything that could fail, will break at the worst possible mom%*= [email protected]@
# Access Violation - Core dumped
# Kernel Panic

 

[/QUOTE]

Marketing. It combines the rechargability of rechargables with
the long shelf-life of ordinary batteries. That's close enough to
"hybrid" for a marketroid.

-- Richard

 

If you use alkaline batteries, just keep the 'exhausted' ones and put them
in something else.

I find they run a quartz analogue clock for six months.

 

http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/97133.pdf

MBQ

 

(18/06/10 11:17), Man at B&Q:

A) That's for alkaline batteries, not rechargeables, and we know the
pattern is massively different. Rechargeables have a voltage peak at the
beginning, then they settle to an average for longer than normal
batteries, then they fall sharply (sharper than that graphs).

B) However, that proves my point. The relationship between voltage and
residual power is non-linear, and the residual power inside the battery
- whatever type it is - is not related to the voltage between the dipoles.

So WHY the devices are still using voltage as a value to measure if a
battery is still delivering the needed power?

BTW, just curious... what MBQ stand for? MegaBecquerel? ;-)

--
Bodincus - The Y2K Druid
************************
Law 42 on computing:
Anything that could fail, will break at the worst possible mom%*= [email protected]@
# Access Violation - Core dumped
# Kernel Panic

 

Correct

and the residual power inside the battery

Because it works.

 

What else could they measure?

 

^^^^^^^^^^

Man at B&Q?

or is that too obvious?

 

weight. E=mc^2 and all that ;-) ;-)

 

(18/06/10 13:52), Brian Gregory [UK]:

And a static threshold below which the device spits them out is a
correct implementation of the non-linear relationship between the
voltage and the residual power available from a rechargeable cell?

No, it isn't. It's plain lazy, pitiful and shameful for third millennium
engineering.

--
Bodincus - The Y2K Druid
************************
Law 42 on computing:
Anything that could fail, will break at the worst possible mom%*= [email protected]@
# Access Violation - Core dumped
# Kernel Panic

 

(18/06/10 13:58), Chris Blunt:

During idle time, small bursts through a fixed resistance circuit to
measure both voltage (and its drop under load), and current.
A bit of computation and you can measure how much oomphf the cell has left.
BTW, I hereby claim Intellectual Property for this idea.
--
Bodincus - The Y2K Druid
************************
Law 42 on computing:
Anything that could fail, will break at the worst possible mom%*= [email protected]@
# Access Violation - Core dumped
# Kernel Panic

 

Correct.

Anyone old enough to remember the Man at C&A adverts will understand
the joke.

MBQ

 

claim away.

Its nonsense.

Knowing what current you can draw is meaningless.

 

yeah. well. no more foolish thatn any other suggestion.

 

No, they are not.

 

No. NiMhs are 1.2 - 1.3 Volts.

 

The additional components required to do that will all add additional
cost and weight to the device, as well as further draining the
battery. It doesn't make much sense to unnecessarily put extra load on
a battery when what you are trying to achieve is to squeeze as much
life out of it as possible.

 

(20/06/10 04:41), Chris Blunt:

One SMD resistor and a bit more software in the device would add costs?
You don't know what you're talking about.
And NO, nobody is trying in the slightest bit to squeeze as much life as
possible, rather manufacturers are keeping very ample margins to have
all of the electronics always working largely above tolerance.
To play it extra safe and not to invest in bettering the components,
they're forcing consumers to bin single use batteries at 50% capacity.
Given how toxic and dangerous are batteries, and they're more polluting
when they're not depleted, this should be addressed seriously, and not
dismissing any effort to have a better technology with the usual british
stiff upper lip.
But what do I know? Bah...
--
Bodincus - The Y2K Druid
************************
Law 42 on computing:
Anything that could fail, will break at the worst possible mom%*= [email protected]@
# Access Violation - Core dumped
# Kernel Panic

 

Maybe not, but the transistor to switch the resistor in and out and
the ADC to measure the current might.

MBQ