We all have them and use them every day. They are a fact of modern life and we can’t live without them. You have one in your mobile phone, one in your laptop, your cordless phone, your car if you have one. And the ones I just listed are all rechargeable. Battery technology has been evolving and improving over the years. Batteries are the fuel in today’s electric vehicles and those batteries rely on recharging technology in the form of charging stations. My smartphone came with a “charging station” in the form of a plug-in adapter. I have two adapters; one at work and one at home. We take these for granted as we do the recharging technology of the alternators in our gasoline vehicles. One advantage of rechargeables such as nickel cadmium (NiCd), nickel metal hydride (NiMH), lithium ion (Li-ion), and lithium ion polymer (Li-ion polymer), is their light weight compared to conventional alkaline dry cells. I found this out when I placed NiMh batteries in a remote control toy car and the quickness and top speed were noticeably improved. Of course, that is most obvious in flying toys and the current generation of drones. I would contend that the evolution of electric flying toys and drones is directly tied to the evolution and improvement of a lightweight, rechargeable power supply. One distinct disadvantage of rechargeables that I’ve noticed is the sharp drop in power as the battery nears the end of its charge. Unlike alkaline batteries where the power loss, on a curve, is fairly slow and steady, rechargeable’s power drops off precipitously. I used to employ a trick to bring back alkaline battery power; I would tap or rap the battery sharply against a hard surface or another battery and that would “shake” the electrons back into line. A technique that doesn’t work with rechargeables, so having a rotating stock of freshly charged batteries makes sense.
Yet there are still devices that do not take advantage of the rechargeable technology that we have in batteries. TV remotes, cable box remote controls, the wireless mouse and wireless keyboard that came with my computer. These came with conventional alkaline AA and AAA batteries. So when they no longer power the device, they are discarded. I realized this was too much like throwing money away so I decided to convert these devices to use rechargeable batteries.
I bought a recharger that accepts AA, AAA and C cell batteries and a supply of rechargeable batteries. I also purchased a rack that holds all the batteries and it includes a battery tester. The rack also holds 9 volt cells for my smoke detectors. I find that the convenience of having fully charged batteries on hand far outweighs their initial cost. I do know that rechargeables have a finite number of cycles where, when reached, they will no longer hold a charge. Fair enough, but with 500 to 800 life cycles, I’d say the overall value exceeds buying scads of alkaline batteries and just throwing them in the trash when they are dead. How many of you have had flashlights, toys or other assets ruined by alkaline batteries that leaked acid and corroded the innards? That problem is negligible with rechargeables.
Full disclosure/disclaimer: I am not employed by any company that produces, distributes, advertises or sells batteries of any kind. I am only a consumer of various products, services, systems and images and use them as any normal consumer does. I am not compensated for any of my comments by any entity outside Steemit.
