From: vic garza <vtr-garza@worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: Re[2]: Rechargeable alkalines
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1998 00:17:03 +0000

At 08:05 PM 11/12/98 +0000, Steve wrote:

>My recollection is that he found 'non-rechargeable' alkalines had to be
>recharged when only onethird of their charge had been extracted to get a
>resonable cycle life. Discharge current had also to be kept low. 
>
>Steve B.

About 2 years ago, I purchased one of the heavily advertized
'non-rechargable' alkaline chargers that had LED indicators to tell when the
cells were recharged....   Didn't have much luck with it- turned out to have
overstated benefits to say the least- so I returned it. Besides the
limitations Steve mentions above, I never measured a voltage higher than
that which the original used alkaline had when first placed in the charger!
If anything this thing worked as a capacity extender since the full voltage
was never renewed. The directions required an absurd ritual where you had to
return the alkalines back to the charger after every 30 minutes of use.....
Well, just interupting alkaline discharge cycles to allow them to rest
increases capacity even without a charger as I recall..... Unless there is a
new type of charger for 'non-rechargable' alkalines which operates on
different principle than the one I tested, I'd be very skeptical. 

Renewal rechargable alkalines do come back up to full voltage each time they
are recharged but have considerable diminished capacity after the first
cycle. I still have a set and charger around here somewhere which I have
abandoned in favor of the PREDICTABLE CAPACITY of new regular alkaline AA
available at 25 cents each (you have to mark renewals as to number of
recharges so you don't mismatch cells or get one near the end of its 10 time
cycle life). If the renewal rechargables were available at about the same
price, it might be advantageous to keep them on continuous charge as a
backup when I can't get to the store etc.....


--Vic