Battery ?

[Coasty]

My Bounty Hunter 505 says to use Alkaline batteries only. Called them and they said some of the recharageables actually are 9.4 v.; where alkalines are typically 8.9. They stated there is a possibility of damaging the circutitry due to over voltage. NiMH batteries are typically 9.4 volts and Nicads are around 8.9 which the did recomend if I wanted to use recharageables. Anyone else has any other info it does not seem that .4 volts would hurt things but I am no expert.

 

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[Madmans Legend]

You have nothing to fear. 0.4 Volts over wont hurt your machine. Im an electrical engineer and from experience Ill tell you that there is an internal voltage regulator at the power input to filter out any sudden voltage changes comming from the battery. Depending on the regulator used they can usually handle slightly over 3V higher than the recomended battery voltage that powers your detector.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Let them sit for a couple hours after charging. They pop out fresh at 1.6 volts per cell but soon self-discharge to 1.2 volts.

I fly R/C and my eight-cell transmitter drops from 12.1v to 11.4v in the 20 minutes it takes me to drive to the airfield. If I let it sit overnight it drops to 10.6v.

 

[GulfCoastRelix]

I have a Garrett 250 and I wanted to save money on battery costs since I detect almost daily. The NimH rechargeables I bought after a full charge only lasted a few hours before dropping a bar on my detector while my alkalines will last 8-10 hours before dropping a bar. I did some research and although the 1.2V NimhH seems like it delivers a smaller voltage than the 1.5 alkalines here is what I found. Since I just bought this charger it takes a few charge/discharge cycles for my batteries to reach their optimal performance. I hope. I'm keeping a spare set of alkalines just in case.

My device uses 1.5V “AA” batteries. Will my Nimh batteries work even though they are only 1.2V?

Yes, for most high drain electronic applications Nimh batteries are ideal substitutes and you needn’t worry about the apparent voltage differences. Even though alkaline batteries are rated at a nominal 1.5 volts, they only deliver 1.5 volts when they are fully charged. Alkaline Batteries will drop more linearly from 1.5V to a typical cut off voltage of 0.7V. In fact, over the course of their discharge, alkaline batteries actually average about 1.2 volts. That’s very close to the 1.2 volts of a Nimh battery. However, since the capacity of Alkaline Batteries is measured until cut-off at 0.7V, high-energy consumption rated appliances that commonly cut off at higher voltage cannot fully utilize the energy stored in Alkaline Batteries. This results in wasted energy. During usage, Nimh Rechargeable Batteries will experience a slight voltage drop at first, then will maintain their voltage between 1.2V to 1.0V. The voltage drop is not obvious until it is almost drained, at which point it drops rapidly. The main difference is that an alkaline battery starts at 1.5 volts and gradually drops to less than 1.0 volts. Nimh batteries stay at about 1.2 volts average for about 80% of their discharge cycle for a typical 1C discharge rate (see chart on our performance charts page). There may be uses where there actual voltage difference may be important to you. In the case of a device like a radio, where a higher voltage can mean a stronger signal, a fresh alkaline battery may be more desirable -but more expensive- than a rechargeable Nimh battery. This is also true for a flashlight, which will be temporarily brighter with the initial higher voltage of alkaline cells. These minor differences are probably offset by the much lower cost of operating Nimh batteries. And keep in mind that the alkaline battery only has a higher voltage when it is fully charged. Once it gets to 50% capacity or less, it will be delivering a lower voltage than a Nimh battery.


Mike