Ni-MH Batteries charging too quick???

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I have recently bought 8 x Uniross 2500 mAh batteries, and a Uniross
X-Press 700 charger.

I put the first set of 4 batteries on charge, and after about an hour
the charger showed a green LED, which denotes the batteries are
charged. I popped the batteries in my Fuji FinePix S9500, and the
batteries were spent after about 30 minutes of use??

The other set of 4 batteries took about 4 hours to charge, which is
right according the the charger information - I have them in the camera
now, but have not used the camera at all so cannot comment on their
capacity.

This morning I used the "Discharge" function on my camera on the 4
spent batteries, just to make sure they were dead, and then popped them
back in the charger - again, after 1 hour the chargers green LED came
on! This is not right surely... Just to test, I put just 2 of the
batteries in straight after this last charge, and tried charging again
- and after 30 mins the green LED came on. I am currently charging the
other 2, and estimate that they will be done in approx 30 mins again.

Have I got dud batteries?? Since having the batteries I have mixed them
up, and so do not know which 4 came with the charger, and which 4 were
bought separately.

Any info will be appreciated.

Thanks
 
G

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Thanks for the info. As for the batteries being fake, I got the
batteries from Argos, which is a big retailer here in the UK. I may try
and get all the batteries replaced - just in case.
 
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On 9 Sep 2005 02:29:05 -0700, demontraitor@gmail.com wrote:

> Have I got dud batteries?? Since having the batteries I have mixed
> them up, and so do not know which 4 came with the charger, and
> which 4 were bought separately.

Sure sounds like it. All batteries lose capacity over time, and
the capacity should be roughly proportional to the charging time.
If some of the 2500mah batteries take 4 hours to charge, then the
ones that charge in only an hour are roughly equivalent to 625mah
batteries. I may be wrong but it sounds like your Uniross charger
doesn't charge batteries independently, only in pairs. That could
be a real problem as could make it difficult to now weed out the bad
batteries. A cheap battery tester would easily allow you to
determine which are which. Once you do get them sorted out,
eliminate the duds and replace them with another brand. Not because
there might be anything wrong with new Uniross batteries, but
because a different brand will look different and make it very easy
to avoid getting batteries from one set mixed up with the other set.
 
G

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demontraitor@gmail.com wrote:
>
> I have recently bought 8 x Uniross 2500 mAh batteries, and a Uniross
> X-Press 700 charger.
>
> I put the first set of 4 batteries on charge, and after about an hour
> the charger showed a green LED, which denotes the batteries are
> charged. I popped the batteries in my Fuji FinePix S9500, and the
> batteries were spent after about 30 minutes of use??
>
> The other set of 4 batteries took about 4 hours to charge, which is
> right according the the charger information - I have them in the camera
> now, but have not used the camera at all so cannot comment on their
> capacity.
>
> This morning I used the "Discharge" function on my camera on the 4
> spent batteries, just to make sure they were dead, and then popped them
> back in the charger - again, after 1 hour the chargers green LED came
> on! This is not right surely... Just to test, I put just 2 of the
> batteries in straight after this last charge, and tried charging again
> - and after 30 mins the green LED came on. I am currently charging the
> other 2, and estimate that they will be done in approx 30 mins again.
>
> Have I got dud batteries?? Since having the batteries I have mixed them
> up, and so do not know which 4 came with the charger, and which 4 were
> bought separately.
>
> Any info will be appreciated.
>
> Thanks

I was just trying to find if you may have bought some fakes but I can
see Sony nimhs listed as having fake versions, and Nikon nimhs as
being okay for one charge then going wrong after that, but nothing on
uniross. It does sound like a bad batch.
--
Paul (And I'm, like, "yeah, whatever!")
-------------------------------------------------------
Stop and Look
http://www.geocities.com/dreamst8me/
 
G

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DemonTraitor wrote:
>
> Thanks for the info. As for the batteries being fake, I got the
> batteries from Argos, which is a big retailer here in the UK. I may try
> and get all the batteries replaced - just in case.

I know Argos, there's one just a mile or so from here :O) (I'm in
Tyneside)

If you've only just bought them and got all of it from there they'll
probably be very nice about it and let you return the whole thing and
try again.
--
Paul (And I'm, like, "yeah, whatever!")
-------------------------------------------------------
Stop and Look
http://www.geocities.com/dreamst8me/
 
G

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Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

"Paul Heslop" <paul.heslop@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:43216A09.A858F406@blueyonder.co.uk...
> DemonTraitor wrote:
>>
>> Thanks for the info. As for the batteries being fake, I got the
>> batteries from Argos, which is a big retailer here in the UK. I may try
>> and get all the batteries replaced - just in case.
>
> I know Argos, there's one just a mile or so from here :O) (I'm in
> Tyneside)
>
> If you've only just bought them and got all of it from there they'll
> probably be very nice about it and let you return the whole thing and
> try again.
> --
> Paul (And I'm, like, "yeah, whatever!")
> -------------------------------------------------------
> Stop and Look
> http://www.geocities.com/dreamst8me/

My advice is:
1) Assuming your camera takes 4 cells, treat each set of 4 as one unit.
Never mix or replace a single cell.
2) Depending on how the charger works, never re-charge a set until either
they have set for over 2 weeks or have been drained in the camera somewhat.
3) Don't get hung up on charging each cell indepenently. A set of 4 cells is
inexpensive. When the performance of the set is no longer acceptable just
discard the set, or at least don't use in a camera. Of course monitoring
each cell is preferable, but at $17 for a decent charger with 4 cells at
Walmart I'll settle for that.

As a note, I bought 4 Duracells and charging before first use as recommended
took a very short time. I got decent performance in the camera and the next
charge was a little longer than I was used to, but then the capacity was
greater than I had been using. They perform very well. Using sets by
different sources does make it easier to identify the set. Finally, it is
possible to get bad cells. Walmart had a closeout on a camera accessory kit
that happened to include 4 Rinpoche and an overnight charger. Those Rinpoche
are horrible, one cell definitely bad.
Dave Cohen
 

steveb

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May 11, 2003
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UK prices are a lot higher than that, sad to say. Try $46 at current
exchange rates in Argos for a 4 cell Uniross charger and batteries.

To the original poster, Uniross batteries are usually very good, my
2100mAh's are still as good as new after 18 months heavy use in a 2x2
Uniross smart charger. They seem better than most at holding their charge
when not used as well.
 
G

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Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

I bought another pack of 4 - exactly the same as the other ones (so I
could use the packaging and receipt to take the duds back as I had
thrown away the original bits), and also a battery tester. I then
simply used the camera and when the power died I tested the batteries
to see which ones were suspect. I found 2 batteries which were weaker
than the rest after general use out of the whole 3 packs of batteries.
I took these 2 back, along with another 2 good ones to make up the pack
of 4.

I have now been using my camera quite a bit and have had the current
set in the camera for 100+ shots and they are still going strong. So I
am happy :eek:)

Thanks for all the help and info ppl :eek:)

Demon