Do rechargable batteries not work well in some devices?

Question

I have a few devices that will only work for minutes with rechargeable batteries (charged) in them.

But last months with regular 1 use batteries.

Do rechargeables not work well in some things?

Does it damage batteries if they get charged when not completely empty?

Do the chargers tend to go bad (i.e. you hve to keep buying new chargers in order to get the batteries fully charged, etc?

Answer 1

There are two common types of rechargeable batteries. There are older NiCd batteries which are no longer sold commonly, and the newer NiMH batteries.

NiMH batteries are more popular since they do not suffer from the "memory effect" whereas the NiCd batteries too. This means, if you charge a NiCd battery before it completely runs out of power, it will gradually lose its maximum capacity, whereas the NiMH batteries are unaffected.

However, NiMH batteries can be damaged to the opposite sense - if you run out of power, and you continue to try to draw power (like turning on the camera again for one more shot) you'll damage the battery. Don't put NiMH batteries in devices that don't have smart senors that shutdown the device when it detects the battery is low on power.

Almost all rechargeable batteries will slowly discharge themselves even if not in use, and all will slowly lose their ability to hold power.

So when should you use rechargeables and when should you use disposables? Rechargeables work very well in power hungry devices like camera, whereas disposables work better in devices like remotes, simply due to their chemical makeup.

Answer 2

You are correct, recharchable batteries provide less voltage than say alcalines (for example, 1.3 V vs 1.5 V). In that case, they may not be able to provide enough current to operate a particular device.

Recharchable batteries do go bad after a while (say 1000 recharges, depending on their age and usage)