more battery for your buck

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Postby Wayne Harrison » Sep 23, 2007 9:08 pm

Did I hear the guy in the YouTube video correctly?

When he was wrapping the batteries in electrical tape I thought he said, "It's called electrical tape because it conducts electricity."

I thought electrical tape is used to prevent the conduction of electricity.
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Postby caverdan » Sep 23, 2007 9:24 pm

Wayne Harrison wrote:I thought electrical tape is used to prevent the conduction of electricity.
It only conducts electricity when you use it to charge batteries. :shock: :rofl:

You know.........I got a bridge for sale on I-70 for $3.50..... :kewl:
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Postby Realms » Sep 23, 2007 9:25 pm

$3.50? wow!!! what a deal. I need one. Does it come with its own pelican case for caving? :grin:
never stop imagining what could someday come to pass...
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Postby caverdan » Sep 23, 2007 9:33 pm

Sorry Realms..........the pelican case is extra. :youwish:
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Postby NZcaver » Sep 23, 2007 10:39 pm

fuzzy-hair-man wrote:
NZcaver wrote:With all this new rechargeable battery technology, I really have to wonder why replacement batteries for my DeWalt drill are still the same Ni-Cads they always were.

If you could get new wiz-bang batteries packs for your old drill you'd then have no reason to buy thier new cordless drill "now with extra power!!!" and they wouldn't get to sell you a new drill. :evil:

Almost makes it worth the effort for me to gut my old batteries and squeeze 18 volts worth of NiMHs or Li-Ions in there.

Better make sure I rub the top of each cell with a lemon, and connect them all with electrical tape to ensure optimum conductivity... :tonguecheek:

Good thing the ink is dry on my electrical license, isn't it? :laughing:
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Postby ArCaver » Sep 24, 2007 5:27 am

caverdan wrote:
Wayne Harrison wrote:I thought electrical tape is used to prevent the conduction of electricity.
It only conducts electricity when you use it to charge batteries. :shock: :rofl:


I once had a nut try to convince me the water in a cave was non-conductive. He had some hydro-mining equipment in the cave and a small unstable floating "barge" with a high voltage transformer to provide power.
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Postby hank moon » Sep 25, 2007 6:41 pm

Squirrel Girl wrote:I have some rechargeables, but I don't use them much because A) they discharge and you have to have them recharged when you want to use them which is a pain that I don't need. I guess they make a new type that don't work that way now, but that means I have to buy a new type of rechargeables and batteries, and throw away my old ones. Meanwhile I'm plowing through my stock of alkalines. B) Some of my battery operated stuff uses 3 batteries, but the charger requires me to charge in 2s or 4s so it seems like more trouble than it's worth.


A) yes, there are new types that discharge at a much slower rate (e.g. Sanyo Eneloop). Even if you junk your current rechargeable setup and buy a new one, it will likely be cheaper in the long run than continuing to use disposables. As someone else pointed out, you always start out with fresh batts - nice. What I usually do: use regular NiMH on a trip, with alkaline as backup. Maybe once a year I use the backups. No inconvenience from my POV...and much more economical than disposables. How many alkalines do you use on a trip?

If one doesn't cave very often, it might not be worth it from a strictly financial POV to use rechargeables.

B) Many chargers available today that charge each cell individually.


Squirrel Girl wrote:At least they now take batteries for recycling at work.


Bueno!

hank
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Postby TMorita » Dec 16, 2007 9:37 pm

caverdan wrote:Yea......now that I've been a look'in......it's all over the web.

Give this trick a try if you need to recharge them batteries. :shock:

<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/brdmnUBAS00" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed>


Ummm...this guy doesn't know what he's talking about. I think the most hilarious quote is "it's called electrical tape because it conducts electricity" or maybe "If you apply orange juice with a q-tip, this speeds the chemical reaction"...ummm...no.

He doesn't really understand basic electronoics, and he's using the term "impedence" in his own way.

I highly recommend you do not do anything mentioned in this video, as you risk a battery leaking or exploding.

I'm starting to see more of these "I have no knowledge of basic science but here's how you do something" videos on the Internet. This is dangerous.

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Postby David Grimes » Dec 16, 2007 10:40 pm

No matter how ridiculous that video is although I really did get a kick out of the electrical tape conducting electricity don't waste your time trying something like that.

Like previously noted it is dangerous and besides how economical is it to charge batteries at the cost of wasting other batteries. Just run to walmart and buy a pack of batteries $11 for 36 rayovacs or even advanced auto parts 24 pack AA or AAA, 8 pack C or 6 pack D batteries $4.88 sorry for everyone in the western US or international there are no advance auto parts in your area.

Either way just buy new batteries.
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Postby NZcaver » Dec 17, 2007 12:07 am

Just buy new rechargeable Hybrid NiMH batteries...
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Postby Jeff Bartlett » Dec 17, 2007 12:28 am

NZcaver wrote:Just buy new rechargeable Hybrid NiMH batteries...


agreed - the remaining arguments for alkalines are few. but we dare stray off topic :caver:
"Although it pains me to say it, in this case Jeff is right. Plan accordingly." --Andy Armstrong
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Postby Squirrel Girl » Dec 17, 2007 6:01 am

NZcaver wrote:Just buy new rechargeable Hybrid NiMH batteries...

I would do more of this except I have various flashlights, etc. that use 3 batteries, but you have to charge 4 at at time, so that seems like such a PITA, that I gave up on rechargeables.
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Postby NZcaver » Dec 17, 2007 10:14 am

A number of chargers are able to charge each cell individually - so you can charge 3 at a time. Admittedly, mine charge either 2 or 4. But then (with the exception of a couple of AAA headlamps) I usually avoid devices which use 3 batteries because they are a PITA.
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Postby Jeff Bartlett » Dec 17, 2007 10:39 am

NZcaver wrote:A number of chargers are able to charge each cell individually - so you can charge 3 at a time. Admittedly, mine charge either 2 or 4. But then (with the exception of a couple of AAA headlamps) I usually avoid devices which use 3 batteries because they are a PITA.


i started a new thread so we can discuss this topic further. i'm intrigued.

admittedly, i do use alkaline AAs for one purpose - my target light, gets 100 hours from a single AA and sits unused between surveys. it WOULD be a PITA to have to recharge a single cell all the time in addition to my 4AA sets, and at 100 hours per battery it doesn't need one very often anyway!
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