Not sure about this video

Bit late to the Patreon response but having just watched it on YT this morning, I think it's great information and well presented. Not at all rambly.

Jon Knight

I never had any issue with my smart charge Opus BT-C700 I bought about 4-5 years ago from Bangood or one them other chinese sites, never had any missing or early termination. My first smart charge I got most be like 10 years plus ago Technoline BL700 that was the most hopeless charger never terminated the charge correctly once .

A very crude trickle charger for those 6xD-cell sticks would be a 12V power supply and three 100 ohm quarter watt resistors in parallel. It would trickle charge them at about 100mA, which means it would put in about 2Ah charge per day. It could take a while to charge them fully, but fine for a standby application. Keep in mind that the D cells can put out a lot of current when shorted.

Big Clive

The memory concept is controversial. It seems to date back to some research that was presented that was subsequently withdrawn. That said, there's no harm in doing a full discharge/charge refresh cycle from time to time.

Big Clive

Yeah. They seem to miss the end of charge a lot, and sit there baking the cells. That's why I roughed up my PCB for a super-simple USB powered trickle charger to do the job properly at the expense of taking longer.

Big Clive

My "smart" charger routinely ruins cells. I now use a PSU at C/20.

Mike Page

Very useful information - I think it was a good video and am happy to have learned how to recover those overly discharged NiMH cells!

Nothing wrong with the video, but for short-attention-span people I would add a condensed version with the core infor about how to recover a 'dead' rechargeable NiMH battery. It's exactly in the 'green' trendline. And it's actually a very useful 'life-hack', that hopefully spreads widely! (My Conrad/Voltcraft charger looks suspiciously similar to the 7DAYSHOP one. It also refuses charging of too-empty NiMHs, so I keep some 'dumb' chargers, to give a non-recognized cell an initial charge. Works well. Do it for a couple of years now. Never thought about sharing this - good idea!)

Hagen

yes, I agree, this is good as it is. Very informative!

Craig Matthews

Very interesting video as it is. I'd keep it like this.

DeuxVis

Good video, I liked it.

Mark Hazlewood

Overall it was a fine video. The tip in the middle about "jump starting" (my term, not yours) the totally dead cells, was very cool. Thanks.

Jack Hodgson

I always believed that a big disad for nicad was their tendency to build up "memory". That you weren't supposed to partially charge them. Because you didn't talk about that (or did I miss it?) makes me wonder if I always misunderstood that aspect of nicad. ???

Jack Hodgson

This is a great video! The more info out there on NiMH the better. With loads of the Eneloop and Amazon basics cells around sitting for too long in the kid's toys. It's good to know I should stop tossing the flat ones. Any advice for making use of hi current NiMH, I've 20 sticks out of a hybrid battery (each stick made from 6 D cells welded together) They were used to power and be charged by 10hp motor. I've yet to find a use/charge controller for them. Nothing in the solar market seems to use NiMH. Just lead and Lithium. Seems a shame to toss them.

Video is fine. Plenty of information and explanation is always a useful thing 👍

Video is fine for the masses. A bit on the long side perhaps? Possibly more on how the various chemistries have advantages and disavantages. (nicad being rugged and actually handle abuse better than being gently used) (NiMH having terrible self-discharge in the early days) (LiIon being able to run in a brief range of voltage and requiring conplex charge/discharge management) LiFE being a chemistry that is more akin to NiMh in behavour (cliff discharge curve etc) but allowing a deeper discharge. Show a 14500 cell capacity in NiCad (750 1.2v), nimh (2000, 1.2v), lion (800 3.7v) life (600 3.2v) I swore by the Rayovac system in the 2000's and only moved away from them when LSD cells became mainstream. I found the Rayovac cells has terrible self-discharge, even for a NiMH which had the You are pretty much on the money, though I think it may have been the outer ring that was the low current detect and the entire current was shoved in the pip. Still use the 5A @ 15Vdc power supplies with one of those D-class amps in fact and a peltier fridge (with a beefier fan to handle the extra oomph)

Anton

Lots of good practical info in one video, much needed, very watchable. Well Done! Agree it's a bit rambly but that actually adds to the charm and will probably enable those with short attention spans to have their attention regrabbed each time you introduce one of your entertaining, real life rambles. Your teaching technique is amusingly aligned to my thought processes, while watching it I frequently found myself contemplating 'What-If....' side tracks, only to have your discussion turn in the same direction. Happens quite frequently with many of your videos, makes me smile! Agree with your thoughts on 'smart devices' in electronics. If they're not 'hardened' against glitches they can be a potential disaster. PLC and Microcontroller based equipment are quite likely to get their knickers in a knot occasionally and need to have a foolproof /low-level SAFE! shutdown mechanism in case of glitches. Have had several alarming instances such as you describe with smart chargers cooking batteries. One was a car battery 'smart' charger that kept pouring about 20 amps into a stinking hot fully charged car battery. The battery was new and I was rather annoyed. Couldn't find any faults and the charger only did it once, I now always keep an eye on it, there's now a big 'SUS' (Suspect) note plastered on side as a reminder. Agree that contact noise / internal battery noise is a likely miss-trigger source for 'Smart' chargers to end NiCad charging early. Nice video, it'll save a whole bunch of needless landfill and add to the knowledge and satisfaction of the technical hoards (like me) who like to tinker with cells and chargers.

L. Brait

I learned a lot from this. Thanks

Lawrence ORourke

I found the information in this video very useful- I gleaned a lot of new knowledge from it, so, as far as I am concerned -it is perfect as is. It may not appeal to some people wiht a low attention span, but anyone who does recharge batteries should be happy to learn about the methodology.

Mike Hughes

I think it’s fine. My yardstick on these is does it hold my interest for the full length of the video? This one definitely did. I think it’s good to go 👍🏻

Jamie Whitehorn

People that intentionally/regularly click on your videos will appreciate it :-)

Totally Normal

The lithium ones are full 3-4.2V cells.

Big Clive

I've not been to IKEA in a long time. (We don't have one here.)

Big Clive

I featured a variant called Jugee in a video.

Big Clive

Does it cut out? If not it may be worth not leaving them in it too long after the charge time. Or get a smarter charger. I've got some PCBs in manufacture right now that trickle charge NiMH cells at low enough current to leave them in continuously.

Big Clive

Useful information. I like to ask you a question please Clive. I buy the standard white Panasonic Eneloop white batteries and I charge them in the standard slow Sanyo charger which takes about 24 hours to charge them. I have is I tend to leave the batteries in the powered on charger, that is left on a 13 amp socket. The question have is Does this harm the batteries ?

Jeremy Travis

A very nice video Clive. I learned a lot of useful information.

Andreas Schuderer

All good with me, Clive. Comprehensive and interesting.

I think it’s very informative with great information that I didn’t know 👍

Loren

It's fine; it's a classic Clive video. Won't appeal to the goldfish-attention-span types, but very little real information ever would.

Charles

Very useful and somewhat timely. I've had a few cells on my desk since I wasn't sure if they were dead or just "sleeping" and this finally got me to check them. Perfect amount of info so that I could also make an informed call on the cells

Yes, I found it a really useful explanation of the various battery technologies and their charging weaknesses. I’d definitely say release it, I think it’d fit right in with the rest of the channel.

Ewen McNeill

Darts around a bit but that's Ok your mellow tones compensate and plenty of useful info 🤣 - push it out to the masses

Mr B Shepherd

Good video not rambly and disjointed,to the point.

richard ockman

I liked it. I think you will find a tiny circuit board in the lithium AA battery due to the chemistry? Recently I obtained some nickel zinc rechargeable 3000mah batteries and so far so good, they charge to 1.61 volts and use a special charger as they cannot be trickle charged apparently.

Release it! I didn't know the bit about recovering "dead" cells and must have thrown away dozens. For the greening of the planet alone, it needs releasing!

Ex Cathedra

By the way, have you tried IKEA rechargeable batteries? They appear to be rebadged eneloops, but 1/4 the price.

Gary Bleads

It does jump around a bit, but lots and lots of good information and jus about the right length so I vote release it.

Gary Bleads

You really need to ask us? Okay, its rambly, disjointed, and very OK. But maybe you'd like more of an insight. I can only offer mine. You've recently been putting time and effort into entertaining the masses, so to speak, but this vid bucks that trend even though it covers popular ground. I've been reading a scholarly book on Anglo-Saxon British history which has been pushed by its publisher as a light entertaining read. This is reflected in the poor reviews left by befuddled mass market readers, but the work itself is rich and deep if you can keep up with it. This vid of yours is a technical banquet, and I do mean several courses in one. If I am forced to suggest any change (I;d rather not), the options are either to serve the courses singly, or to place menus at each setting at the table, then serve all the courses. I'd go for the menu option because it allows us to remind ourselves of specific points as and when we need to. HTH.

Ymir the Frost Giant

There is a company producing lithium cells with switching power supplies built into AAA, AA, D cells and 9V batteries. They put out rated voltage until the lithium cell dies. Rechargeable through built in micro USB connectors.

Steven Ruhl

Really enjoyed that Clive, thank you. Sometimes going off on the odd tangent is inevitable when there's a lot of information to impart.

PieFloater

The video is fine to me with lots of useful information. My first automatic Ni-MH charger (late 90s I think) just relied on temperature based end-of-charge and was the only one I had that reliably ended the charge. It also made me wonder why newer chargers all use less reliable methods that often end up killing cells. Even the highly rated La Crosse charger I have just pauses the charge when the cells get too hot instead of ending the charge. I also have an AA/C/D 7DayShop "smart" charger that has the same issue with randomly crashing and lost a few sets of AAs where the wrapping shrivelled up. My main charger is a similar 7DayShop charger to the one featured, but also recharges 18650s. It is the only one I've come across (besides dumb chargers) that can recharge cells from zero volts. It's not perfect as it has the same issue of occasionally missing the end of charge, e.g. putting 1500mAh into a 800mAh AAA.

Seán Byrne

For me, I found it to jump back and forth from the batteries being charged to what you were talking about. I got the information you intended thou. I have used both methods to renew batteries as my 'smart' charger doesn't like flat batteries, quick jump start from the bench supply usally sorts them enough to then use the charger.

Alan King

Its perfect Clive, just the right amount of information, not rambly at all.

James

I agree it does pack a lot in, and does jump around a bit but I still think it's suitable for public release.

Dr Andy Hill

I have a tendency to go on at length about things that I enjoy. That being said, I found the length and organization of the info to be on par with your usual technical content. I enjoy watching your content first thing in the morning because your fascination is contagious and adds that extra dopamine kick to the coffee.

Alex

The BC channel is a technical channel. The information given was technical. I found it well laid out, and you obviously spent quite a bit of time organising your thoughts for it. Keep it as it is. This will be a perfect prelude to the release of your trickle charger.

TopEndSpoonie

Probs asking the wrong bloke here. Rambly and disjointed is the name of my game!

OK

I use Eneloop Pro 2550 in my Sennheiser Headphones, They work Great I get 12 hr of use, When i used standard rechargeable from the past i only got 4 hr.

Seems fine to me and useful info

Kevin Hardisty

Hi Clive. Certain sections lost me as you went. Not the technology aspect, just the general explanation. Maybe being a little more concise would help? Just one man's opinion.