Batteries Have Feelings Too

Hambone

Friday, September 14, 2007

Whether you believe it or not, all batteries have souls. These souls get charged and recharged for years and years until their battery soul finally goes to battery heaven…or hell. This judgment depends on whether or not they have led a good long-lasting life. You! That’s right you; the guy sitting at his computer eating a rice crispy delicious treat have to power to determine the outcome of this battery. You can send your battery to Battery Heaven or eternally damn it to Battery Hell. Here are a few tips to get the most out of your battery and to keep it running for as long as possible:

When storing your batteries, do so with care. All batteries except for larger sealed lead-acid batteries are best to store at 40% charge in a cool place. Now by “cool place”, I don’t mean a refrigerator. That’s too cold and could possibly harm the battery.
A battery, in some cases, is similar to a human. Some live to a great old age, while others die early. The dreaded killer known as heat is a battery’s worst enemy. Do your best to keep your battery out of the sun an away from any areas that could become heated easily. Essentially, heat is to a battery as Attila the Hun was to Europe.
When charging your batteries it is always best to use the following guidelines:

For Nickel-Based (NiCD & NiMH) it is not necessary to deplete the batteries current charge before each recharge of the battery. Battery manufacturers do suggest a complete discharge of these battery-types every 1-3 months.
For Lithium-ion (Li-ion) and sealed lead-acid batteries, it is always better to recharge these more often and to avoid full discharges.

The life of a battery must come to an end eventually. When the time does come, be sure to follow my advice. If you don’t, these batteries can’t be recycled and will surely be damned in battery hell. Despite our continued effort to destroy the Earth, all batteries used for medium to major applications must be recycled. Now, that’s anything from a cell phone to a car battery. If you just simply throw your battery away, it is either sent straight to hell or its soul is sent back to haunt you for exactly 6 charging cycles. Sometimes it may be 5, but usually it’s 6. All battery types can usually be recycled at local hardware stores such as Home Depot and Lowes.

In closing, if treated properly, batteries can last for years upon years. Any other tips to get the most life out of your batteries?

Citations:
Buchmann, Isidor. “Part One & Part Two” http://batteryuniversity.com/index.htm

Batteries Have Feelings Too

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