Sony Sony ICF-2010 NiMH Batteries?

[Zeh]

I recently acquired a very nice Sony ICF-2010. It works great and I don't want to mess it up by leaving alkalines in there. Can it run on NiMH rechargeable D and AA? I have a stash of Tenergy Centura D's and AA's.

Thanks!

 

[wenzeslaus]

NiMH will work just fine, the problem is where the radio cuts off at low voltage.

NiMH charges up to 1.5V but quickly decreases to 1.2V where it spends most of the time. a lot of digital radios start warning about low battery around 1.2-1.3V and cut off not too much below that.

not such a great idea to constantly keep them charged at 100% (1.5V) so you probably would have it in a perpetual state of "low battery". if it's worth doing that depends on whether it's always cutting off.

really, you don't have to worry about leaking alkalines as long as you replace them when they get to 1.3V. they leak when drained (0.8-0.9V) because that's where the battery chemistry changes, chemical reactions occur, create gas and break the seal. I have seen leaks start at 1.1V, and I don't think I ever saw one leak at 1.2V. and don't use Duracell. (I have a lot of old batteries, with expiration dates to 2003. seen it all)

 

[wenzeslaus]

a note about leaving NiMH batteries in your radio forever. they self-discharge, and on paper it's okay to let them go to zero, but in practice there are problems. at 0.8V and below (per cell) trying to use it (put a load on it) ruins the battery. and, charging it like normal isn't good for it either. you have to charge it very slowy until 1.0V then you can charge as normal.

normal charging should be 1/30 to 1/40 the capacity of the battery. no more than 1/10. if it is 2000 mAh, charge at 50-65 mA, no more than 200 mA.

so, when you have a dead NiMH and you throw it in your SuperDuper Battery Charger with 500 mA, you are shortening its lifespan. and no charger lets you control the mA it puts out. if you want to do it right you have to roll your own.

 

[wenzeslaus]

here's one for ya

 

[Zeh]

a note about leaving NiMH batteries in your radio forever. they self-discharge, and on paper it's okay to let them go to zero, but in practice there are problems. at 0.8V and below (per cell) trying to use it (put a load on it) ruins the battery. and, charging it like normal isn't good for it either. you have to charge it very slowy until 1.0V then you can charge as normal.

normal charging should be 1/30 to 1/40 the capacity of the battery. no more than 1/10. if it is 2000 mAh, charge at 50-65 mA, no more than 200 mA.

so, when you have a dead NiMH and you throw it in your SuperDuper Battery Charger with 500 mA, you are shortening its lifespan. and no charger lets you control the mA it puts out. if you want to do it right you have to roll your own.

I think so. My Xtar charger's lowest charging speed that can be set by the user is 250 ma.

 

[Zeh]

NiMH will work just fine, the problem is where the radio cuts off at low voltage.

NiMH charges up to 1.5V but quickly decreases to 1.2V where it spends most of the time. a lot of digital radios start warning about low battery around 1.2-1.3V and cut off not too much below that.

not such a great idea to constantly keep them charged at 100% (1.5V) so you probably would have it in a perpetual state of "low battery". if it's worth doing that depends on whether it's always cutting off.

really, you don't have to worry about leaking alkalines as long as you replace them when they get to 1.3V. they leak when drained (0.8-0.9V) because that's where the battery chemistry changes, chemical reactions occur, create gas and break the seal. I have seen leaks start at 1.1V, and I don't think I ever saw one leak at 1.2V. and don't use Duracell. (I have a lot of old batteries, with expiration dates to 2003. seen it all)

That does sound like a pain to keep checking the NiMH batteries with the quick voltage decrease. Plus the degraded performance. Thanks for the info about alkalines! Probably better off sticking to high quality alkalines...

 

[G7RUX]

I ran my own ICF2010 on NiMH batteries for years (usually 12+ hours a day) and never experienced any issues with the low battery warning, with it working pretty much as expected.
Granted, they didn’t last as long as a set of alkaline but it’s easier to just keep a second set ready to go while the first are charging.
Later on I tried using rechargeable alkaline and they were very good, higher capacity and low self-discharge.

Of course, running from an external supply would be good, then you only need the AA batteries in there but that’s not always possible.

Another option is the pack equivalent lithium polymer batteries that can be found these days, expensive but good.

 

[Fast1eddie]

What's the problem with Duracells????

 

[G7RUX]

What's the problem with Duracells????

They have a nasty habit of leaking even when not exhausted. It appears that manufacturing economies have led to the seals being poor.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

The radio uses 3 D Cells. Nominal voltage between 1.3 x 3 = 3.9 V and 1.6 x 3 = 4.8 V . A cylindrical lithium ion cell would be perfect for this radio and easily charged. I would make a dummy tube out of PVC tubing with terminals on each end and fit the Li-ion cell into it. Be sure to mark and observe polarity. There even may be such a solution for 3 cell mag lights.

 

[Zeh]

I ran my own ICF2010 on NiMH batteries for years (usually 12+ hours a day) and never experienced any issues with the low battery warning, with it working pretty much as expected.
Granted, they didn’t last as long as a set of alkaline but it’s easier to just keep a second set ready to go while the first are charging.
Later on I tried using rechargeable alkaline and they were very good, higher capacity and low self-discharge.

Of course, running from an external supply would be good, then you only need the AA batteries in there but that’s not always possible.

Another option is the pack equivalent lithium polymer batteries that can be found these days, expensive but good.

Thanks for the info, looks like I'll need to experiment. Have plenty of NiMH laying around with a decent charger and would prefer to use those. Shopping around for lithium and a good brand of alkalines is an option if the NiMH drain too quick.

 

[krokus]

so, when you have a dead NiMH and you throw it in your SuperDuper Battery Charger with 500 mA, you are shortening its lifespan. and no charger lets you control the mA it puts out. if you want to do it right you have to roll your own.

The Maha/PowerEx MH-C9000 lets you set the charge rate. This is now an older model, so something new should do it, too.

 

[wenzeslaus]

that's very nice. but overpowered. lowest it goes is 200 mA. I forgot the reference to where I got the 1/30 or 1/40 but it seemed well known industry information so I don't think that's wrong.

if you want to know all about batteries (and NiMH) here are the Energizer handbooks

Energizer Batteries and Chargers Handbook and Application Manual

but in the NiMH handbook the example they give is for recharging at 200 mA, and they don't say anything about trickle charging until it gets to a certain voltage before charging normally. ??they don't know that?? whatever

 

[W8WCA]

They have a nasty habit of leaking even when not exhausted. It appears that manufacturing economies have led to the seals being poor.

I used to only purchase RayOVac Batteries but they started leaking before I even used them! (and when less than a year old)!
Now I just buy Amazon Alkaline Batteries for it. But I have been thinking of something like this: https://tinyurl.com/D-Lithium-Ion

 

[krokus]

Now I just buy Amazon Alkaline Batteries for it. But I have been thinking of something like this: https://tinyurl.com/D-Lithium-Ion

Those look interesting, but the reviews are not impressive. The EBL NiMH look like a better option, as long as you have a charger for them.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

They have a nasty habit of leaking even when not exhausted. It appears that manufacturing economies have led to the seals being poor.

Yeah Duracell has been in the toilet for a decade or more. I used to swear by them and then they outsourced and it all went to a reformulation that was leaky. I got a couple reimbursements from them. The final straw was two AA batteries I removed from a device before storing it, left the cells on a nice table and they decided to leak spontaneously damaging the finish.

 

[wenzeslaus]

Panasonic Eneloops (NiMH) are the best. they hold up to 2000 mAh, retain 70% charge after 10 years storage, and can be recharged up to 2100 times. that means 1 Eneloop is equivalent to 1400 Energizer Max batteries. two Eneloops in your 2AA radio are like 2800 alkalines. good deal at 5 bucks each.

an alternative is the EBL 2800 mAh battery (model LN-8112) they are cheaper, hold charge only 3 years, recharge only 1200 times, but hold 2800 mAh. 1 of these is equivalent to 1120 alkaline batteries. if you use batteries quite often and want them to last 40% longer between recharges, you might consider these over Eneloops.

my first set of rechargeables in a radio were Eveready. 2000 mAh, only recharge 1000 times, only hold charge for 12 months. and I was perfectly happy with them. they are still going after 20 years of intermittent usage.

 

[radar_hunter]

Yeah Duracell has been in the toilet for a decade or more. I used to swear by them and then they outsourced and it all went to a reformulation that was leaky. I got a couple reimbursements from them. The final straw was two AA batteries I removed from a device before storing it, left the cells on a nice table and they decided to leak spontaneously damaging the finish.

I have seen leaking batteries from most brands I have used. But Duracells may be the most leak-prone of all. No other battery has been leaking right out of the box, but that has happened to me multiple times with Duracells.

On the other hand, does anyone remember if zinc-carbon batteries are more or less prone to leaking than alkalines? I haven't used them much.