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Digital Camera Battery

Why Do Some AA Batteries Take Longer to Recharge?

SUMMARY: Here are four reasons why it may take longer to recharge certain sets of AA batteries.

If you have a large collection of sets of AA rechargeable batteries (do not mix and match brand and battery mAHs of AA recharcheable batteries!), you may wonder why some batteries take longer to recharge than others. Here are a couple of reasons:

1) Check the AA batteries' mAh specifications. Batteries with a higher mAh level hold more power and can last longer between charges, but due to the added power capacity they may take longer to recharge.

2) If you have a high-speed battery charger, optimal charging performance may only be achieved with batteries specially designed for the charger. Thus while a battery charger may claim it can recharge its own brand of 4 AA batteries in 15 minutes, batteries from other manufactures may take quite longer.

3) Partially-charged sets of AA batteries should take less time to recharge than completely depleted sets. Since you should switch sets when the low battery warning appears and not wait until the last second (for NiMH batteries), you may notice a variation in charge times.

4) In extreme circumstances, NiCD AA rechargeable batteries may exhibit the "memory effect" whereby batteries that are not fully depleted before recharging may only charge part-way. Thus, these batteries may seem to charge faster, but will only hold a portion of their maximum energy. Plus, older NiMH or NiCD batteries or those stored in improper conditions may not hold their optimal charge, thus they may seem to charge faster than normal. However, except for extreme cases, the latter effects may not be noticeable.

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The MalekTips website was created in 1998 by Andrew Malek of Envision Programming. The page's goal is to freely disperse computer-related tips, hints, and informative articles. Tips are organized to be easy to find, and are presented clearly, in easy-to-understand language. MalekTips also provides information and links to public-domain, open source, freeware, shareware, and commercial software available for download. < more >