Author: J. C. Boco
Date: 18:44:37 04/05/04
Go up one level in this thread
On April 05, 2004 at 18:24:03, Mark Young wrote: >On April 05, 2004 at 14:23:01, Robert Hyatt wrote: > >>On April 05, 2004 at 07:57:05, Mark Young wrote: >> >>>On April 04, 2004 at 12:06:22, J. C. Boco wrote: >>> >>>>Hello all and good day to you. >>>> >>>>I have the Star Diamond. I used some typical fresh alkaline batteries in it and >>>>my Star Diamond ran for (I think it was) about 24 hours before I had to change >>>>the 4 AA batteries. >>>> >>>>When the next set runs out, I'm going to put those newer batteries in, those >>>>Duracell Ultra ones. They claim to last longer, and of course they cost more. >>>>I'm interested in whether these Ultra batteries will last 40+ hours or not. >>>> >>>>Anyway, I noticed that Energizer has AA batteries that are Lithium batteries, >>>>made for digital cameras and regular cameras. These cost a lot, $10 for 4 of >>>>them. Since they are AA and rated at 1.5V (just like all the other AA >>>>batteries) I thought that it would be interesting to plug these Li batteries >>>>into the Star Diamond. Maybe it'll run for over 100 hours that way. However, >>>>one thing holds me back..... >>>> >>>>On the package it lists the mAHrs (milli amp hours). This figure was 2000 or >>>>2250, I don't recall (but it must be a good battery if it has an Expert or >>>>Master ranking. Ha ha ha!). But the other "regular" alkaline batteries (both >>>>the regular and the ultra) had a number which was 250 mAHrs *less* than the >>>>Lithium-type batteries. >>>> >>>>So voltage is the same but mAHrs is larger for the Li batteries. >>>> >>>>Is it safe to use these Li batteries in the Star Diamond? Or anything else? >>>>((Besides cameras of course, which it is advertised for)). >>> >>>Yes lithium batteries are safe to use, but it is more cost effective to by >>>rechargeable NIMH. You pay more up front for the charger and batteries, but you >>>always have batteries better then standard alkaline. >>> >>>Mine are over a year old and are rated at 1700mAh. There are better rechargeable >>>batteries now that rival even lithium batteries. >> >>You have to be careful. Alkaline batteries produce 1.5 volts. Rechargable >>batteries are typically 1.2 volts. A radio might not care whether it is a 4.8 >>volt or 6 volt (assuming 4 batts in series) but a computer might... > >No this is not correct. Maybe the old ni-cad batteries. > >Anyway this should not be a problem. Alkaline batteries only start out at 1.5 >volts new, but with a little use they drop voltage. Most rechargable batteries >has a much flatter voltage curve. Rechargeable batteries hold around 1.5 v for >most of their use time with a quick drop in voltage at the end before needing to >be recharged. *********************** This is all quite interesting. I did some reading up and discovered that the Duracell Ultra starts at 1.7V. Now I'm not sure I want to put them in my computer. These newer batteries are meant, evidently, to have the flat discharge curve as mentioned above, so as to be able to supply energy at higher amps for hungry digital cameras (and other electronics). Since a chess computer doesn't draw large amounts of power all at once, maybe the Ultras are not the way to go.
This page took 0 seconds to execute
Last modified: Thu, 15 Apr 21 08:11:13 -0700
Current Computer Chess Club Forums at Talkchess. This site by Sean Mintz.