Joho the Blog: RFH: Battery shocker

November 24, 2003

RFH: Battery shocker

[RFH= Request for Help]

I bought a big, fat Sony lithium-ion battery (NP-FS21) for my digital video camera two years ago. Now, after fairly minimal use, it's dead, Jim. When I plug it into the recharger, the charge light comes on for about 15 seconds. The thing just doesn't take a charge.

Any ideas about how to regenerate it?

Failing that, does anyone have any recommendations for offbrand batteries that actually work from vendors who don't suck?

Posted by D. Weinberger at November 24, 2003 10:16 AM

TrackBack

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference RFH: Battery shocker:

» Battery problems from Grant Henninger
It seems as if everybody has been having problems with their batteries lately. Dave Weinberger talks of his problem with a Sony video camera battery, there have been an outcry over iPod's battery life and I have been having problems... [Read More]

Comments

Dave,

Be very careful with this method, but it does work. One way to get some more life out of a older battery is shock therapy - applying physical shocks to the battery will dislodge buildup from around the poles, making it easier for current to flow. NOTE that this can be bad for you - if the battery explodes or starts to leak, you could get acid burns or worse.

Anyway, here's what I do:

Wrap the battery in a towel.

With a wooden mallet, tap the battery a few times on each side - give it a decent smack, but not hard enough to crack the cover. Rotate. Repeat.

Check the battery for leaks or cracks. If there are any, immediately discard the battery. If not, then put it in the charger. You should get more life out of the battery.

If anything I'm suggesting makes you feel squeamish, then do yourself a favor and throw out the old battery and go out and buy a new battery. Don't want you getting acid burns or anything...

Dave

Posted by: David Sifry | November 25, 2003 10:42 AM

I don't know if it helped the battery, but it certainly made me feel better.

I'll let you know if it worked...

Posted by: David Weinberger | November 25, 2003 08:15 PM

Did you charge the battery up a while ago and then never use it?

If so and it's the type of battery I think it is then if you don't use the charge the battery is no longer rechargable in the area where you left the charge for a long time.

That didn't sound right :-))

If you charge your battery so you have an hours worth of charge, you use 20 mins of the charge and then store it, the part of the battery holding the remaining 40mins of charge is no longer usable (you can't re cahrge that bit, so you now have a 20 min battery).

No idea why or if you can recover a battery after this. Newer batteries don't have this 'defect'.

Posted by: SEO Dave | November 25, 2003 11:42 PM

My laptop had a battery that was lasting about 5 minutes. I bought a "refurbished" one on the web. Now it lasts 15 minutes.

By the way, lithium batteries are dangerous. It's not just "acid" in there, it's lithium, or lithium hydride, which can explode in contact with water. It is amazing that they let these things on airplanes.

Posted by: md | November 27, 2003 09:38 PM

$38.96 http://store.yahoo.com/eenidmarket/cl-021.html

Posted by: ~Chip :) | November 28, 2003 12:55 AM

Batteries annoy the hell out of me. They never work. Have you tried using a notebook battery? They are sh!t.

Posted by: Blogs | December 4, 2003 06:52 PM

i suggest you 'd better search the recharger from website by google, if you want to save money.

Posted by: lory | July 2, 2007 09:45 PM