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Freezer NiMH battery trick still works!

beachycove

Well-known member
Well, my eMate battery (adapted from a pack of 4 NiMH cells bought off eBay maybe 3 or 4 years ago) was getting bad, with short charges taken and disappointingly short runs resulting. So just as I was about to change it for another battery, I decided it would be worthwhile if I popped it in the freezer overnight. Back in the old days, this was a way of rehabilitating powerbook battery packs and such, the principle being that it breaks down the crystals that impede battery function. I haven’t tried that in years.

That was a couple of weeks ago. Took it out of the freezer, let it warm up for a couple of hours, and gave it a charge, in which the cells for the first time in a long time took power in a proper, long charge — and the darned thing has been running my eMate for two weeks. 
 

In terms of being tinker-friendly, NiMH cells beat the crap out of Lithium cells!

 
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CC_333

Well-known member
Neat!

I have some Motorola StarTAC batteries which could benefit from this, as they're NiMH-based, and new ones (or NOS ones which still work) are neither easy nor cheap to find.

I shall go try this out ASAP!

c

 
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