Batteries dying?

[u0206397]

I bought my PnS camera using AA batteries in 2007 but seldom use it (at most once every few months) in 2007 and perhaps every 6 months in 2008 and 2009, so my 4 x Sony NI-MH rechargeable batteries (NH-AA 15/51 HR6 2500 mAh) are also put aside and not charged. In all, I reckoned I recharged my batteries perhaps less than 10 times since I bought them.

Recently, I tried to use the batteries and found them flat and thought they lost all their charges. So I put them in the charger and refresh, and then recharged them fully. I put them into the camera and it showed "full bar" battery life. But when I used my camera to take about 10 pictures (with Flash) only, the battery life immediately dropped to half...

I googled around and read NI-MH batteries go dead if not charged frequently and also after 1.5 or 2 years, they are usually more or less dead (perhaps even with little or no usage). Is this true? Are my batteries dead/dying? Or I need to refresh them again using the charger? Or the power consumption is expected? Time to get fresh batteries?

 

[Octarine]

I googled around and read NI-MH batteries go dead if not charged frequently [...]

How can we dare to say that Google is not correct? :bsmilie:
Jokes aside, batteries are stored best when fully charged and kept cool. Due to self-discharge the charge goes down (cannot be avoided, depends on technology also) and the batteries need to be recharged from time to time. But everything has its life time, finally.
Get some new ones, including a newer charger. Some older ones don't support higher capacities as usual today.

 

[wdEvA]

all batteries die some day.
there is a limited recharge cycle for all rechargable batteries

as for are your batteries dying?
are they still holding charges? are they holding long enough for your usage? if yes, keep using them.
else just get a fresh set of batteries.

if you do not use them often, you might want to consider getting the sanyo eneloops or powerex imedions as they have a slower discharge rate then the rest (which in turn makes u recharge them less often)

 

[shaoken]

Batteries left uncharged, they will drain off easily.

 

[ed9119]

if you have used them for less than 10 times.... dont throw them away .... or throw to me

you can re-condition the batteries............. fully charge and discharge 2 to 3 cycles .......... by 3rd or 4th time, the battery should hold its charge well