swr350 Posted January 9, 2007 Report Share Posted January 9, 2007 I'm new to this forum but have tried reading threads relevant to my question---and I'm still not sure this particular item has been fully addressed. I have a Sony MZ-NH900 and recently replaced the gumstick battery with a higher capacity version (MAh 1400). However, when I press the "charge" button on the unit, the flashing charge sign goes out after an hour, two hours, 15 minutes---it varies. When I press the button again, the screen once again indicates the unit is charging. I recall someone stating that the last 20% of the battery charge is in trickle mode and does not necessarily display on the screen. However, no matter how many times I re-press the button, it always indicates that it is charging once again. When I finally tire of this ritual and start to play music, the capacity meter only indicates full for a brief period and then declines to two or three bars. I've ordered a second battery and will see if this improves matters. Would appreciate others' thoughts. Thanks in advance--John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grenert Posted January 9, 2007 Report Share Posted January 9, 2007 The NH900 has a horrible battery meter which chronically gives an artificially low readout. I've been able to play MDs for hours with a no-bar flashing meter. You'll just have to ignore it and assume you actually have more power than it reads. Regarding the charging: I think that the battery charger will always try to charge the battery, regardless of whether or not it's drained, because it can't immediately tell whether it needs a charge. If the battery is fully charged, it will take a little while for the charger to realize that the battery is not taking a charge, and then it will stop. If it's drained, it will continue to charge until full. It's different from laptops, which use lithium batteries, which have a lot of extra circuitry to tell the charger whether or not a charge is needed.I actually use an external charger (from www.budgetbatteries.com) so that I can always have a charged battery ready. I've heard some people say an external charger does a better job than the MD player's charger, but I've never compared them myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swr350 Posted January 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2007 The NH900 has a horrible battery meter which chronically gives an artificially low readout. I've been able to play MDs for hours with a no-bar flashing meter. You'll just have to ignore it and assume you actually have more power than it reads. Regarding the charging: I think that the battery charger will always try to charge the battery, regardless of whether or not it's drained, because it can't immediately tell whether it needs a charge. If the battery is fully charged, it will take a little while for the charger to realize that the battery is not taking a charge, and then it will stop. If it's drained, it will continue to charge until full. It's different from laptops, which use lithium batteries, which have a lot of extra circuitry to tell the charger whether or not a charge is needed.I actually use an external charger (from www.budgetbatteries.com) so that I can always have a charged battery ready. I've heard some people say an external charger does a better job than the MD player's charger, but I've never compared them myself.Thanks---this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenmachine Posted January 9, 2007 Report Share Posted January 9, 2007 Sounds to me that your battery suffers from the memory effect and/or the effects of over-charging.The memory effect is typical for Ni-CD and Ni-MH rechargeables and tends to occur when the battery is recharged without first being discharged. It shows its effects in a weaker than usual battery (capacity loss). The affected battery can be reconditioned by a few complete discharge - charge cycles.Overcharging on the other hand is a more serious problem with non-reversible effects (permanent capacity loss, deformation). If you force the charger to continue after its full battery detection has interrupted charging, you risk to overcharge.For a more thorough guide how to take care of your batteries, visit:http://www.batteryuniversity.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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