Do I have a bad MZ-RH1 battery?

[Sony_Fan]

The battery for my RH1 charges fine, but if I charge the battery and not use the unit for a week or so, the battery is low or dead. How can it discharge so easily? The battery for my old RH10 did not do that. It would keep it's charge for a long periods of unuse. So do I have a bad RH1 battery?

[bobt]

The battery for my RH1 charges fine, but if I charge the battery and not use the unit for a week or so, the battery is low or dead. How can it discharge so easily? The battery for my old RH10 did not do that. It would keep it's charge for a long periods of unuse. So do I have a bad RH1 battery?

Hi Chris,

Try disabling quick start. should solve your problem

Bob

[sfbp]

Something else; (if that wasn't the problem) find a way to discharge the battery. Turns out there is circuitry in all(?this is the part I am not 100% certain of) Li-Ion batteries to prevent them going completely flat.

This I learned AFTER buying a new laptop battery, and the ==new one== out and out dying after 1 year. Turns out all I needed to do was to DISCHARGE the OLD one, and it regained its composure (and chargeability).

So it may be best to buy a new battery and leave the one you are having trouble with out, for a few months. Meanwhile, make sure any Li battery is drained as far as possible (by using it) about once per month, and it will tend to last longer.

One way to monitor this is to see what the RH1 does when re-charging. If it is REALLY empty, then it will probably say 60 mins. If it is not so, it will say much less than that.

I don't think the RH1 has a quick mode, at least when I checked the menus just now.

[Avrin]

Well, this has nothing to do with laptop batteries. But this has everything to do with some SONY Marketing/Accounting/Bullshitting department.

A LIP-4WM fully discharged by a RH1 is still a great source of power for a NH3D.

A LIP-4WM fully discharged by a NH3D is not seen by a RH1 at all.

Edited August 1, 2008 by Avrin

[sfbp]

Well, this has nothing to do with laptop batteries. But this has everything to do with some SONY Marketing/Accounting/Bullshitting department.

A LIP-4WM fully discharged by a RH1 is still a great source of power for a NH3D.

A LIP-4WM fully discharged by a NH3D is not seen by a RH1 at all.

Interesting. So the cutoff voltages (probably just the low voltage) for charging is wrong (set too high). This would explain a lot.

Probably someone with expertise in the firmware dept needs to figure out which parameter to tweak, then. I should have thought that this would be right up your street, Avrin.

[Avrin]

A firmware has nothing to do with this. But settings like address 2250 (ChrgLi) and some further addresses do.

[sfbp]

Well the firmware is what is reading the settings in NVRAM, surely? Do we know what they mean? I haven't looked in the service manual, nor compared to my own settings, either. We'd need to compare notes, as many as possible of us.

[Sony_Fan]

So do I have a bad battery? Or is this normal for the RH1?

[remy117]

lol and after 8 replies still no one gave an answer..

dont worry, i have 2 of them batteries and they all do that... though not as serious as ur case... something like 2 weeks tops.

i think its the way they designed the rh1.

are you sure disabling quick mode doesnt help?

[spiff]

Sadly, the answer is probably "yes".

Your MZ-RH1 battery might be at the end of it´s useful lifespan, especially if it´s already over two years from the manufacture date (NOT the date when you bought it!).

Here are a few hard facts about Li-ion batts:

1.- They are only good for 2-3 years after they were made (which means you can buy "new" batteries that are almost useless).

2.- They only last about 500 full recharge cycles or 2000 partial ones, whichever comes first. That´s why it´s not a good idea to deeply discharge them for no good reason. Li-ion has no memory effect!

3.- Li-ion batts HATE to go totally flat (although the built-in firmware should prevent it).

4.- It´s quite common for the battery gauge to become "elastic" (for lack of a better term in my limited english) when the battery is worn out. It will show full capacity very quickly when recharging and then go flat just as quickly under load.

5.- If you have several spare batteries, store them in your fridge (not in the freezer!) at about 50% charge and set up a rotation schedule. That should spread the wear between all of them and limit the shelf storage decay to less than 5% per year. I have three spares for my RH1 and they are still going strong after three years!

This link might be interesting and useful:

"Hatin´ on lithium-ion": http://www.dansdata.com/gz042.htm

Good luck!

[Strungup]

I'm going to try this fridge storage thing, as I have quite a lot of LIP-4WM batteries now: 5! It would be a shame to loose their capacity...

With those and my Solio, my Walkmans should never run out of juice

Hey Wiz , Spiff is correct on the Rotation and storage thing , Lithiums , slow dow their molecular displacement a lot better than NMhD 's at a cooler temp

so fridging them is best thing to do , only one caution keep them in a sealed bag , with Silicon packs so they stay dry , if they condense they will be ruined

Edited August 2, 2008 by Guitarfxr

[BIGHMW]

Thanks for the tip, T.C. I will indeed keep that in mind when I buy batteries for my Blackberry 7130e, my multiple RH1's and my HD5's, they all run exclusively on rechargeable LiIon batteries and seeing that I have an arsenal of units (and their accompanying batteries), I will indeed do that myself.

But one other question, will they still stay dry if I do that and keep them in like a marked Tupperware or Rubbermaid storage container along with the bags and silica pouches as well? I don't want them to be put in the same place with some of my food while they are in the fridge, they might inadvertantly get thrown away, being mistaken for rotten items. I just want to not only keep them fresh, but also isolated from the rest of the food.

[spiff]

Oops!

Good point GFX!

I forgot to mention that I double-bag the batteries in Zip-Lock baggies (heat sealed pouches would be even better) and I always let them warm up to room temp before taking them out.

I always store them under the egg tray. See if you can remove it in your particular refrigerator model. That keeps them out of sight and dampens temperature oscillations. A "do not throw away" note is also a good idea!

[Avrin]

And how would you explain the fact that twelve-years old Li-Ion batteries for my old SONY Video8 Handycam, which are always stored fully discharged at room temperature, still give the original 150+ minute continuous operating time each? I am absolutely unable to explain this.

Edited August 2, 2008 by Avrin

[Strungup]

And how would you explain the fact that twelve-years old Li-Ion batteries for my old SONY Video8 Handycam, which are always stored fully discharged at room temperature, still give the original 150+ minute continuous operating time each? I am absolutely unable to explain this.

maybe the actual composition is a Lithium Polymer , and just labeled as LiIon ???? , Polymers were common , and are quite durable , Video Cam batts are also built more robust because of the power drain requirement , My suspicion is that it is a Lithium Polymer

[Sony_Fan]

Here's an update. I fully recharged the battery and disabled quick start and set the LED displace to auto-off. This was done Sunday. Let's see how long the battery holds its charge now.

Edited August 5, 2008 by Chris G

[Avrin]

Several weeks, most probably.

[Sony_Fan]

Another update. It's been a whole week since I fully charged the battery and it's still showing full power. So I guess disabling quick start and turning LED to auto off helps in extended battery time.