pale72 Posted September 8, 2009 Report Share Posted September 8, 2009 My first post, please be nice. I've had my MZ-RH910 for a few years now, but only recently did I regret changing from MD to Hi-MD, the reason being the batteries are no longer available (in Mexico); I have not been able to charge the last battery I could get (about 6 months ago), so now I don't even know if my problem is with the built-in battery charger or the batteries. I hate the AA battery case I can use to make the player usable so, is there any advise for testing/charging a new generic battery? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted September 8, 2009 Report Share Posted September 8, 2009 Here's what you want: http://stores.shop.ebay.ca/newtonsofsale__W0QQ_armrsZ1 Good luck, and welcome to MDCF. I can vouch for this seller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avrin Posted September 8, 2009 Report Share Posted September 8, 2009 Bought a GP 1450 gumstick for my RH10 a couple of weeks ago. It charges nicely inside the unit, and lasts longer than its original SONY NW-14WM(A). Would probably do even better with the RH910 (I may try it when I have time). But you should clean the battery contacts on a regular basis, or the RH10/910 may refuse to charge/use it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pale72 Posted September 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2009 Thanks sfbp for the tip, yet there are no deliveries to Mexico. Avrin, I do clean the batteries every month, so I really don't think that was it (plus even the new ones would not charge), but thanks for the tip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avrin Posted September 10, 2009 Report Share Posted September 10, 2009 New batteries may refuse to charge if they are fakes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pale72 Posted September 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 fakes? never thought there could be fake batteries, will definitely be more careful next time i find a battery. thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 The only thing I have seen is fake battery CHARGER, and also some batteries have oxide on the pins which you might have to scrape off with a sharp knife before they charge at all. Avrin, I've never been unlucky like you, I have only had to work a little to get the most unlikely gumstick working just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlegro Posted October 21, 2009 Report Share Posted October 21, 2009 I've had my MZ-RH910 for four years and while it wasn't an immediate problem, battery charging has been an issue through most of my ownership. I've now popped for third-party battery sticks (now using a couple of them from a US firm called Hitech, which I bought online a year or two ago). While I do get charging, the process is not as described in the manual. The unit's screen remains blank but if I leave the charger plugged in awhile and keep hitting the "cancel" button, I will eventually get a flashing "CHARGING" message. After some minutes, the length of which varies, this message disappears and I repeat the process. Annoying, but it works. Thank goodness for the AA-battery plug-in unit and that the unit will at least run off the charger. Other than this, the unit has been one little sweet machine. What does seem to help is -- as others have mentioned -- cleaning the contacts. If you had to clean the contacts within the player unit itself, I don't see how you could. I have not tried rigging a compressed aluminum contact extender, as one user did, but that makes sense to me. I've done it with other small, battery-powered gizmos. It seems that their pressure contacts do become relaxed in some cases over time. so this, too, is worth exploring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted October 21, 2009 Report Share Posted October 21, 2009 My strong impression (reinforced by a recent battle with my "new" NH900) is that the door itself has kind of a weird contact, never mind the bid that touches the battery but how the contact is made from there to the inside of the unit. Applying a little heat very carefully may have burned off the worst. I believe what we are seeing is resistive drop because of the bad contact. Somehow the unit won't sense the battery properly. I suppose one could simulate this by putting a resistor in series, to prove a point. But do clean, preferably with contact cleaner spray, not just the bit that touches the battery + pin but also all the electronics in the sliding battery door. Hope this is useful information, let us know if you can deal with it too. I did win the battle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nrand Posted October 22, 2009 Report Share Posted October 22, 2009 I've had my MZ-RH910 for four years and while it wasn't an immediate problem, battery charging has been an issue through most of my ownership. I've now popped for third-party battery sticks (now using a couple of them from a US firm called Hitech, which I bought online a year or two ago). While I do get charging, the process is not as described in the manual. The unit's screen remains blank but if I leave the charger plugged in awhile and keep hitting the "cancel" button, I will eventually get a flashing "CHARGING" message. After some minutes, the length of which varies, this message disappears and I repeat the process. Annoying, but it works. Thank goodness for the AA-battery plug-in unit and that the unit will at least run off the charger. Other than this, the unit has been one little sweet machine. What does seem to help is -- as others have mentioned -- cleaning the contacts. If you had to clean the contacts within the player unit itself, I don't see how you could. I have not tried rigging a compressed aluminum contact extender, as one user did, but that makes sense to me. I've done it with other small, battery-powered gizmos. It seems that their pressure contacts do become relaxed in some cases over time. so this, too, is worth exploring. I just picked up a second hand MZ NH 910 which appears to have a similar issue with charging. The charging light comes on for a while then goes off, but when I play the unit outside the cradle I still get a low battery message. I have been able to restart the recharge as was suggested. How long should a full recharge take? Should I consider trying the contact cleaner spray as you have? - I have never seen this stuff. Do the batteries have a life expectancy issue/should I consider buying some replacement gumsticks? If so what are the most reliable ones to get.. My MZ R700 - which this one replaces used rechargeble NI CD AAs which never had an issue. So many questions - such a little device! Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted October 22, 2009 Report Share Posted October 22, 2009 In theory they do have a limited life. But so far I have not encountered one that couldnt be revived. It's mostly about resistive drop. There are also some issues with crystal formation - typically the gumstick gets very hot as it charges, exactly once, and then is ok (if it didnt burst!) for a long time. Maybe get an older MD unit to force the charging. I have found the MZ-R91 to be excellent for the purpose of reviving gumsticks. Contact cleaner should not be hard to find if you can locate an electronics store locally. Not sure it is something that can be safely mailed, which gives you a shipping problem if you live in a remote location. Make sure you don't get it anywhere INSIDE the MD unit, though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PsychoPimpKiller Posted November 16, 2009 Report Share Posted November 16, 2009 I bought a MZ-RH910 off of someone on Craigslist lasy year and I couldn't seem to charge the battery via wall adaptor or USB. I also had a similar problem with and MZ-NH900 unit I bought off of ebay. I got on ebay and bought a Hitech charger that came with 2 green Streamsonic 1400 mAh 1.2V NiMH batteries. The charger is a plug-in the wall type that you have to take the batteries out of the unit itself and charge them in the Hitech wall charger. I haven't had any problems with them at all (meaning I'm currently using them instead of my Sony batteries in my Hi-MD units). I just think my Sony batteries were near the end of their lives. The Sony's charge but don't seem to last as long as the newer ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Talisin Posted November 17, 2009 Report Share Posted November 17, 2009 Hi. I have a similar problem with my batteries and RH10: the message of charging dissapears after a few minutes and the I have to press Cancel-Stop button to force it to appear again. The only real problem with this (given I'm always at home when charging batteries so I can press the button as many times as it needs) is that I don't know how many time it actually needs to charge them full. I'm in "trying and trying" process to find that time... What surprises me is that I have three own batteries, two of them almost new and one which is 4 years old, and it happens the same with the three, but I have tried with another batterie, one of a friend that gift me his MD and that treated his battery very bad, and my RH10 charge it without any problem :S I'm beggining to think Sony put a random behaviour chip in any MD unit just to conquer the world turning all of us crazy I bought a MZ-RH910 off of someone on Craigslist lasy year and I couldn't seem to charge the battery via wall adaptor or USB. I also had a similar problem with and MZ-NH900 unit I bought off of ebay. I got on ebay and bought a Hitech charger that came with 2 green Streamsonic 1400 mAh 1.2V NiMH batteries. The charger is a plug-in the wall type that you have to take the batteries out of the unit itself and charge them in the Hitech wall charger. I haven't had any problems with them at all (meaning I'm currently using them instead of my Sony batteries in my Hi-MD units). I just think my Sony batteries were near the end of their lives. The Sony's charge but don't seem to last as long as the newer ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted November 17, 2009 Report Share Posted November 17, 2009 I think I've posted what I believe to be the solution before. http://forums.sonyinsider.com/index.php?showtopic=24567&view=findpost&p=169073 This was an NH900 but I think they are all similar. The NiMH batteries seem to need to be woken up. At issue appears to be resistance in the charging circuit that indicates to the auto charging circuit that the battery is charged. (not sure exactly how but I prodded and poked until it seemed to work). The other tip is that some Japan-made models (mine is the MZ-R91) seem to do a better job of charging a "dormant" battery. Once the battery is awake, the kindest thing you can do is to recondition it by running it down as far as possible and charging again. You may find (hopefully will find) that as you repeat this, the battery eventually holds more charge. So far I have 100% success rate with reviving dormant gumstick batteries. I have never had to throw out a used one. Notes: 1. If the battery gets hot during charging exactly once, this is a sign that it has revived. (I don't think it will get hot every time) 2. There is a small danger that during heating (by charging) NiMH batteries will swell and in the worst cases explode. I've never had the bursting, but I had one battery swell. If you are going to charge IN the unit, check on it every 5-10 minutes when you have a doubtful battery, and if there is any sign of being difficult to remove it (due to swelling), let it cool down for a few hours and try again. I think the swelling is some Hydrogen gas being released. I had it explained to me that sometimes the NiMH crystallises in such a way that the ability to charge is kinda "frozen". The heating corresponds to the NiMH (which should be a black powder) returning to normal function. 3. The resistance thing (where I heated the terminals) needs to be very carefully done. Your objective is to get the guck off the contacts so that a proper charging voltage gets applied to the battery. Some of the contacts are part of the MD unit, and of course the actual battery terminals have a habit of getting coated in crap (sometimes green crap from decomposition) themselves. Cleaning with a knife or contact cleaner may be enough though, applying external heat is a last resort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
culp4684 Posted November 17, 2009 Report Share Posted November 17, 2009 Here's another source. I've had pretty good success with these. I also bought their charger a while back, but it looks like it is no longer available. Not sure about delivery south of the border... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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