TECH: Rechargable V's Alkaline?????????????

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Hi all,

I am thinking of installing rechargeable batteries in my pins instead of
alkaline ones, I am looking at going with Ni-MH ones but just wanted to know
if I should be aware of any problems using rechargeables can cause.

I done a search on Google before this post and its limited but I did
notice people saying things about Diodes need to be added but read it for
both alkaline and rechargeable posts some made.

BTW: These batteries will be used on WPC-89 CPU Boards. Thanks for any
help.

Kevin

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

blocking diodes are only required for people putting non rechargeable
batteries into a charging system, ie, alkalines in a Gottlieb system 1
for example. Any system that had nicads originally will be ok with
nicads but not with alakalines or any other non rechargeable battery.
Since wpc boards use alkalines there would be no point putting in nicads
as they won't get recharged by the system. They will just drain and die.

Sojourner353 wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I am thinking of installing rechargeable batteries in my pins instead of
> alkaline ones, I am looking at going with Ni-MH ones but just wanted to know
> if I should be aware of any problems using rechargeables can cause.
>
> I done a search on Google before this post and its limited but I did
> notice people saying things about Diodes need to be added but read it for
> both alkaline and rechargeable posts some made.
>
> BTW: These batteries will be used on WPC-89 CPU Boards. Thanks for any
> help.
>
> Kevin
>
>

--
Cliffy - CARGPB2
A passion for pinball!
http://www.passionforpinball.com

 

[martin]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Don't use rechargeables. They don't do well in this aplication for
three reasons:

1) They won't charge, because WPC-89 has a blocking diode.
2) They self-discharge quite quickly (NiCd is WAY better than NiMH,
BTW)
3) They leak nasty corrosive stuff for sure when they are flat.

You could make them work by putting a resistor across the blocking
diode (150 Ohms would be about right, for a 20 hour charge time every 3
months). But they will fail if the machine is not turned on often
enough.

Just use alkalines and change them every 4 years. Or, if you are
worried about leaks, put in a remote holder. Or, use the fancy AA
lithiums.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

"martin" <martin.reynolds@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1122173664.604139.294000@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Don't use rechargeables. They don't do well in this aplication for
> three reasons:
>
> 1) They won't charge, because WPC-89 has a blocking diode.
> 2) They self-discharge quite quickly (NiCd is WAY better than NiMH,
> BTW)
> 3) They leak nasty corrosive stuff for sure when they are flat.
>
> You could make them work by putting a resistor across the blocking
> diode (150 Ohms would be about right, for a 20 hour charge time every 3
> months). But they will fail if the machine is not turned on often
> enough.

Just don't do this with NiMH batteries. These should NEVER be trickle
charged like this.

-- Ed

>
> Just use alkalines and change them every 4 years. Or, if you are
> worried about leaks, put in a remote holder. Or, use the fancy AA
> lithiums.
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

On Sun, 24 Jul 2005 02:31:14 GMT, Sojourner353 <sojourner*NOSPAM*@dodo.com.au> wrote:
> I am thinking of installing rechargeable batteries in my pins instead of
> alkaline ones, I am looking at going with Ni-MH ones but just wanted to know
> if I should be aware of any problems using rechargeables can cause.

Well, other than the fact that they leak and damage the board...

Ok, seriously, if you have a game that takes alkaline AA batteries, unless
you're willing and able to build a proper charging circuit for your proposed
rechargeable batteries, you can't put rechargeables there and expect them to
do anything at all other than act like a normal battery that will eventually
run down and die.

> I done a search on Google before this post and its limited but I did
> notice people saying things about Diodes need to be added but read it for
> both alkaline and rechargeable posts some made.

For taking a game that does use rechargeable batteries, and converting it to
using regular alkaline AA batteries, a "blocking diode" is installed to
prevent the battery recharge circuit from attempting to charge the alkaline
batteries.

> BTW: These batteries will be used on WPC-89 CPU Boards. Thanks for any
> help.

All the help you're going to need: "Don't do this."

--
| David Gersic http://www.zaccaria-pinball.com |
| After I cook the vegetables, what do I do with the wheelchairs? |
| Email address is a spam trap. Visit the web site for contact info. |

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

"Sojourner353" <sojourner*NOSPAM*@dodo.com.au> wrote in
news:42e2fd5f@news.comindico.com.au:

> Hi all,
>
> I am thinking of installing rechargeable batteries in my pins
> instead of
> alkaline ones, I am looking at going with Ni-MH ones but just wanted
> to know if I should be aware of any problems using rechargeables can
> cause.
>
> I done a search on Google before this post and its limited but I
> did
> notice people saying things about Diodes need to be added but read it
> for both alkaline and rechargeable posts some made.
>
> BTW: These batteries will be used on WPC-89 CPU Boards. Thanks for
> any
> help.

NiMH batteries are a pretty bad fit for this application. They don't
really like to be drained only a little bit then trickle charged. They
fit much more with the digital camera way of lifestyle: charge them up
fully, then blow them completely down, then charge them up fully again.

That, plus even sitting on the shelf doing nothing, NiMH's will only have
a charge for about a month.

----

If people are SO worried about this, why not run a little stringer of
wire out the back vents, hook all your games up in parallel, and have a
little PC power supply supplying +5V on all the time? (Thinking out loud
here; there might be a reason not to tie all the games' logic grounds
together, but I'm not thinking of one at the moment.)