2500mah vs 3600mah for a Wii remote

[Oualawouzou]

Hello everybody...

Recently, tired to plow through new batteries, I purchased a charger and some rechargeable batteries. All good and well.... but when I use them in a Nintendo Wii remote, they go from fully charged to fully drained in an hour!

These are AA Nickel-Hydride batteries, 2500mah. I started researching on the Internet and saw that the Nickel-Hydride batteries are recommended for most "high tech" devices. Good. Though I have no idea if a Wii remote is considered "high tech". I also found that there are 3600mah batteries... and that's about it. That was after a looong time sorting through all sorts of commercial links trying to sell me batteries... urg...*

So... a little help here? Why do my batteries last a whooping 60 minutes?

Thanks!

*Usually, when I make a comment like this, someone posts an appropriate link found via google within 5 minutes. My google-fu sucks, but I try, I swear I do!

 

[elgarak]

First: There are no 3600 mAh NiMH AA batteries I am aware of. The maximum from respectable manufacturers (Sanyo, Panasonic, Duracell) is ~2800 mAh. I would be VERY suspicious of any seller/manufacturer claiming that high of a capacity as 3600 mAh.

Second: I don't have a Wii, but from what I found googling, there should be no problem using NiMH in the remote (there are some devices you could considered high-tech that are very ill-suited with rechargeables, among them clocks, wireless mice and remotes -- so check with the manufacturer, but the Wii remote should work AFAICT). It seems that you have a short circuit somewhere. Check the battery compartment and battery contacts for physical anomalies (dirt, hairs etc. Have seen it all ...). If there's a short-circuit, than you should get short runtimes with any kind of battery. If you get decent runtimes with normal Alkalines, than your batteries might be at fault... What brand are they? Most NiMH need a couple of cycles to get full capacity, though I had some that never worked fully (like 10 cycles and 20% of calculated runtime).

It appears to me that the high-capacity NiMH are more susceptible to such problems than lower capacity ones. Better go with lower cap ones if you're not really into high current devices. Sanyo Eneloops are a good choice and fairly widely available. Only 2000 mAh, but very reliable and don't discharge as fast as other NiMH (so better of you do not play 24.7 ).

Another problem could be the charger. A lot of the cheaper ones in el-cheapo kits are simple trickle or timer-controlled chargers, which work for most average users, but quite often do not charge well and to the max. Again, Sanyo Eneloop chargers are fairly decent.

 

[a_unique_person]

From my experience, and what I have read, the very high capacity NiMH batteries also have a low internal resistance, so they are essentially useless for most applications, as they lose their charge very quickly.

I was wondering if anyone has an opinion on Varta 2000 maH batteries that claim to come precharged from the box. That seems to imply to me a good capacity, but also that they don't drain themselves internally. If so, they sound like what I want.

 

[Oualawouzou]

It seems that you have a short circuit somewhere. Check the battery compartment and battery contacts for physical anomalies (dirt, hairs etc. Have seen it all ...). If there's a short-circuit, than you should get short runtimes with any kind of battery. If you get decent runtimes with normal Alkalines,

I do, so it's not that.

than your batteries might be at fault... What brand are they? Most NiMH need a couple of cycles to get full capacity, though I had some that never worked fully (like 10 cycles and 20% of calculated runtime).

They're Energizer. Didn't know that some require a few cycles to get going though, thanks for the tip!

Another problem could be the charger. A lot of the cheaper ones in el-cheapo kits are simple trickle or timer-controlled chargers, which work for most average users, but quite often do not charge well and to the max. Again, Sanyo Eneloop chargers are fairly decent.

Well, I use the Wii remote itself to check the charge. When you pause the system, an icon shows up telling you how much charge (in 25% increments) is left in your batteries. I tested batteries that were at 75% and 100%, but they were all on their first cycle.

Based on what you told me, I'll give the batteries and charger I have now some time to prove their worth, and will look into Sanyo if it doesn't get better. Thanks!

 

[Smackety]

Buy a new Wii remote?

 

[elgarak]

I do, so it's not that.



They're Energizer. Didn't know that some require a few cycles to get going though, thanks for the tip!



Well, I use the Wii remote itself to check the charge. When you pause the system, an icon shows up telling you how much charge (in 25% increments) is left in your batteries. I tested batteries that were at 75% and 100%, but they were all on their first cycle.

Based on what you told me, I'll give the batteries and charger I have now some time to prove their worth, and will look into Sanyo if it doesn't get better. Thanks!

Not to discourage you, but my last experiences with Energizer was not very good... three out of four AAA NiMH nearly burned up during charging in the first or second cycle. Never trusted Energizer after that ... YMMV.

Second, if you only checked the meter on the Wii (and did not actually measured the time for a full discharge), it's entirely possible that the meter is WAY off. The discharge behavior of Alkies and NiMH is very different, and not all devices check by themselves which type is used (very few, actually). Is there a setting where you can tell the type of battery? There might not be, considering Nintendo does not sell rechargeables for it, and you have to dig deep in the help files to find out that NiMH actually should work.

If you can't set the meter, try ignoring it and experiment how long you get actually out of the batteries.

 

[zenotter]

I'm always surprised when I have to change the batteries in my Wii-motes. Maybe they just naturally use lots of juice.

 

[a_unique_person]

Just bought some new Ni-MH batteries today that hold their charge for at least six months, and are still high capacity, (2100mAH), with a charger. Hopefully they will be the answer to my needs.

 

[Learning Phase]

The voltage under load of a fully charged NiMH battery is about at the level that an alkaline is when at the end of it's life, about 1.2 volts.

If the remote works well with the NiMH batteries in there, ignore the meter, which is probably set for alkaline (1.5 or more when new). If it doesn't let you ignore the meter, you'll simply have to keep on coughing up the dough for alkalines.

 

[abkaiser]

The voltage under load of a fully charged NiMH battery is about at the level that an alkaline is when at the end of it's life, about 1.2 volts.

If the remote works well with the NiMH batteries in there, ignore the meter, which is probably set for alkaline (1.5 or more when new). If it doesn't let you ignore the meter, you'll simply have to keep on coughing up the dough for alkalines.

I second this post. If the remote works for an acceptable amount of time, ignore the charge indicator. NiMH batteries don't have the same max charge in voltage as alkalines. They also have a different discharge curve.