Hi Lea,
You will not really be able to get much good information about this aspect of NiMH rechargeable batteries. They all have a finite shelf life but there is no standard of how long will they last, nor is there any standard of knowing when a battery was made and how old it is exactly.
Generally a NiMH battery will still be OK for a few years if you have it in the original packaging, but newer batteries are definitely better. The key is to get a good quality battery charger that has the ability to "rescue" a bad battery. Many NiMH batteries are just suffering from depleted voltage and can still be revived if used in a battery charger that has that ability. Many times I take a "bad battery" from one charger and try it in another charger - even one that has no smart features at all - and it gets it past the low voltage that caused the "smart charger" to say that it was "bad" and not chargeable.
Hope that helps.
Sincerely,
Curtis
From: lstone
Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2007 2:18 PM
To: info@greenbatteries.com
Subject: battery shelf life? (for never used batteries)
Hi!
We have a library customer who is trying to find out about the shelf-life of unopened, un-used NiMH batteries.
We wondered if you would know!
Her question is, can you store such batteries indefinitely, then open them up, charge them, and use,
or do NiMH batteries have a shelf-life?
Her question is not about the self-discharge aspect of storing rechargeable batteries.
Her question is about never-before-used NiMH batteries, still sealed in their package - how long can they be stored in an unopened condition and still be usable?
So, for example, can she buy a dozen of them, put them away (unopened) in the closet, and still expect to be able to use them in 5, 10, 15, or 20 years?
We are having a tough time tracking this information down!
Thanks so much for any light you can shed!!
Lea Stone
Librarian, Contra Costa County Library
by Greenbatteries.com - Responsible Renewable Energy
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