Understanding Rechargeable Batteries and Chargers

• 

  dust on 10/05/2022 - 12:02

  +3

  The displayed mah is the amount that was charged. So the batteries weren't fully discharged before charging. Was that your question?

  • 

    hooray on 10/05/2022 - 19:58

    my question was that i presumed he charger was going to show 2450mAh and confirm the quality of the ladda batteries however it is confirmed that thats not how it works cheers

• 

  toomuchdogfur on 10/05/2022 - 12:38

  +2

  but the display says 1.49 volts 375mAh

  This is what the charger is outputting, not a reading of the current battery status. An important distinction to make is that the charger is showing 375mA not mAh:

  • 375mA is a measure of current (the rate at which it is "refuelling" your batteries)
  • 375mAh is a measure of capacity (essentially how much "fuel" is in the "tank" - it is not possible for the charger to know this).

  As per the manual, the relevant charging figures are:

  Output voltage: 1.48V
  Output current: 375mA x 4

  Which match up with the figures you are seeing.

  (I also have this exact charger and can confirm personally this is how it behaves)

  • 

    hooray on 10/05/2022 - 19:58

    +1

    thankyou

• 

  scrimshaw on 10/05/2022 - 12:50

  IKEA LADDA's are pre-charged (i.e they are not flat when you first bought them), which is why your new batteries didn't take that long to completely charge

  Smart battery chargers cannot tell you how much exactly is left in the battery, they can take a "guess" by measuring the voltage and resistance when you first put them in, followed by continuous measurements during charging. It stops when it thinks it is full based on the current flow / battery voltage values that are pre-programmed into the smart charger.

• 

  Crow K on 10/05/2022 - 13:21

  I always found this two-minute video the most helpful way to get my head around it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brdmnUBAS00