How long does it take for camera battery to drain when recharging it?
Monday, January 23rd, 2012 at
11:04 pm
Okay so i know when you are charging a camera battery it drains it before charging it again
approx. how long does this take??
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Filed under: Cameras
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Hi Kylie:
The premise for your Question is actually not true for many (most) cameras & camcorders.
A typical NiCad, NiMH, or Lithium chemistry battery charge cycle does NOT cycle-down the battery before re-charging. The charge cycle merely "tops off" the battery voltage from where it is when you start to charge it.
Dating back to old Motorola walkie-talkie radio NiCad batteries, which were prone to "memory charge" effects (only allowing partial useable run-time from constant half-drain/re-charge cycles), many chargers had "deep discharge" cycles (the kind your Question refers to) built into them.
These deep-discharge & full re-charge cycles were to prevent or cure crystallization (called "dendrites") of the electrolytic paste that’s used in the battery chemistry. The crystals caused a rapid voltage drop-off, that amounted to less than the rated Amp-Hour specification for the battery.
Newer battery chemistries don’t have this crystallization/memory problem. But newer batteries need to be fully cycled (charged, run-down, re-charged) by normal usage a few times before they reach their maximum AmpHour runtime.
Oh, as far as the "how long it takes" aspect, it depends on the "size" (AmpHour or mAH rating) of the battery in question, and whether the charger is a rapid-charge type or trickle-charge type.
An overnight (5-8 hours) charge is usually sufficient for most consumer batteries.
hope this helps,
–Dennis C.