Alkaline Battery Charger. Is it Real?

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This video is about the Viatek Model RE02 battery charger. In addition to Ni-Cd and Ni-MH batteries, which are re-chargeable, this device also claims to re-charge alkaline batteries. Alkaline batteries are not considered re-chargeable. If you put them into the charger, they will take a charge and they will measure 1.5 volts, but how much energy was actually put back into the battery?
In this experiment, I use a smoke alarm to measure the relative amount of energy there is in alkaline batteries. The smoke alarm draws a small steady current. The smoke alarm will signal low battery when the battery voltage drops below 1.35. The length of time it takes to go from full charge (1.5volts) to low battery (1.35 volts) will provide a measure of the relative amount of energy. I start with new fresh batteries. I let the smoke alarm run down to low battery and record the number of days. I then recharge the batteries and place them back into the smoke alarm and let it run until the low battery signal chirps again. I repeated the process 2 more times. Each time the batteries took a charge and measured 1.5 volts, but the length of time they ran was dramatically shorter than new batteries and became shorter with each charge.
This video is a follow up to an earlier video I made in 2018 on the same subject. On that video I did not have quantifiable measurements. Many comments were posted by people who claimed they routinely re-charge alkaline batteries with good results. My experiment shows that, although the alkaline battery appears to take a charge, the amount of energy put back into the battery is actually very small, and gets smaller with subsequent re-charges.
Prior video: • Alkaline Battery Recha...

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4 окт 2024

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Комментарии : 63

@baddestmofoalive Год назад

Holy cow man this video took some serious dedication. Good job

@davidking5497 Год назад

Classic scientific research. Hypothesis, controlled experiment, followed with a concise explanation of the results. Well done. Your dedicated work is appreciated. And a shout out from Canada.

@davidogan Год назад

Hello. I’m amused that I’m watching this video 11 hrs after you posed it. I just watched your previous video about this particular “normal” batteries recharger that you posted 4 yrs ago. I have a big bagful of depleted batteries bought from the supermarket. I thought what a waste and wondered if there are clever but safe ways to recharge them. I watched a load of videos by many people but found yours to be most trustworthy and evidence empirically based. Thanks very much for this experiment. I salute your patience in testing your hypothesis. Now I think that recharging used household batteries are perhaps not so worth the time and effort and perhaps yield minimal results and perhaps potentially unsafe with the leakage. I found this viatek charger you used but now they want $40 for it! With my very limited knowledge, perhaps it is a better idea to invest in real rechargeable batteries instead. Thank you very much for your video. Very helpful. Cheers.

@c.davidgraves4848 Год назад

Thanks for watching both videos. I know I am a little long winded. If you look at the posts under my previous video, you see many people are convinced they are able to recharge Alkaline batteries. I hope I can dispel this misconception by putting some real numbers on it. Ni-MH batteries are called rechargeable for a reason. Ni-MH batteries are about 4x the cost of Alkaline. The break even is only 4 recharges. Ni-MH batteries can be recharged hundred of times and last for years. I use them in every device that will accept them. Note, there are some devices that can not work with the lower voltage of rechargeable batteries. 1.2 volts vs 1.5 volts.

@davidogan Год назад

@@c.davidgraves4848 Hi again. Thank you very much for taking the time to reply. Really love your videos. Well, you've got me convince. But I understand the temptation to "cheat the system" so to speak to bring those deplete batteries back to life. I've learnt a lot from your videos so thank you very much sir. Keep up the good work. I'm now a fan.

@examplerkey 10 месяцев назад

I can't thank you enough for doing the capacity experiment. Given the amount of time you spent on it, this is by far the best and definitive must watch video for anyone who is curious how long the recharged alkaline batteries last because this is a real world example, not by an electronic load which could be faster but won't reflect the real world scenario. I had a hunch that the first charge would hold about 10%. Your video confirms it. Basically the chemistry is different. The ion flow is non reversible, thus non rechargeable. The illusion of "recharge" comes from unused or untouched anode material - powdered zinc, manganese, potassium, graphite, etc. As it oxidized (internal resistance) during discharge, the so called "charging" does not reverse the zinc oxide back into zinc. So overtime, it becomes more and more difficult to recharge it, in other words, all the zinc becomes consumed.

@Landrew0 9 месяцев назад

Back in the 70s, I discovered that alkaline cells were fully rechargeable. In the 90s, I bought a laptop with an alkaline rechargeable battery. It was still taking a charge 10 years later. Sometime in the 80s, I saw a TV infomercial for a charger that recharged alkaline batteries. The inventor claimed to be a former college professor. A few months later, that product disappeared, and a special type of rechargeable, called "Pure Energy" appeared on the market. The regular alkaline had changed somehow, and I found that they couldn't be recharged like before. It's been that way ever since.

@c.davidgraves4848 9 месяцев назад

There was a rechargeable alkaline battery. There is a Wiki page: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rechargeable_alkaline_battery

@fiatuno72 Год назад

Thank you for the serious dedication in making this video. I have a similar charger and observe the same effects

@thomaslau8806 Год назад

Thank you for your time and dedication in making this video! Very informative! Thank you!!

@Lord-Sméagol 10 месяцев назад

Duracell alkaline cells are better for high power applications, like motorized toys etc. I think Energizer may be a better choice for low power things like smoke alarms and clocks. Also, alkaline cells that have been deep discharged can only be recharged to a fraction of their initial energy; as this test shows. I have an earlier model (had it since about 2005) of the charger featured here and I find that topping-up the cells after each short use (cycle lights etc.) gets much more total life from them. Rechargeable cells have a lower voltage (1.25v for Ni-Mh), which may be a problem with this smoke detector, which is expecting 1.5v per cell.

@trendingshmending Год назад

Answered ALL of my questions about whether or not I should be recharging my batteries, and what kind of batteries I should be buying. Thank you for your dedication and your great video! Subscribed!

@z33thr33 Год назад

If you go through a lot of em just buck up for LiPos

@smartphonecomputerundmehr Год назад

You should try a different brand than Duracell. I used the same charger with Varta and got 10 recharges out of one cell. With the 5 early recharges I couldn't tell any difference between a new one. 6A short circuit Now two tips: 1. Don't turn the device off during a charge or don't take out the battery before it's fully charged. 2. Don't leave the batteries in for long, when the green light illuminates. If the light turns from red to green, the batteries should only stay in for 10 more seconds, then take them out It would be very nice to see a follow-up with these informations taken into account

@smartphonecomputerundmehr 11 месяцев назад

@electronics_fixerReally? Duracell didn't work at all for me

@haiangtran2036 3 месяца назад

Exactly

@andygeorgiou2846 8 месяцев назад

Absolutely thorough experiment with a clear decisive result. Thank you.

@trungnguyentuan Год назад

Great work, tons of effort put in this. Pure science, Respect!!!

@therealjammit 11 месяцев назад

A thing I made to test NiCd batteries (and I'm certain it would work for alkaline batteries) was one of those single "AA" traveling alarm clocks with hands and not an LCD display. I wired up alligator clips to the battery terminals and installed a 10 ohm resistor in parallel. I would set the time to 12:00 and hook up a charged battery. The 10 ohm resistor would help discharge the battery faster. When the battery dies the clock stops and shows the elapsed time. By setting it back to 12:00 I can test another battery. It isn't accurate but is repeatable.

@RocZi Год назад

Thank you for your scientific approach and validating with actual statistics. Your graph shows : technically yes, "non-rechargeable alkaline 1.5V batteries" can indeed be recharged back for up to 3 times, with the right charger and safe measures in place, before it cannot hold any practical charge. Whereas (you said it best in one of your comments) : _Ni-MH batteries can be recharged hundred of times and last for years._ The only issue is _"there are some devices that can not work with the lower voltage of rechargeable batteries. 1.2 volts vs 1.5 volts."_ I am just finding out that "rechargeable alkaline 1.5V batteries" actually exists, but it is so rare, i cannot immediately find info about it nor see it in ecommerce marketplace. Perhaps it is not very safe due to the alkaline chemistry. But i am glad you did the experiment that I am asking along my search.

@c.davidgraves4848 Год назад

There was a rechargeable Alkaline battery. There are chemically different from disposable batteries. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rechargeable_alkaline_battery

@davidfarmer2049 5 месяцев назад

As the lad said below a good review and thorough test. Subbed.

@YeOldeTraveller Год назад

Very good data, and not too surprising. I find that a battery that was discharged with a low current isn't going to recover well at all. I have had better luck refreshing batteries that were discharged with high current. It is definitely a case of diminishing returns, but I am trying to delay the point when the batteries will be thrown away.

@braddofner 6 месяцев назад

I dont kniw if anyone said this yet, but its probably referring to RECHARGEABLE alkaline batteries NOT disposable.... Not many people know those exist, apparently.

@r.perkins2103 Год назад

Thank you. I am testing different makes with a date label on each one to test run time vs cost. Should have the results in about 10 years. 😃

@maxplanck698 Год назад

Finally a scientific method evaluation of the tool, well done!

@randyredbeard9101 6 месяцев назад

I have this charger and everything he said I have experienced. ☝️ Except the multi-year experimentation. That's Nuts but congratulations Sr! Well done 👏👏👏.😊

@johndrapeau Год назад

You exhibited great patients 😮. Great job and thank you, you saved me money.

@d.jensen5153 6 месяцев назад

I haven't read all the literature, but a patent I was studying recently was talking about charging alkaline cells at currents far below what your charger puts out. The downside of such low charging current is the long charge time - something on the order of two weeks. I'm starting just such an experiment - charging an alkaline AAA cell at about 2.8 mA from a source that is voltage-limited to about 1.55 V.

@d.jensen5153 5 месяцев назад

@DonBenovo Thanks for asking. I gave up my resolve part way through the experiment when it became obvious the cell wasn't taking on significant charge. The device that was burning through my supply of alkaline cells - a wireless outdoor thermometer - has been replaced by a wired unit. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@logothaironsides2942 4 месяца назад

great scientific approach. We have almost the same charger all except ours has no on/off button. I got it because it can do 9volts. We also have an old innovations charger from a long time ago that also charges alkalines. I must have saved so much money in batteries over the years, especially when the kids were going through batteries in their gadgets. I found you can recharge something like energizer about 4 times. The duracells are pretty similar to them. Anything cheap, you MIGHT get 1 charge. The charger will show BAD on the screen of the one like you have, if it cant give a charge (too low to begin with). On our other charger (innovations) it will show progress in bars and an X if it cant charge them . I dont think they claim a full restore each time on any of these alkaline chargers.

@diegovd7215 8 месяцев назад

Thank you so very much for your time and effort.

@SovereignKnight74 14 дней назад

Just buy some high quality NIMH rechargeables, or try those new "Lithium-ion 1.5V" rechargeables for devices that must have 1.5v. Great video BTW.

@malbbsmith6925 9 месяцев назад

THANKS FOR YOUR DEDICATION, DID YOU KNOW TURNING THE CHARCHER UPSIDE-DOWN REDUCES BATTERY LEAKAGE DAMAGING THE DEVICE

@RocZi Год назад

Side story : in view of trying to find rechargeable 1.5V batteries, I recently bought XTAR 1.5V Li-on AA and AAA batteries to solve my problems with devices that absolutely needs 1.5V to work. However, i encountered a problem where one of my device, a Gas Leak Detector, will not power up with my XTAR 1.5V AAA Li-on batteries. When I asking in a electrical forum, engineers reveal to me that, 1.5V Li-on in general are mainly 3.7V Li-on cells with buck / switchmode converters to step down voltage to 1.5V. Engineers call these 1.5V Li-on batteries "miniature power banks that simulate 1.5V" and devices may not be able to detect the voltage accurately. They are also guessing the batteries themselves may not be outputting strong enough current when a certain device requires a consistent voltage / amp, especially a Gas Leak Detector has a small heating element and require a high current to start-up. The manufacturer, advised me to use Alkaline batteries. Since I already tried 1.2V Ni-mh, and 1.5V Li-on wannabe, I suck it up and went out to buy Energizer Max 1.5V Alkaline non-rechargeable batteries, and my gas leak detector starts up immediately. And now I just found out about "Rechargeable alkaline batteries" and wonder how different are they with normal non-rechargeable alkaline.

@fare2muddlin Год назад

Taking AA batteries out of wiimote and letting them set for a month seems to work. Often sometimes.🤔But I’ve never kept a record of the time difference. Some have claimed freezing helps. Others say heating. Possibly solar charging in a cold temp on a timer would be economical. Looks like good rechargeables make more sense, if the voltage is right.

@Wil-q2p 2 месяца назад

Never heard of a smoke detector running on 21 point five old batteries

@Wil-q2p 2 месяца назад

Salt water zinc carbon batteries are not designed to be charged.They're also in a zinc metal can too

@teammouse Год назад

Amazing video! Thanks for taking the time…😆 “a dumb charger” i knew you were going to say that 🤣

@dorinsamoila1462 Год назад

Thank you. I have same Point like you after doing same experiment.

@stanleybear3442 3 месяца назад

Świetny test

@nattyw495 10 месяцев назад

Isnt it so strange we can put rovers on mars but we cant find a way to recharge alkaline batteries..lol i think someone who could find a way to recharge alkaline batteries would become a billionaire or maybe the battery ceos would have find a way to stop that patent..thank you so much for your video, i also did something similar as was thinking how many batteries end up in landfill could you do a video on what exactly is in side battery could a future company ever recycle these types of batteries and re use components and re use so called inside to make new batteries? It seems so harsh on our land fills..

@karwanmhamadSKS 8 месяцев назад

Thank you for the vedio it's very nice ❤

@hernancoronel Год назад

I agree but I have on alkaline charger and it is sometimes nice to recharge them and get some more juice out of them before throwing them out once in a while… LOL!

@Wil-q2p 2 месяца назад

In the newer batteries these days not supposed to leak

@vincentrobinette1507 4 месяца назад

The charger is real, but alkaline cells, not so much. That charger did the best job possible, but, what's possible really isn't that good. Keep the charger, it's the best there is, for Ni-MH RECHARGEABLE cells.