When you are using your cell phone, digital camera, or working on a project requiring a cordless drill, there are few things more irritating then when the battery goes dead. Over time rechargeable batteries begin to lose their ability to stay charge as long as they used to. Some batteries can even lost the ability to hold a charge at all.
There is a simple trick I discovered ages ago that can extend the life of rechargeable batteries and force the battery to take a deeper longer lasting charge. This trick has also allowed me to bring dead batteries back to life.
Certain types of rechargeable batteries carry a accumulated memory that builds up if you don’t fully discharge your rechargeable batteries before you recharge them again. This is caused by internal heat buildup which can, over time, cause the battery to stop taking a charge at all. You can almost always force your batteries to take a deeper charge just by leaving them in the freezer over night.
You may have also noticed that your batteries may not hold a charge over a long period of time. I often don’t use my digital camera for months. It can really help the life of the battery if you put it in the freezer before topping it back off.
At times I have ended up leaving the batteries in the freezer for long periods of time. Sometimes months after a project or trip gets derailed and I forget I left the batteries in there. Luckily this has never had any effect on the batteries at all. In fact, they usually take a full charge with no problem.
The only thing you might notice about batteries that are frozen solid is that they take longer to charge. If you are used to charging your cordless drill batteries in an hour it could take an hour and a half to charge them if they are frozen solid. However, the battery will often hold a much deeper charge.
If you have batteries that are no longer holding a charge at all you can sometimes bring them back from the dead with this trick. A lot of rechargeable batteries take a long period of time before they get to this point. Manufactures often put a number on it like 500-1000 recharges before they stop holding a charge, but this can happen pretty fast with electronics you use often.
I have heard fears that doing this to your batteries may cause them to explode, or meltdown like some of the ones we have seen on tv. I have never had a problem like this. It is important to remember that these types of problem are caused by heat build up, which you are preventing if you leave them in the freezer.
John Dallinger has been working in the electronic industry for years and commonly writes useful articles online. To see more of his recent work please see Coleman Rechargeable Lantern Battery as well as Cyclops Xenon Rechargable Flashlight
