Lithium Ion rechargeable batteries and Olympus C-220

Hi,

Has anyone used Lithium Ion rechargeable batteries in the Olympus C-220?
I have been reading that Olympus have said there can be problems using
any other than their batteries (probably just to make sure they sell more
batteries), I have only just got the camera and I don't want to cause
myself any problems.

Whilst on the subject of batteries does anyone know what the polarity is
of the DC input socket on this camera as I was thinking of making up a
power pack of pairs of NiMh cells in parallel.

Thanks

Gerald

 

Hi Gerald...

I would strongly urge you to discard the idea of
paralleling NiMh's. A very bad idea, for many
reasons.

Take care.

Ken

 

<nods> Most particularly, there is a serious risk of melting the
batteries.

 

Hi Ken,

I'm not saying you are wrong but I have been connecting cells in parallel
for years now (I'm 57) with no problems and there seem to be plenty of
adverts for battery packs with cells in parallel. Any way I probably
will get a couple of high capacity D cells in series to power the camera
in an emergency, so as I asked does anyone know the polarity of the DC
input socket?
Gerald

 

Kibo informs me that Grytpype-Thynne

How sure are you that you mean 'parallel', & not 'series'? Connecting
them in series is fine, & it's the standard way of making up battery
packs.

Series looks (electrically) like this:
+[#####|-^+[#####|-^+[#####|-

Parallel looks like this:

+[#####|-
( )
+[#####|-
( )
+[#####|-

Connecting them in parallel can be done safely if you know what you're
doing - you can't just wire them terminal to terminal, you need to
include load-sharing resistors at the very least.

It should be marked on the socket itself, or on the nameplate of the
unit. Look for a little circular symbol with a heavy dot in the middle.
The circle should have a + or - marked on it.

 

Hi,

I was a radio and TV engineer until I became medically retired and my
grandfather taught me about electronics when I was 6 so that's 51 years
of experience, I've worked from large valves that were more like lights
through to surface mount.

2 cells in series to make 2.4 or 3 volts depending on the cell then
connect each pair in parallel top of first pair to the top of second pair
then bottom of first pair to bottom of second pair, with load sharing
resistors in place.

 

Kibo informs me that Grytpype-Thynne

Well, I don't have a lot of experience with valves, but I've done
everything else.

No worries then. You hadn't mentioned load-sharing resistors previously.

 

Hi Gerald...

Hey, I'm an old retired and stroke damaged P Eng (electrical)
which counts for nothing at all; but I *am* older than you
are so I win (64 today - don't tell the girls

First, Olympus cameras have the pin positive. No
protection at all; no crowbar, no diodes, you're on
your own....

The reason that we're concerned about putting them
in parallel is the incredibly low internal impedance
of NiMh's. They'll dump fantastic amounts of current
instantaneously). So, please give me the benefit of
the doubt and be careful!

And if you're blessed enough to have youngsters in
your life, as I do with grand kids, please keep NiMh's
away from them.

Couple of years ago, was outside taking pictures. Had
a set in my camera; and a spare set in my hand.
Little grand daughter came out, and excitedly told me
that we could ride our bikes to the ice cream store
if we were sure to hold hands crossing (major street)

I foolishly put the spare set in my totally empty
relatively tight blue jeans pocket and off we went.
Got as far as the ice cream stand, and somehow one of
them shorted. Hot - and too tight to pull away from my
leg. Couldn't/wouldn't take them off in front of kids.
Got hot enough to melt the plastic off the battery,
and to this day I have the scar on my leg.

Now I carry spares only in a proper container.

Sorry for the bit of a lecture, just please be
cautious.

Take care.

Ken

 

That's probably because I don't really think about them, and just use
them.

When my grandad started teaching me everything had brass terminals and
you used square wire to connect them, the circuits were on blue prints
and you fixed everything to the blueprint over the actual drawing and ran
the wire in straight lines with 90 degree corners. I still have a
blueprint somewhere for a 2 valve radio and as I said about the valves
being bright if you couldn't receive anything you could read by the light
from them.

 

Speaking of Li-Ion batteries, does anyone know if AA rechargeable
Li-Ion (and a recharger) are available anywhere?

 

How much better are Lithium Ion than NIMH?

My Fuji S7000 seems very heavy on NiMH.

 

Better in what respect? In terms of physical size and weight, LiIon and
NiMH have about the same energy for a given size (volume), but the LiIon
battery will weigh much less for the same energy.

LiIon also has low self-discharge, so it retains nearly full power for
many months after charging. NiMH cells discharge about 1% per day, so
if it's been more than a few weeks since you charged them it's a good
idea to "top up" the charge before use if you need maximum output.

LiIon cells slowly degrade with time whether you use them or not. I've
read that their useful lifetime is 2 years, and a couple hundred charge
cycles. NiMH are cheaper to buy in the first place and will provide
more charge cycles though their life.

Dave

 

The NiMH batteries lost power quickly and I was only getting 50-100 pix to
one set, however I've started using the complete discharge feature in the
S7000 and this has significantly improved performance.