Hi John, Thanks for the rapid response! Now that I think about it, I may have read that rechargeables can be charged inside an M100 if external power is routed to the battery compartment from the external power jack, and a charging circuit is included to prevent overcharging. That would require more than just putting a resistor in-line on that link, although perhaps a large enough one that limits charging to a trickle rate would work, at least for NiCds and NiMHs. Lithium chemistry is much trickier, as there are three phases of charging current that require charged voltage monitoring, and the trickle rate is different from that for other battery chemistries, from what I recall off the top of my head.
How much time do you get on the rechargeables, given that alkaline batteries provide around 20 hours? In any case, knowing that they will work for some amount of time, I'll just try the ones I already have, which just happen to also be Enerloops. I'll see if anyone else responds with their experiences/recommendations before I go off and buy anything else if the Enerloops last significantly less than other products. I just discovered that Kentli has released AA-dimension (and AAA) rechargeable Li-Poly batteries that output 1.5 volts (2800 mWh), as have Tenavolt Li-Ion (2775 mWh), and DeleePow Li-Ion (3200mWh). However, these go for about $22 - $40 for four (some with chargers), vs. about half of that for Enerloop Pro NiCds (2800 mWh). All of these are Amazon prices, and who knows what you get directly from China via ePrey, Alibaba, etc. Thanks again and All the Best, Jim KJ7JHE On Mon, Jan 11, 2021 at 12:14 PM John R. Hogerhuis <jho...@pobox.com> wrote: > > > On Sat, Jan 9, 2021 at 10:53 AM Jim Manley <jim.man...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> >> I've heard that rechargeable batteries can be used in M100s by changing a >> resistor inside a unit, but I can't find any details about the value of the >> new resistor, which one it is on the PCB, etc. Also, is the resistor value >> dependent on which battery chemistry is involved (NiCd, NiMH, LiH, LiPoly, >> LiFePO4, etc.)? >> >> > Of course no change is necessary if you simply use rechargeables in the > usual way, charging via an external charger. With the internal nicd keeping > the memory alive, I've never lost data while swapping batteries. I can't > say the same for the WP-2, Cambridge Z88, NC-100, palm pilots, etc. The > internal NiCd design of the Model T really sets it apart in this regard. > > And the batteries last so many hours (particularly if a lot of your T-time > is conducted while plugged to the wall) that I find that it's not a big > deal just to charge externally. > > I prefer Eneloop batteries. > > -- John. >
