Talk:Recharging alkaline batteries

message: I changed the section "Explosions" to "safety", because eye injury is a major concern when experimenting with a battery that can potentially spray 10-40% concentrated potassium hydroxide solution. We cannot control what other people will do with this information, but at at the very least we should warn them about the need to take safety precautions. (75.153.112.1 23:16, 9 September 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Safety 

message: Rechargeable_alkaline_battery also has most of the same information covered.
This other article also cites sources. If I knew how to forward pages I would simply redirect this article to the other.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.37.90.33 (talk) 17:52, 8 June 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Duplicated articles 

message: This is a seriously mis-leading article.  Recharging alkaline batteries is not merely dangerous and a general waste of time.  Eventually you will leak battery liquid onto the contacts of your equipment and do significant damage.  If you want to stop wasting money on disposable batteries, get NiMH rechargeables -- they actually work!
-69.87.203.130 (talk) 00:57, 18 June 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Seriously mis-leading 

message: Some people [|# claim it is safe to recharge primary cells using a technique called periodic current reversal (AC with a DC offset component). And that manufacturers claims about the "dangers" of attempting to do so are false/exaggerated and based on self-interest. A 1986 series of articles in Practical Electronics magazine (UK) called "Better use of dry batteries" examines this concept in some detail and claims that in Japan the recharging of dry cells is (or was ?) officially encouraged (for environmental/conservation reasons) and that it is (/was ?) illegal there for battery manufacturers to claim that their products are not rechargeable. 86.112.51.161 (talk) 20:00, 8 October 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: Disputed claims RE: safety

message: Some things to consider for the "how it works" section,
#During recharging, zinc tends to form dendrites rather than replate evenly. This is the main reason for the reversing polarity pulse charging technique as it decreases the size of the dendrites so it's better but far from perfect.
#Alkaline cells gas during use, which is due to the water content in the electrolyte becoming split into oxygen and hydrogen during use. This makes the electrolyte drier, and increases the pressure inside the cell. The gas can also form minute bubbles on the separator. Any gas produced will not be reabsorbed. A drier electrolyte and bubbles in the way of the separator is what mainly increases internal resistance during use.
Alkaline cells gas somewhat more when subjected to any sort of abuse, such as recharging. Any gas produced will not be reabsorbed. Gas bubbles accumulated on the separator are difficult to move out of the way. The recharged cell will often have the hightened internal resistance of the previously dead cell, but with higher open circuit voltage. Recharging will cause an ever increasing pressure inside the cell and hence pressure that puts the seals at greater risk of failing.
66.114.93.6 (talk) 08:51, 30 November 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  How it works 

message: Kudos to the previous "How it works" discussion comment, finally what seems like usable information here.  (Would be nice to cite sources though.)  I'd like to see the webpage developed into something usable, with suggestions for a a simple charger and a leak proof box where the batteries are permanently stored.  Far too many alkaline batteries going into landfills, and many in this world cannot afford NiCad/NiMh/LiPo to run a reading light or radio.  The chargers linked to are just constant current chargers, a voltage source and current limiting resistor would be much simpler and work just as well.  The web page speaks of a 40 to 200 Hz pulsating charge current, 80% on.  The previous "How it works" comment suggests reversing the charge polarity, which is quite different.  
Judging from web postings, there are some moderately successful commercial chargers out there, but no information on charging algorithms.  Anyone have any real information on this?  Should the charger be pulsating, or polarity reversing?  How fast?  At what current, relative to the mAh of the battery?  When do we stop the charge?  If we charge slowly, can we keep it simple and just use a timer?  Does any extra charge time even at low charge currents create additional gas with nowhere to go?  Is a constant current charger suitable for use on at least some brands of alkaline batteries?  Is there an easy way to determine the current state of charge of a battery?  Is there an easy way to quickly determine if a battery will hold a charge?  And if you have answers to any of these, can you cite sources?
Jeriberi (talk) 19:18, 31 December 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Can we give concrete recommendations? 

message: I would like to suggest merging Rechargeable alkaline battery with Recharging alkaline batteries as they deal with very similar subjects. 86.112.51.161 (talk) 20:28, 8 October 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: IMO, the lack of *any* citations after years of scrutiny, and the dangers of re-charging suggest that if noone can or will find any sources to back-up the claims here, the article should be discarded. The argument about cost (immaterial to the article, and also unsubstantiated - the whole article as it stands is original research) is no argument at all. Yes, NiCad's and NiMH cells have a high up-front cost, but I'll guarantee you from decades of personal experience that you'll get many (5-7) years of nearly continuous use out of them ... in the long run, much cheaper and easier on the environment. Twang (talk) 01:33, 29 May 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: Merge proposal

message: The entire article reads more like a how-to guide, which is counter to long-standing Wikipedia policy (Wikipedia is not a manual, guidebook, textbook, or scientific journal).  It either needs to be moved to Wikibooks or reduced to a set of a few footnotes in one of the other battery articles in Wikipedia, as suggested in Merge proposal, above. —QuicksilverT @ 19:18, 21 February 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: IMO, the lack of *any* citations after years of scrutiny, and the dangers of re-charging suggest that if noone can or will find any sources to back-up the claims here, the article should be discarded. The argument about cost (immaterial to the article, and also unsubstantiated - the whole article as it stands is original research) is no argument at all. Yes, NiCad's and NiMH cells have a high up-front cost, but I'll guarantee you from decades of personal experience that you'll get many (5-7) years of nearly continuous use out of them ... in the long run, much cheaper and easier on the environment. Twang (talk) 01:33, 29 May 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Move proposal