|
I have now ruined my second electric toothbrush.
I didn't realize what was going on until today.
I was using NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) batteries.
The claim: Recharge them 100 times and then continue.
My initial observation: First charge lasted 2 or 3 times as long as the best alkaline I had ever seen.
My resulting thoughts: Woo-Hoo ! I'm covered for the next ten or twenty years !
[[[[ Time goes by; about 18 months; charging and long life continue ]]]]
Toothbrush starts giving me trouble. The cap becomes so tight that I am having physical pain opening and closing it just before and right after I charge the batteries.
I was wrongly blaming Crest for selling a toothbrush which was poorly designed. Changing batteries was so difficult it was almost impossible. I honestly thought (wrongly) that they purposely designed their electric toothbrush this way to induce repeat sales.
Today I figured out a different reason. The toothbrush is fine. The batteries had swollen.
The process was so gradual that I did not detect it.
The company is here in The States. I wrote them an hour ago. I'll see what they say.
I gave various descriptions of this experience to search engines and found a brief reference to the swelling with Radio Controlled Airplanes; but they seem to be using some sort of special battery.
I loved the 2x and 3x charge life. I loved being able to recharge so many times.
If they tear up the toothbrush, then the economy disappears.
Anybody got alms for the clueless ???
|
|
|
|
|
Check the charger: IIRC (and it's been 20 years or more since I dealt with battery charging) heat build up during charging (which normally means over-enthusiastic charge current, or a lack of thermal monitoring) causes the battery to gas-out and if the gasses can't escape then it can distort the battery case. This is not a "recoverable problem" - you will have to chuck the cells.
There is an interesting (ok, probably not unless you want to design chargers) article on how batteries fail here: http://www.mpoweruk.com/failure_modes.htm[^]
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
|
|
|
|
|
There are some great videos on youtube of LiPo battery explosions and fires... 
|
|
|
|
|
Isn't playing with Lithium fun and games? 
<MumMode>Until someone loses an eye!</MumMode>
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
|
|
|
|
|
I have about 20 larger LiPos as flight batteries for my helicopters. When one starts to bloat, it immediately is turned in and I buy a new one. Here I keep them in fireproof bags and some ammo boxes for machine guns (filled up with sand). In there they can't do much harm.
The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a f***ing golf cart.
"I don't know, extraterrestrial?"
"You mean like from space?"
"No, from Canada."
|
|
|
|
|
|
Not to mention the availability of tooth brushes, tooth paste, and clean water.
Marc
|
|
|
|
|
What brand of batteries and/or charger are you using?...so I know to avoid?
|
|
|
|
|
It could be that the charger is a poor design, not properly matching the charging current profile to the battery technology. As mentioned elsewhere, this can lead to excessive gas generation during the charging process, and expansion of the case. They may have got the toothbrush design right, but just reused a charger design from a previous generation based on a different chemistry.
Will Rogers never met me.
|
|
|
|
|
As of this weekend (a week later) I have not heard back from them.
|
|
|
|
|
|
In this context I guess I am Snape.
|
|
|
|
|
I don't think only wizards are allowed to play, you just need to be good at swallowing the flying thing there.
The sh*t I complain about
It's like there ain't a cloud in the sky and it's raining out - Eminem
~! Firewall !~
|
|
|
|
|
|
I'm a Wardeadlock 
|
|
|
|
|
PIEBALDconsult wrote:
I'm gonna steal that!!!
I'd rather be phishing!
|
|
|
|
|
Upvote for a TP reference!
Life is like a s**t sandwich; the more bread you have, the less s**t you eat.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Terry Pratchett[^] - very much a British thing and much loved by programmers for his orthogonal humour.
I assumed you knew his work because he talks of sourcerers (as opposed to "sorcerers") as being wizards that are connected to "the source of magic"! clickety[^]
His work is rich with puns, e.g. Rincewind the wizard, who can't do magic, who has "wizzard" written on his hat (the wizard who can't spell) possibly culminating in "Soul Music" where there's "Music With Rocks", "Pathway To Paradise" and an elaborate setup to "Wheels On Fire " and "Three Wheels on my Wagon" where Rincewind escapes the city in a wagon with wheels on fire until they start falling off.
You either love Pratchett or you just don't get it!
Life is like a s**t sandwich; the more bread you have, the less s**t you eat.
|
|
|
|
|
Ah, he gets mentioned on here once in a while. Never read him, but I'm a Douglas Adams fan and I keep thinking I should try.
|
|
|
|
|
As an Adams fan, I'd be amazed if you didn't enjoy Pratchett's books. You don't need to read them in sequence, although there would be some benefit.
You should be aware that:
- Some of his books are kids books. They're adult readable (especially the Nac Mac Feegle books), although some are a little light
- Not all of his books are about The Discworld, his main ouvre
There are several distinct threads to the Discworld books, with considerable crossover: Wizards, Witches, The City Watch, Death (the person), the Feegle (a race of small blue people with a distinct Scottish heritage "pictsies") and Moist von Lipwig (a semi-reformed con man).
One benefit over Adams is that TP has been prolific, so it will take you ages to get through all the Discworld books and although he is ailing, he is still pumping them out! Like Adams, you can read his books over and over and get something new out of them (especially his sometimes elaborate jokes).
Happy reading!
Life is like a s**t sandwich; the more bread you have, the less s**t you eat.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Speechless. Especially those brooms.
Marc
|
|
|
|
|
Exactly. It was all over for me when I saw/read that you have to play with the brooms between your legs. 
|
|
|
|
|
I think about a Palladin or Cleric
|
|
|
|
General 
News 
Suggestion 
Question 
Bug 
Answer 
Joke 
Praise 
Rant 
Admin 
Submit an article or tip
