A few weeks ago my MX-900 started draining batteries like nobody's business. Thankfully, I'm using rechargeable batteries, otherwise I'd be broke.

A set of freshly charged batteries (I'm using various brands and have some brand new sets as well) will last 3 days max. Set before last only lasted a few hours.

Has anyone else had this issue? It's getting fairly frustrating.

John

How long are alkalines lasting?

My initial reaction would be that there's a short somewhere.

I haven't tried alkalines. Rechargeables are all I've ever used in it.

I've used multiple sets of rechargeables as well. I think it's a short somewhere also. I'm mainly curious if anyone else has had this issue.

John

try a fresh set of energizers or duracells and report back. recharables seem ot have a lower operating voltage than good alkalines

Check the voltage on your rechargables. I find they are generally only 1.2v and when you add that up over 4 batteries. Its like running your remote on only 3 normal batteries

I've always used standard alkalines in mine, and the batteries last a long time. We're talking months.

Speaking of which, it's possible that one of your rechargeables is bad. Do you have a voltage tester?

For the past few years I've had a rash of bad alkaline AAA batteries (I go through a lot). Doesn't matter if they're Energizer or Duracell, it seems that 1 out of every 5 AAA has no charge out of the box, but I don't notice right away. I put 4 in a remote, use it for a couple of weeks just fine, and then it's suddenly giving me a low battery warning. I *know* I just replaced them, so I test each in a battery tester and sure enough ONE of the four is as dead as a doornail with 0 volts, the rest are just a bit lower than full.

This has happened about 8 times or so to me, with different batches of batteries, so it's not just a random fluke...

Thanks for the replies.

The batteries used to last months. Then about 6 weeks ago, they started lasting days. I've tried new batteries, the old batteries, etc. In fact, I did try alkalines when it first happened (I forgot about that last night). It ate two sets of brand new Energizers in less than 2 days.

John

Is the remote working normally, ie. backlight shutting off and not on mysteriously by itself in the middle of the night, etc?

Also have you re-downloaded your configuration?

You've definitely got a short circuit there, somewhere. If it's still under warranty you might want to send it back for repairs or replacement.

I've not had this problem with either of those brands. At work we use the Duracell PROCELL. You might want to try those, as we've had good luck with them and we do go through a lot of AAA batteries at work.

That's correct. Four AAA batteries in series should give a nominal voltage of 6.0 volts, but four rechargable batteries gives you only 4.8 volts. Many manufacturers do not recommend the use of rechargable batteries in their devices for this very reason.

And there's another problem with rechargables: The recharger. Rechargers can burn out batteries faster than anything else. And I've also read that new batteries need to be cycled through a few controlled chargings and dischargings before they're ready for use. On-the-cheap manufacturers skip this step. On top of that, they sell you a cheap recharger that'll burn out any battery.

I've found that it's well worth spending your money on a good charger that regulates the current supplied to the batteries. Too little current supplied to a dead battery is not good, and neither is too much current to a near-fully charged battery.

I purchased good brand-name batteries and chargers from the same manufacturer. I also built a trickle charger using a wall cube and a carefully-selected resistor. The trickle charger is used to maintain batteries that are nearly (or fully) charged. The brand-name charger is used to charge up dead (or nearly dead) batteries. These measures are not necessary for most folks, but at work we use a lot of D cells in student experiments and they need to be fully charged at all times.

The AAA and AA cells that we use for devices are the Duracell PROCELLS, as we find them less expensive when bought in bulk, and they perform as well as any good quality alkaline battery.

A had a friend give me a number of Procells, however there was only a few AAAs (they were fine) and most were AA, which I don't eat through nearly as quickly (I blame URC for my unreasonable AAA need! Ahhh!)

Why is it that rechargeable batteries cannot be made with the proper voltage rating?

Does anyone know?

Or can they and I just can't find them anywhere?

It's the technology; ANY nicad cell is only ~1.2v. A 9V cell made out of small nicads only developed 1.2*6 = ~8.2v.
There are similar limitations with NiMh & Lithium Ion, etc.

Original poster: most likely your rechargeables are bad as someone else said. I use the 15-min high capacity rechargeables and they only last dozens of recharges, not thousands as they claim.