Why can't you recharge all batteries?

Question

Just found out my house phone has non- rechargeable batteries in! They have been re-charged daily for who knows how long. The haven't leaked or overheated.

Is the claim not to re-charge a marketing con?

( p.s. I AM NOT ADVOCATING RE-CHARGING YOUR NON- RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES )

Answer 1

>Why can't you recharge all batteries?

Because non-rechargeable batteries are cheaper to manufacture and that's what people are used to using (for the last 100 years or so).

Until recently rechargeable batteries had several problems:
-Made from toxic metals!
-Lost charge rapidly just sitting on the shelf!
-Lower capacity.

In the last 10 years or so rechargeables have been improved enough that they are seeing more and more use.

Most no longer are made with toxic metals, the amount of energy they can store is greatly improved. And recently a version of Ni metal hydride batteries came on the market that has a low self discharge rate. That means they can sit around for a year and still work.

>Just found out my house phone has non- rechargeable batteries in!

From the factory? Are your sure it isn't a memory backup battery in the base unit?

Also non-rechargeables typically have a slightly higher voltage than rechargeables. A non-rechargeable might appear to be fully charged to a sophisticated charging circuit.
Of course when the battery finally dies, the charger would start pumping power into the non-rechargeable battery leading to bad things.

Answer 2

Well any housephone I've had has batteries that are enclosed in a plastic with a wire coming out and they, through daily use, can't hold as much power as time goes on and eventually just die. But as for re-charging when they say not to, it's probably a safe bet to follow but more likely a disclaimer so that if it caught on fire or exploded while you were re-charging it, they wouldn't be held liable.

Answer 3

no it's not, non rechargables can be recharged a few times, I've done it, don't recommend it, - if you check the voltage on rechargeable vs non rechargeable you'll see differences, for instance AA non rechargeables are 1.5 V rechargheables are 1.25 V ... for warranty or service purposes it's best to use the ones that are recommended and warranty approved by the device manufacturer ... I think what you encountered is probably an anomaly, don't expect to get that lucky again ...

Answer 4

some rechargers have properties in them to actually recharge normal batteries funnily enough... i could be a marketing con, but you would need to do some practical research.