rechargeable batteriesWhen you are using your cell phone, digital camera, or working on a project requiring a cordless drill, there are few things more irritating then when the battery goes dead. Over time rechargeable batteries begin to lose their ability to stay charge as long as they used to. Some batteries can even lost the ability to hold a charge at all.

There is a simple trick I discovered ages ago that can extend the life of rechargeable batteries and force the battery to take a deeper longer lasting charge. This trick has also allowed me to bring dead batteries back to life.

Certain types of rechargeable batteries carry an accumulated memory that builds up if you don’t fully discharge your rechargeable batteries before you recharge them again. This is caused by internal heat buildup which can, over time, cause the battery to stop taking a charge at all. You can almost always force your batteries to take a deeper charge just by leaving them in the freezer over night.

You may have also noticed that your batteries may not hold a charge over a long period of time. I often don’t use my digital camera for months. It can really help the life of the battery if you put it in the freezer before topping it back off.

You could also consider leaving your batteries in the freezer for extended periods of time. I discovered this by accident when a project got put off and I forgot about some batteries. To my surprise they still worked just fine after being in the freezer for months. I’m not entirely sure, but these completely healthy batteries may have worked better than they did when I got them afterward.

Sometimes a fully frozen battery will even take a deeper charge that an unfrozen battery. Don’t be alarmed when trying this if it takes much longer to actually charge the battery. For example if your camera batteries usually charge in an hour, they may take another fifteen minutes if they are frozen completely.

If one of the batteries to one of your electronic devices ceases to hold a charge all together you might be able to make the battery work again just by using this trick. It usually takes a long time for batteries to get to this point, but it can happen pretty fast with some electronics that we use often.

It will also not cause any damage to batteries in my experience. I was worried for a while that they might meltdown or even catch fire but this has never happened; these are heat related problems and by freezing the batteries you are preventing them.

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