Re: Digital camera "TOASTED"
Four properly charged NiMH or NiCd's properly inserted should be fine, as would four decent alkaline batteries. If the camera does have a problem it is highly unlikely to be an injury caused by the batteries unless the majority were inserted the wrong way (or were charged the wrong direction) but most good electronic designs protect against this by adding a 5 cent diode to the power circuit. Are you sure the camera is damaged?<br /><br />Battery trivia (occasionally quite important): NiCd cannot hold as much electricity as a NiMH (NiMH does have better run time, is more environmentally friendly, and gives more bang for your buck), but some say the NiCd can deliver its electricity more rapidly, making them favored by some for high discharge rate devices like remote control cars and rechargeable power tools. Neither NiMH nor NiCd can deliver the total amount of electricity (power)as a good alkaline. Alkalines run 1.5 volts per cell. NiCd's and NiMH run about 1.2 volts per cell. Most devices won't care about this lower operating voltage per se. The common exception is cheaper 9 Volt rechargables never will give you anywhere near 9 volts (7.2V?)- they don't have enough cells inside. Varta does make a good 9V rechargable, others may, not sure who. Some devices refuse to work unless the voltage is closer to 9- at least 8.4V. All rechargable batteries should be kept in sets of same brand, capacity, and age. Rechargables should never be stored in a low state of charge. Charge immediately after use! Rechargeables charged on smart chargers like to be left on the charger, but few chargers are smart chargers. A lot of batteries die from chronic over charging from plain, ordinary (dumb) chargers. Never insert one backwards from how it is supposed to be. Nicd's work great in freezing temperatures unlike most other batteries. (I'm not sure about how extreme cold affects NiMH) Draining rechargables down to totally dead can cause them to do strange and undesirable things. Almost but not quite dead for NiCd's from time to time has been said to be a healthy thing because of their alleged "memory effect", though this wisdom is not without controversy. If it was true it is probably much less so these days.
