Battery Advice Re Mah And Ma

[dunnyrail]

I recently bought a load of Tronic 1.2 v Ni-MH Batteries from Lidl. They keep getting them in. Now I wonder if any expert out there can tell me why they have both of the following printed on them:-
2500 mAh
500 mA
Are these different kind of ratings, or is someone telling Porkies?

Any knowledge would be much appreciated.
JonD

 

[Zerogee]

I would think that 2500mAh is the claimed capacity, and the 500mA is the recommended charge rate (or possibly discharge rate?). Or it might be a combination of both, eg: they are rated at 2500mAh capacity when discharged at a rate of 500mA.

Milliamp-hours (mAh) is a measure of CAPACITY - the amount of power stored in the cell - while milliamps (mA) alone is a measure of RATE of charge or discharge. Thus a 2500mAh capacity cell will (theoretically at least) deliver 500mA for 5 hours.

Jon.

 

[dunnyrail]

I would think that 2500mAh is the claimed capacity, and the 500mA is the recommended charge rate (or possibly discharge rate?). Or it might be a combination of both, eg: they are rated at 2500mAh capacity when discharged at a rate of 500mA.

Milliamp-hours (mAh) is a measure of CAPACITY - the amount of power stored in the cell - while milliamps (mA) alone is a measure of RATE of charge or discharge. Thus a 2500mAh capacity cell will (theoretically at least) deliver 500mA for 5 hours.

Jon.

Jon, many thanks for that. Now all is clear, in truth there is some other lettering on the Batts but too small to make out. Brill now I know.
JonD

 

[PhilP]

Yep,
Analogy coming up..

mAh is the size of the bucket, so 2500mAh is a smaller bucket than 3200mAh (say).
The other figure is probably the maximum discharge rate to give that capacity.. Analogous to how big a hole is in the bucket to let the elecktrickery out. - Bigger the hole, the faster the rate of flow (water or Amps) from your 'bucket'.

There, that has probably confuddled you even more!

 

[dunnyrail]

Yep,
Analogy coming up..

mAh is the size of the bucket, so 2500mAh is a smaller bucket than 3200mAh (say).
The other figure is probably the maximum discharge rate to give that capacity.. Analogous to how big a hole is in the bucket to let the elecktrickery out. - Bigger the hole, the faster the rate of flow (water or Amps) from your 'bucket'.

There, that has probably confuddled you even more!

Not at all, remember the Water Analogy from School once you mentioned it, a mere 51 Years ago or more!
JonD

 

[Greg Elmassian]

and the pressure of the water is volts, the gallons per minute is amps.