I’ve been seeing several emails lately about being able to recharge any battery. Battery reconditioning scams were popular a few years ago, and it looks like there’s still life left in the old trick. The interesting thing is if you do some research, you’ll find information about battery reconditioning on the web. Some people say it’s real, others say it’s a scam. The commonality is they all appear to be trying to make money off the same subject.
The battery reconditioning scam
Here’s the text from one email I received, which includes a header of “Consumer Reports.”
Never Buy Batteries Again
You have questions about the GMAT? We have answers.
Bring your old Batteries back to life ??? Just like new
This simple trick will turn all your dead batteries and make them work again. Once you know how to do this you will never have to buy batteries again.
OMG. Seriously? This one can be summed up in three little words. Bogus, bogus, bogus. Here’s why:
- Regular alkaline, lithium, or Ni-Cad batteries cannot be recharged because of the way they are constructed.
- Even rechargeable batteries have a limited lifespan.
- The links in the email are simply lures to get visitors to a phishing or malware site.
It’s straightforward. Depending upon the construction of the battery, its life may be very long, but sooner or later, the battery’s ability to sustain a charge or to recharge will decline. If you try to research battery reconditioning, you’ll find there are plenty of affiliate websites promoting books about the subject. I even found one that claimed the program didn’t work, but said purchases were protected by a money-back guarantee and then offered links to buy the book.
Recycle those batteries
I’m a strong believer in rechargeable batteries, but I don’t believe for a minute there’s a way to make a battery last forever. So, recycle your old batteries as hazardous waste, but don’t spend money on programs to make those batteries last forever.
Is there a limit to how many times a battery marked “recharge” can be recharged ?
In a four battery wall outlet recharger, can you recharge less than four batteries at one time ?
You would have to ask the manufacturer of the battery about how many times a particular battery can be recharged. The same goes for a recharger. While I would think you could recharge as few as one battery in your charger, that’s something only the manufacturer can tell you (or the instructions that came with the charger.)
The only recycled” batteries I’ve seen have 5% recycled content. Seems almost not helpful, but allowing them to use the term “recycled” to sell to the environmentally conscious
Used batteries that are sold as usable are not “recycled” batteries. They are batteries with useful life remianing that were removed from cars, computers and other devices.
All batteries are constructed of materials that are hazardous to people and the enviornment if they aren’t handled respinsibly. If your batteries are depleted and won’t take a charge, take or give them to a hazardous materials recycling center.
Batteries brought in for “recycling ” are deconstructed to recover materials that can be safely refined and incorporated into new products. It may be called post-consumer waste materials, or recycled material. In most cases this process is either less expensive than mining previously unused raw materials or mandated by law. If a product is labeled as containing some reycled materials, it should not have a higher price than if it didn’t.
I buy recycled batteries to help preserve the environment.
I do the same whenever possible, Linda. We’re also fortunate to have lots of recycling options in our area, so we recycle all of our batteries when they die. 🙂