Sony Gumstick Battery-Bring back to life?

[NEO]

I forgot Sony Gumstick Battery (Ni-MH) in my Walkman for a few months w/o charging it and now it does not seems to have any capacity left. I tried charging it but the charger light goes off after a few minutes and the battery is still empty. I know that the battery might be dry out but is there any way to recharge or trigger it up?
NEO

 

[fluteloop]

Put it in the freezer for a couple of days. forget about it, make yourself a coffee.

 

[IpaqMan]

I have some very old gumstick batteries and just noted that two of them swelled after a charge. They will no longer fit into the MD recorders. BTW, I noted that Eveready and other companies make 1200mah and up gumstick batteries. They are available for less than $15.

 

[pank2002]

So, how long does you guys' player last with two gumsticks? I'm thinking of getting some new as my imp-550 is holding the charge really bad. I use redbook only btw. I get like 2 maybe 3 houres of playtime. I use iRiver's gumstick batteries with 1,45A.

 

[BillP]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fluteloop /img/forum/go_quote.gif Put it in the freezer for a couple of days, remove it then let it sit and warm to room temp (that should also ensure the moisture is all off it).... then put it in and charge it. see if that works

Sorry to dredge up an old thread, but I wanted to comment.

I had a problem similar to NEO's. I left my GP brand gumstick NiMH 1400mAh battery in my Sony MZ-RH910 MD player/recorder for about a year (unused). It was, of course, dead when I tried to turn the player on, and the positive end was slightly corroded when I took the battery out. I carefully cleaned the contacts and put the battery back in, but like in NEO's situation after several attempts (taking the battery out, recleaning, etc.) the charge indicator would turn on only briefly and the battery stayed "dead".

I found this thread (and this forum) with a Google search and tried a variation of fluteloop's suggestion. I put the gumstick battery in the freezer for a few hours, and then warmed it to ~room temp in my hand. I put it back in the player and it charged normally- and the battery seems to have normal capacity!

I hadn't heard of the freezer trick for NiMH batteries before finding this thread. Dunno if it was the freezer or coincidence, but it worked for me (and saved me time and $$). To anyone else stumbling across this thread like I did, I'd say, "Give it a try". Thanks fluteloop!

Hope this helps.