[NTLK] Battery Weirdness

Hi All

Just wanted to check to see if anyone else had experienced something
similar. I have a MP2000u and use both a rebuilt battery pack and a
cage with 4 2500Mh AA rechargeables.

Whilst I normally use these with no problems at all, I have just
experienced a complete Newton freak-out with the AA rechargeables. I
had not use Newt for a couple of days and it had been cold so I was
not surprised to see that the freshly recharged batteries only
showing 80% capacity. However when I started to work on the Newt the
charge indicator first went to 100% then down to 35% and then it
turned off. I then could not get it to turn back on. I inserted the
battery pack and tried that - no luck. I connected it to the power
and left it to charge (figuring it was a dead battery pack). Left it
over night and still no luck. I eventually took the battery pack out
and left for a day. Tried it again just now and it starts up and
tells me that the system had restarted as all power supplies had been
discounted (or words to that effect). I looked at the cage and
noticed that the batteries are not a very good fit. There is definite
movement within the tray and they can actually move so far as to not
be touching one another.

Now the question is, is it my cage that is somehow at fault, the
batteries themselves are slight too small or is this something normal
and that once inserted they fit correctly. Also if the power was
interrupted or spiked as the batteries lost contact with one another,
would then have done any harm to my Newt? It seems to be working fine
now, but if this is a problem I will stop using the rechargeables.

Cheers

Dave
Auckland, Aotearoa

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