Squeezing The Last Bit of Power From Alkaline Batteries

I have previously published a detailed how-to for a DIY all purpose handheld devices charger, see DIY Charger for Kindle 2 and Kindle 1, Ipods, Bla... and Tech Tip: Cheap DIY Charger for iPod + commented update.

All it takes is a bit of elbow grease, a soldering tool, and a few dollars of Radio Shack parts. The AA batteries were rechargeable and I charge them with solar energy on sunny days.

But finding out which AA battery has run low was too time consuming. So I replaced 3 of them with a Li-ion battery one would find powering most notebooks. This way, I only need to replace the AA NiMH when the unit runs low and recharge the Li-ion if the unit is still low. Then I noticed my son's spent alkaline AA batteries scattered around and decided to wring them dry first. After all, it take energy and creates pollution to manufacture and to dispose of them.

The mini-USB cable is used to charge most of our cell phones. The short white cable is used to charge my Kindle 3G and Kindle 2. The modified Apple cable is for the iPods/iPhones. I hate long cables so I chop them short and resolder them. The Apple cable broke on the USB end so I replaced it with the plug from another USB cable.