Thanks for this wonderful site. I will be in spain for 3 weeks with an Olympus 450zoom camera which has an 8mb and a 16 mb Smart Media card. How can I recharge my NimH batteries over there? Would I be able to do it from the cigarette lighter of the rental car? thank you. Jenny Brain

-- Jenny Brain (JennyCVB@aol.com), December 06, 1999

Answers

Well, how would you use an "american" hairdryer overseas? You would buy an adapter kit. I would think you would use one of the same adapters over there

-- David Erskine (davide@netquest.com), December 07, 1999.

Jenny
Yes you may use the 12v Cigarette lighter - provided the car is running. If you're doing a lot of driving then you might be ok - your type of battery can take short, incomplete charges with little side effects (very unlike Nicd).
If your charger can be plugged in check the power label (it's required by law to be there). You may be lucky and have one that accepts AC in from 110 to 240 at 50 or 60 hz (most do nowadays but please look to make sure! It's too expensive for manufacturer to make two different power supplies for a world market - so nearly all of them have converted to universal power input.
Finally - if it does only accept 110 then you have two other options:
1. Buy an inexpensive adapter - it will NOT run your hair dryer, but it will let you charge your batteries.
2. Nearly every hotel has a 110 volt outlet in the bathroom for Americans. It's marked shavers only only to keep people from plugging their hair dryers into it. It works great for laptops and battery chargers.
Enjoy your stay - plan to put on some weight! Don't bother to ask for the non-smoking section of the restaraunt...

Des

-- Dan Desjardins (dan.desjardins@avstarnews.com), December 10, 1999.

If you'll have a car use its 12v source. Don't worry about running down the battery when the car is not running. Charging four totally flat NiMH batteries will take about 1% of a standard car battery's charge.

-- Rick Griffen (rgriffen@vabch.com), December 27, 1999.