What is the life expectancy of the OutCast battery?
OutCast uses a Nickel Metal Hydride battery that is rated by the number of charges it can take before expiring. Our NiMH battery is rated at a minimum of 500 charges before requiring replacement. Generally we expect them to perform much better than this, and they have in fact, but the documented specification meets a minimum standard. The trick with NiMH batteries is to run them until they are completely empty and the charge light on the OutCast indicates they need to be charged (blinking red light… don’t you just hate em?). They do not develop a memory but NMh batteries like to be fully drained. This maximizes their useful life. Charging them after each use is unnecessary and may shorten their life. If you are unsure of how much battery life is left, charge the OutCast a few hours before you use it. These batteries do slowly trickle discharge so it is better to charge them just before you need to use them, rather than right after you do so.
