Here's another rechargable alkaline battery problem – has anyone else suffered from it?

At first my new portable minidisk recorder worked like a dream. But then, I tried recording with it after not having used it for several weeks. Disaster - all the recordings were overlaid with hisses and crackles. I tried changing one factor after another with no success, and then, just as I was about to give up, the sound suddenly became clear as a bell.

A couple of weeks later, the same trouble began again. Finally, in desperation, I tried removing the rechargable battery, wiping the terminals, and then putting it back in. The extraneous noise vanished at once.

On re-examining the leaflet that came with the appliance, I found a note about battery care which I'd skipped before, thinking – wrongly - that I already knew how to take care of batteries! The note warns that if you don't intend to use the recorder "for any length of time" (it's no more specific than that) you should remove the rechargable alkaline battery from the recorder and store it in the case provided.

The only reason given in the manual is that the battery gradually runs down, even when the recorder is switched off. However, it seems plausible to me that during this slow leakage, there is a build-up of static somewhere in the works. So, when you try recording later on, the static generates these disconcerting background noises until it's eventually discharged. After which the recording quality returns to normal.

The manual say that the internal battery, when fully charged, should run the recorder for at least 6 hours (exact time depends on mode of use). Mine now lasts about half an hour before giving up. Conclusion - leaving it inside the box for months, as I foolishly did, is bad for your battery's health. Be warned! A new battery costs about £20: if you can find a shop near you that stocks them. (I haven't, yet.)

At present the recorder still runs satisfactorily - at home with the AC transformer, and away from home using an external AA dry battery in the bolt-on holder provided with the kit. However, neither of these options will work without the internal battery (which I presume serves as some kind of buffer). So, when my rechargable battery eventually dies, the system will be jiggered until I can get a new one.

The expert at the most useful shop I tried yesterday said one of these batteries should stand 500-1000 recharges before giving up. But he added that occasional intermittent use would shorten its life considerably. And, as I have now established, leaving it in the machine to discharge slowly through the works will kill it off even faster, besides spoiling a lot of recordings.

Moral - be kind to your battery! Don't forget to let it out of jail at the end of a recording session.

Wassail!