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1.  

   Refillable

   

   Tim Oren, Jan 19th, 2004 @ 10:46am

   
   

   Most of the mobile direct meth designs I've seen (been pitched on) involve a refill cartridge about the size and shape of a cig lighter, leaving the remainder of the fuel cell intact. While I suspect the release dates and initial sell-in of DMFCs is a bit over-hyped, once they begin to get traction there will be mobile equipment vendors who take advantage of the ability to break loose from the energy budget restrictions of NiMH and other rechargeable battery tech. This will make the fuel cell option harder to avoid for users of high end gear. We'll see if the market likes the tradeoff....

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2.  

   Re: Refillable

   

   Mike (profile), Jan 19th, 2004 @ 11:30am

   
   

   Yes, but the refillable cartridge will, in the mind of most consumers, be considered "the battery" - even though it's technically very different. Conceptually, it's the same thing. Instead of buying batteries, they're buying cartridges. Instead of replacing batteries, they're replacing cartridges.... Rechargeable and refillable are different.
   
   The question is whether or not the longer life makes refilling not such a big deal.

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3.  

   Re: Refillable

   

   Anonymous Coward, Jan 19th, 2004 @ 12:57pm

   
   

   And exactly how much methanol do you have to spill on your skin whist refilling your cell phone before you go blind? A lot (75g), but not if you spill the refill can on your lap.
   
   Talk about product liability! Who is going to sell the refill cartridges and expose themselves to that time bomb?

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4.  

   Re: Refillable

   

   u2604ab, Jan 19th, 2004 @ 1:14pm

   
   

   Your skin is a good barrier against methanol poisoning. You really have to drink methanol in order to suffer the ill effects.
   
   Spilling it on an open wound might be dangerous as well; I'm not volunteering for that experiment.

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5.  

   Re: Refillable

   

   Mike (profile), Jan 19th, 2004 @ 1:40pm

   
   

   I don't think the idea is to ever actually expose the methanol to users. You would buy "full" canisters, and replace just the cannister. You wouldn't actually refill the canisters yourself.

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