ReChargeable AA Batteries

[Richard_Cranium72]

I'm always looking for better ways to save coin..

The search for the ultimate AA Rechargeable batteries has hopefully slowed..

These come in all flavors.

Quest, who claims a superior battery, has 1300 mah @ 1.2v DC
These can be bought at Wal-Mart for $15.00 with charger.
No Doubt the cheapest Nickel Metal Hydride AA setup there is..

K-Mart has Energizer AA's NiMH's for $11.00 + $10.95 or so for the charger, these are rated at 1200 mah @ 1.2v DC

Radio Shack is the Winner,, so far
They have NiMH AA's rated at 1600 mah @ 1.2 v DC price about $20.00 for 4.
BUT, when I charged all three, the RS batteries showed over 1.36v instead of the others at 1.21(give or take a little)

The digital cameras have a computer that shuts them off at a specific voltage.

My Casio cuts of at 1.16vdc

The RS batteries should leave more "headroom" than the others ,, all things being equal.

Upon testing in a HP C20 , the Quest batteries at full charge dropped to 1/2 full on the indicator in just a few minutes.

The RS batteries have been in the camera for about 3 days now, taking various shots, using the LCD display to review, showing people,, etc..
They are still showing a FULL indicator.

Granted, the 1/2 full indication on the Quest AA's is not a complete indicator.

As one camera tester pointed out, most cameras are set up for AA Alkaline, which put out about 1.60 vdc.
The NiMH's have greater MAH output though a lower voltage, this allows a longer usage and the battery condition indicator is not totally accurate.
When using a battery of lower voltage, even with more amps, it will indicate nearly empty even though they will last much longer at the same voltage point than a Alkaline battery would.

Bottom line,,
The Radio Shack 1600mah AA's are the best off-the-shelf AA's readily available..
IMHO http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

Battery Type # of Shots

Alkalines - 22 shots
400mAh - NiCd 34 shots
600mAh - NiCd 56 shots
1200mAh - NiMH 210 shots
1600mAh - NiMH 345 shots!

My first excursion into rechargeable batteries was in the late 70's while doing a good bit of photography.

I noticed that even though the Nickle-cadmium batteries showed only 1.25vdc that they would recycle my strobe in 4-5 seconds instead of about 10..

I was hooked at that point, save money and go faster too..

final note;
Nickel Cadmium batteries are POISONOUS, never throw them into the trash, recycle them..
NiMH(Nickle Metal Hydride)are NOT poisonous when they **** out, chunk them and sleep easy your not polluting the water aquefer..

DrVette

www.steves-digicams.com/nimh_batteries.html (http://www.steves-digicams.com/nimh_batteries.html)




[This message has been edited by Richard_Cranium72 (edited 05-28-2001).]

[Richard_Cranium72]

Dumb me didn't fully research the Quest batteries.

The ones I bought are the 1300mah

They have a Gold series with 1500mah
some sites list them as 1600mah ?
http://www.d-store.com/Merchant/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_code=ds&Product_Code=SAFGCA

and a review of the Quest at Steves DigiCam

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2001_reviews/quest_q2.html

[Gomer]

Thanks for the info doc... Useful stuff!

[Barney]

Gold Peak's are also great batteries. My brother has been using the same 4 1A batteries in his discman for years. I found an online store that sells 4 1500mA for $9.60, 4 1600mA for $12.90 and 4 1700mA for $14.90. http://www.4gdo.com/gpbatteries.htm

Here are the specs of GP NiMH batteries: http://www.gpbatteries.com/industrial/batteries/NiMH/NiMHspecs.htm

GP even have 1900mA AA batteries. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[bhess]

Thanks Doc. I didn't know about NIMH not being poisonous.
BTW here is where I get my batteries from.
Thomas Distribution http://www.mahapowerex.com/

[DanU]

I few months ago I bought a bunch of surplus green Duracell 1200mAh AA NIMHs from the Foothill electronics flea market in Palo Alto. They were going for $1.50 each! A friend of mine says that he's seen them for $1.00 at the same flea market. The only catch was that they were "buttonless", so I had to solder a small circle of wire at the top to make them the proper size. Also, they aren't the longest lasting NIMHs, but the price was right.

Since then I picked up a 4-pack of Rayovac 1600mAh NIMHs for USD $13.00 at CompUSA. The 33% longer running time is nice, but then again I had to pay over twice as much for them. Be careful when you get the Rayovacs because they also sell a 1300mAh version for the SAME price! The capacity is labelled on the back of the blister pack so be sure to check.

One of the greatest weaknesses of NIMHs is their self-discharge rate. They can discharge at about 3% a day, compared to NiCad's ~1% a day. The self-discharge is worse as the temperature climbs. I had a set of fully charged NIMHs that sat in 95F weather doing nothing. After about a week and a half, they were dead! I guess it's a small price to pay to keep poisonous cadmium out of the environment.

[Richard_Cranium72]

Barney, following your link to Gold Peak led me to ,, guess what ?

The Radio Shack store,,
it seems that RS has Gold Peak to stamp Radio Shack on their batteries, cool http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F004%5F012%5F007%5F000&product%5Fid=23%2D528

[Richard_Cranium72]

Didn't want to mess up my link,, here's another tidbit..


NiMH Batteries Have the Following Advantages :

No memory effect
Higher capacity, smaller size! 50-100% increase in capacity over NiCD battery pack
Long life, 500-1,000 charge/discharge cycles.
Light weight, and Environmental friendly
C/10 Overcharge / reverse polarity protection , and capable of being trickle charged.
No toxic chemicals - Friendly to the Environment.
Flat discharge curve: This NiMH battery will remain in full voltage during 80% of the usage cycle.


NOTE, the "NO-MEMORY" Of the NiMH.
Quite the opposite of NiCAD's, they have a terrible problem with memory effect..

[eagle1]

Quite useful thread. And to think that I've wasted over 300 dollars buying "standard" batteries for my cd player instead of buying recharge batts.

I'll go to RS right now to buy those batteries and a recharger.!!

Do you know the part numbers in case they don't have them?

[Richard_Cranium72]

http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?cookie%5Ftest=1&catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F004%5F012%5F007%5F000&product%5Fid=23%2D528

I use a charger from K-Mart, a Ray-O-Vac model cuz it cuts off, sooner or later and it's only $9.99

[DanU]

If you have a little more money, go for the fast chargers. The convenience is worth the extra money IMO.

I picked up a smart pulse charger/conditioner from Radio Shack for about $25. It will automatically discharge/condition the batteries if they are below a certain capacity, then it goes into a fast pulse charging mode. When full, it goes into a trickle charge mode to keep the batteries topped off. Unfortunately they seem to have discontinued this model, but they do have other chargers that perform similarly.
http://support.tandy.com/support_electronics/DOC62/62551.PDF

[zskillz]

the flat discharge curve is actually rather surprising for the NIMH (or whatever) batteries, those of us who do enough electrochemistry know that that is sort of unusual!

thx dr
-Z

[Richard_Cranium72]

Thx danu

1-Hour Ni-MH/Ni-Cd Battery Charger

$27.99 Cat.#: 23-405


Then add the 1600mah
4 "AA" Rechargeable Nickel-Metal-Hydride Batteries


$17.99
Cat.#: 23-528

The link for the charger won't post right(3000 characters)
See 2nd post above for Battery Link

[Richard_Cranium72]

Zskills, the "flat" discharge rate has amazed me on the NiMH's also, they run forever then BOOM , daid http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

Found the Radio Shack 1hr Quick Charger, it's $27.99->>

"1-Hour Ni-MH/Ni-Cd Battery Charger
$27.99 Reg. Price Brand: Radio Shack
Cat.#: 23-405"

In Store and On-Line available.
http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F004%5F009%5F002%5F000&product%5Fid=23%2D405

[Ruahrc]

I have a couple questions about NiMH and battery memory.

I use some NiMH's on my Portable HT, they're 1000mAh batteries. (So low because the batteries themselves are smaller than AA size)

They supposedly have no battery memory or less battery memory? I had always heard they had less, but it was still there.

Now would it be better to keep topping off a NiMH or should you use a full charge/discharge cycle? What about Li-Ion batteries? Lots of devices use them and top them off- i.e. pda's that are topped off while in the case.

Ruahrc

[SysOpt]

DrVette-- Thanks for the info.. BTW, you wouldn't have messed up your link by editing. The edit function is fixed.

[Richard_Cranium72]

Thanks SYSOPT, it's an Honor to serve http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif)

---------------------------------------------

Ruahrc, MY opinion is to allow the batteries to approach total discharge for one simple reason..

They have a Limited Life Cycle of 500-1000 total Charge Cycles.

Like someone who puts the portable phone on the charger every time they get finished with it..
Do that 500-1000 times and the batteries are toast,,

Forget the memory on both NiMH's and LiIon, you can "Top" them off,, however you're still limited to a certain number of times they can be put into the charger..

As cheap as AAA's and AA's are I wouldn't worry about shortchanging yourself too much..
On the Machine-Specific $75.00 Lithium-Ion battery I'd be more careful not to waste charge cycles..

DrVette

[Ruahrc]

Yeah that's what I thought, I let my batteries on my HT drain down before recharging them.

Remember the "battery dischargers" that they have for Ni-Cd's? Well I was thinking wouldn't you get the exact same result with a lot less $$$ by simply shorting the leads with a resistor?

Ruahrc

[Richard_Cranium72]

Yup, do the same thing cept I use a small auto lamp. Something like a turn signal bulb.

Solder leads onto them, then place the battery in question on an inacessable spot(cats) and precariously put the leads on the contacts allowing the battery to discharge.

IMPORTANT; Do this on NiCads only
also, remove the leads just before the lamp goes completely out..

I got a camcorder worth $175.00 cause it "DON'T WORK"
Seems all it needed was the battery "conditioned" a few times.
Now it will run a full hour http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

Also important

1. Never Charge HOT batteries, let them cool in the Fridge a while first(I always do this)
2. Never leave batteries in electronic stuff more than a few days at the time.
3. Never place Just Charged batteries into equiptment if they are more than "warm"
4. A pal told me to cool batteries in the fridge just after charging(some chemical reaction reason)

Here's a couple more NiMH FAST battery chargers w/AA batteries(4)

Kodak's 3hr charger w/1600mah AA's $35.00?
http://www.us.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10002502&loc=14577
(on backorder for now)

Look for the Olympus B-40SU Ni-MH Battery and Charger Set $40.00 http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/172436/ref=p_h_l_b_3/102-7161170-3362554

[codybear]

hey Doc this hit home because I was about to get the Daughter some for her cd player and didnt know where to begin looking so many thanks to you..once more I am in your debt Sir http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

[Richard_Cranium72]

aaawww, shucks Cody, you're embarrasing me, NOT ! http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

Here's another spot, donated by another member, can't remember where I put my cane, but here goes.

http://thomas-distributing.com/maha-mh-c210.htm

They have some AA's in 1600, 1700 & 1800mah

Plus most all name brands of batts and chargers.

The "mother of all chargers" looks good to me..

cya DrVette

[Gutter Ball]

I use NIMH batterys for my RC cars. They lack the "punch" that NiCads's have(the "flat discharge" that you've noted), so when you get full throttle, the car doesn't seem to zoom up as quickly. But the charge anytime is sooooooo convenient! NIMH's do not need to be discharged, if you discharge them too much and the voltage drops below some number(5.4v for RC), the batteries will be junk. And never store your NIMH with no charge for extended periods of time, always leave half in there! NIMH do not like to be slow charged(trickle charged) either. This mostly applies to RC, but I'm sure the maintenance is similar.

[rh71]

Was hoping you guys could help me out while we're on this topic. My Palm VIIx uses AAA batteries and I was hoping to get rechargeables for it.

- A PALM device shouldn't have problems using rechargeables right?

- AAA Duracells in them say MN 2400 LR03 1.5 VOLTS... which AAA should I get? I don't know about amperage (or whatever "mah") is... so ANY help is appreciated!

Thanks!

[Richard_Cranium72]

rh71

YGM

[Mntsnow]

Rh71,

Thanks for bumping this one to the Top!

Thanks DOC for doing my research on batteries now that I have a Digi-cam http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

Thanks for your insites on that one too! lol

[PrimalX]

So the bigger the mAh the better the battery??

Mine says 700mAh and 800mAh... ****!

[wyvrn]

We bought some of the rechargeable alkalines for my wifes Palm. Work well, but it looks like the replacements are really hard to find (Walmart does not have them anymore). Any idea on who sells em Doc?

TIA!

[PrimalX]

Wow.. amazing.
Mine newly bought 4 AA Ni-cd rechargable batteries actually last longer than expected. I put 2AA in my RioVolt and it lasted exactly 5:45 min. The batteries are only 800mAh each made by Panasonic.

[MadMatt]

Wow! What a great thread!

I use Nexcell 1600mah AA NIMHs in my Olympus digicam. I bought them from a guy named 'ptron1' on eBay. Paid $20 total for 8 of them. They work great and have definitely saved me some major $ over regular batteries. They last so long that I've never needed the second set, even on a 5 day camping trip last month...

[jman01pa]

I loved this post. I have been researching for a digital camera and really found this post useful. Thanks

J http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by jman01pa (edited 06-24-2001).]

[Richard_Cranium72]

jman01pa

YGM

[unrealman]

for the RC cars you should do what i do. Lead Acid. so far i've found nothing thet beats them they are hard to keep up but hey they pump that current like no tomarrow. amd my RC car can ZOOM. may also try what i did and stick a more powerful engine on the thing http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif haha overclocking rc cars. what this world os coming to.
http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif
UM

[Richard_Cranium72]

K-Mart has some 1600mah AA's for $10.95

These are made by Ray-O-Vac p/n NM715-4

Radio Shack charges almost $20 for their 1600's

[bhess]

Thanks doc. I needed some more AA's. One thing with mail order is to order it all at once to save on shipping. I got caught out on AA's. So if you order a combo kit make sure to get lots of extras.

[deltaf508]

So let me get this straight. I am getting ready to buy a digital camera, so I want to make sure I've got it right http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

What I am hearing is that 1600 mah is the way to go, and it doesen't matter what brand you get. Is that right????

Looks like I'm going to the store http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

Gary

[Richard_Cranium72]

1600mah is the most COMMON high power AA's in NiMH readily available.

You can order some up as high as 1800mah, I don't know for sure how much difference they would make though.

I do know for sure stepping from 1200mah batteries to 1600's is a large leap.
Though this is no where as HUGE as jumping from Alkaline Batteries to Nickle Metal Hydride..

DrVette

[sevenbeansalad]

I found a couple sites that sold ni-mh batteries cheap 1.00-2.50
a peice for aa's this is one of the best ones. cheapbatteries.com

[jim.t]

Anyone try any of the 1800ma Greenbatteries yet. I bought 3 sets, and they seem to work really well. You can check it out for yourself: http://www.greenbatteries.com/

[Ammok]

Danu

I've just read through this and you have just stopped me thorwing all of my NMH batteries into the trash can. I bought them at Christmas for digital caneras and gameboys and though with the far supperior current ratings would last much longer than the old cads I had.

I then noticed that even when you did not use them, they went flat. Thx for your post, now I know why. I shall make sure i charge them up as I need them, not charge up and store.

[lito pospos]

battery for the past twenty year are still the same old story like notebook the battery pack inside same technology as before only shape as size is change,. only the price tag is been change