Rechargeable batteries (aa +aaa ect)

[TNT Tricky Nicky]

Has anybody had any experience with rechargeable batteries? I had them 15+ years ago as a youngster for my remote control cars ect, i remember them not being that great and not holding charge for long.

The reason I ask is I now cycle to work and need some batteries for my lights & wondered if it would be more economical to get a chargers and batteries or just buy a big box of heavy duty normal batteries?

Nick

[clee]

Not something I've ever done myself but you can recharge std alkaline .Bit of research required .I know Mr Faulks does this all the time and often raids the 're-cycle ' box at his works to liberate a few hundred

edit quick google

http://rechargingalkalinenonrecharga...aa-aa-c-d.html

[Andrew Cooke]

eneloop

[TNT Tricky Nicky]

Oh, that's interesting. After reading the link it dawned on me that rechargeable batteries have come a long way, portable work gear, drills and the like all do well.

I'll do a bit more research into but I guess i'll need to buy the charger and they generally come with a couple of batteries anyway but I'll try recharging the normal one as well

Thanks lee

[TNT Tricky Nicky]

Sorry missed your post Andrew

Just looked, I'd only seen a Duracell one in tesco, which is what got me thinking but would rather go with a recommendation than just getting one, thanks

[Andrew Cooke]

when it comes to chargers, better ones charge and monitor each cell individually, as well as allow you to recycle tired cells as well as capacity check them. Don't just buy the cheapest.

[car.crash]

You want some laptop batteries

AA inside them.

[dj_craig_]

What happend to the little dyno that use to spin on tyre to power lights ? Just found this http://bicycling.about.com/od/bikeeq.../dyno_hubs.htm

[DaveL485]

I use lithium rechargables in my CREE T6 Torch. Spot on, and I can piss off every house within several hundred metres

[Lowiepete]

I've relied on rechargeable batteries for ages. I need 10 just to run a couple of
old slave clocks with hand-wound magnets, circa 1948. I have some battery
operated window blinds, that need 8 AA batteries each and bearing in mind
that rechargeables only produce 9.6V instead of the 12V needed, the Duracells
only need an annual charge.

Don't waste your money on cheap! The best batteries are Duracell 2400maH,
closely followed by the JCB equivalents. Indeed, for the AAA size, I prefer JCBs.

I'd also recommend a charger that has an automatic full-discharge facility as
well as individual charging and condition monitors.

Regards,
Steve

[Ian S]

Sanyo Eneloop also.

Had cheaper NiMH in the camera and it was out after a few photos or was flat after a few weeks.

Eneloops last years apparently before self overly discharging. When largely discharged, say to 1.3V, they show as good on the tester where others, with a higher voltage show as needing a charge, I presume this means Eneloops have a lower impedance so can deliver more current.

I had some cheaper ones in the small Maglight and I was about to buy another torch as it was useless but tried a couple of Eneloops and it was bright again, even though the others were fully charged.

I did a lot of reading up before buying these. There's a great forum called candle power. They are very big into their batteries there, real enthusiasts with tons of info and data.

Batteries are always getting better. There's a version three, or something, Eneloop that might be in the UK by now. Only discernible by the tiny number on it.

When I read about the Duracell's a couple or so years ago, they were cheap Chinese made with poorer performance as were all the shown Chinese ones at that time. IIRC, there had been some Japanese Duracell's at some point but had been 'cheapened' for the lower grade ones. I've not looked at the recent Duracell's, etc, which is perhaps what Steve, above post, has and they must have improved by the sound of it, or they are re-badged Sanyo (now Panasonic) batteries the Candle power people are calling Duraloops: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/...racell-battery

The fact that all these re-chargables are not 1.5V though is a stupid nonsense as many things seem to be made for that and stop at 1.3v, such as the new cheap, but good, Chinese digital scales I just bought. Even the Eneloops are shown as 'low' after a very little use. May have to get normal batteries :/

Which points me to the new Lithium rechargeable batteries and the torches designed for them and their 3.7 Voltage. Was looking at them last night again due to a sale at 7day shop. Looked at that maybe a year ago but seemed only available from China. Now they're here with warranties from large UK sellers. There are, of course, good and better Lithium batteries but it seems still a case of taking what you can get. Lithium are VERY fussy about charge rate, charge time, current, temperature, etc and you need a well made charger for them.

Some of the Lithium ion battery powered torches are claiming a lot higher Lumen's and look like they may be more like a car headlight brightness.

If you already own the torch there are some high capacity Eneloops, they don't hold their charge as long as the other Eneloops, but will give more capacity per session, say for a photo shoot, or nightly torch use: http://www.7dayshop.com/sanyo-eneloo...NsaW1pdD1hbGw=
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/...mAh-eneloop-AA

I also would suggest a better quality and slower charger for NiMH batteries. The fast charger I had was making the previous batteries nearly too hot to touch, maybe that was why they soon were not holding their charge, or maybe they were just like that anyway, 7DayShop own brand, I'd not get them again. What I read said the way to make the batteries last the 800, or whatever, re-charges was to charge them slowly at 200mA and this seems to be the default on the Voltcraft. If you want to put 1 amp into each of 4 cells then the cheaper Voltcraft charger won't do it as the max in 700mA.

I bought this one a few years ago as I planned to only slow charge at 200mA as that was the most popular view at the time: http://www.conrad.com/ce/en/product/...f=searchDetail

http://www.conrad.com/ce/en/product/...f=searchDetail

There was another popular one on Candle Power, I forget now what it was, a bit more expensive and possibly a bit better. I think it may have been this one: MH-C9000 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/40055...13=80&ff14=102

18650 Lithium ion battery comparison:
http://lygte-info.dk/review/batterie...mary%20UK.html
http://lygte-info.dk/review/batterie...comparator.php

[Hammer]

I purchase good old Duracell rechargeable batteries for the many needs we have at the school where I work. We have them in digilocks, wireless alarms, maglites, fire door retainers, MP3 players, 2way radios, etc etc. never had a problem or issue with any of them.

We bought all of ours from Screwfix along with a few decent recharger bases.