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Rechargeable Batteries - Yes or No?
TheFifthElephant asks: "I currently use quite a few devices that require various size batteries and I feel horrible just tossing them when they die. I saw a recharger at a retail store today and was thinking to myself how much waste it would reduce by using rechargeable ones. Which units have you used happily and/or which units have you heard of/read about satisfying someone else? Are the more expensive units better? What chemical rechargeable batteries last the longest/recharge the most?"
Use Potatoe/Lemon batteries!
The unofficial
I use monster brand and it does me well, I hear there are better though. Monster costs quite a bit thought but so far works great for me, and seems to recharge pretty fast
We have seen that living things are too improbable and too beautifully "designed" to have come into existence by chance.
I use NiMH batteries for my wireless mouse, and my camera. Got a simple charger over at radioshack, and it works quite well. The batteries provide equivalent if not better power than alkalines and though they cost more up front, are definitely cheaper in the long run.
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I'm using NMH batteries for just about everything battery powered in the house nowdays. NiCad's dont last as long and are very bad for the environment. The batteries I have claim to be good for several hundred cycles, which at the current rate is going to be about 30 years ;)
I have an old olympus camera that came with Ni-MH AA batteries and a battery charger ... it has lasted me near 4 years.
Those batteries keep their energy for 3 months at a time easily, when I am not on vacations or otherwise using the camera.
Sig Nazi- "No Sig for you, come back 1 year."
I find the batteries that hold the greatest charge the longest are the magnetically levitated in a vacuum flywheel electric motor.
Occam's razor is the blind faith in the natural selection of least resistance and in universal oversimplification. -- EF
These batteries kick serious booty. In my digital camera, a single charge outlasts even the best disposable batteries by a factor of 2 or 3. In about a year I've already saved more in disposable battery cost than I spent on the charger and cells.
Definitely worth the investment. I have Panasonic brand, but only because that's what they had at Costco. I doubt that there is a big difference between brands of similarly-rated cells.
My amazing wife - Artist, Author, Philosopher - Laurie M
You want to make a difference? Drive an efficient car (if you must drive one at all) and recycle what you can.
Have had good results with 1800mAh NiMH RayOVac AA-size batteries in cameras with flash. Havne't used them for much else yet. Had less satisfactory results from Radio Shack-brand NiMH ones. YMWV.
I'd have a personalized plate on my car, but "toxic bachelor" won't fit into 7 letters.
I don't know if they last longer, but they have less battery "memory" issues. NiCads you have to drain all the power out to fully recharge them.
'In knowledge is power, in wisdom humility.'
"Which units have you used happily and/or which units have you heard of/read about satisfying someone else?"
My wife has this vibrating thing, something Rabbit, she's always saying it satisfies her...
Although rechargables seem to have a slighly lower nominal voltage than the equivalent disposable, I am told that they have a lower impedance (resistance). The result is supposed to be a risk to some equipement. This is why some things have the label ''do not use rechargable batteries''.
However, I have always ignored the above and never had any kit die as a result of using rechargables.
I've used all kinds of rechargables, from cheap Radio Shacks and Mallorys, to expensive Sony units. They are all pretty cose to the same, save for newer lithium-ion batteries.
I keep enough batteries in the chargers to replace the batteries in every device at the same time. And it does save an amazing amount of money in the long run. Most of my rechargables last for five to seven years before they stop being able to hold a charge.
The only batteries I have not replaced with rechargables is AAA-size. At that size the rechargables don't hold enough charge to be worth it.
Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
I feel horrible just tossing them when they die.
Well you should be recycling your old batteries to begin with.
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Bite Me Fanboy!!
You know, you can recycle your dead batteries, right? When I worked at Radio Shack a long time ago, we took in dead batteries and sent them off to be recycled. I'm not sure if this was just my store, or a company wide thing, but there are free recycling services out there.... so don't throw them away!
I use dilithium crystals when I can which have a shelf life of 10 years at full warp. Engage!
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I have been using the iGo Juice to power my Powerbook and peripherals and find it to be quite the appealing solution including charging handhelds and cell phones when I travel. The iPod gets charged through the Firewire port (awesome idea), so other than that, I'm set. All of these devices appear to use Lithium Ion batteries and have decent performance, (especially the Powerbooks).
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[ ] CowboyNeil charges my battery
For AA batteries, go to Walmart and pick up the NiMH rechargables at 1800mAh and a charger. I think you can get a combo pack (4 batts and charger) for something like $12, which is a heckuva a good deal. These batteries last and last and last.
The 1800mAh batteries are an absolute requirement for digital cameras. Using standard alkalines, I would get just over 30 digital pics in my Toshiba camera. Using 4 1800 NiMH, I get about 200 before needing a charge.
I also use them in my FRS radios and GPS, and they last forever.
I've also used various brands of NiMH's besides the Walmart specials and haven't seen much difference in quality.
You know you're a geek if you've ever replied to a tagline.
I picked up some NiMH (Rayovac's in case you care) batteries a couple of years ago and I've never gone back. I use them in my digital camera (where I get about 300 full res (1760x1168) pictures out of the 4AAs. I use them in my Palm VIIx (a battery hog in the best of days) where they easily last as long as the Alkalines (there's even a feature in PalmOS to switch the battery meter over to NiMH). Even when you consider the inital cost ($12 for 4 AAs), they quickly pay for themselves (I've taken ~3000 pictures on the 8 AAs I bought for the camera and recharged the palm batteries more times than I can count) with only half a dozen recharges.
One thing to be careful of is that the batteries do lose a bit of life over time, although my original sets seem to be holding up quite well. Also, rechargeable in general seem to leak charge faster than Alkalines, so they're not really a wonderful idea for long life low draw devices like remote controls.
Don't bother with NiCad. They have sucked from Day 1. I've never tried the rechargeable Alkalines. When you buy a charger, make sure you get one that supports NiMH, not all of them do.
I read the internet for the articles.
Please do not just throw away dead batteries. Please recycle them.
I use tons of NiMH batteries in my various gadgets.
The prices aren't the best, but REI has all you probably need right here.
Battery Barn has some good prices.
NiMH rechargables. You should have no problem finding 1800mAh AA cells, and these hold up quite well to frequent charge/discharge cycles. I've been using them for about 4 years and they can take quite a pounding.
What's even better is that a lot of cordless stuff with NiCads can be converted to NiMH by making your own battery packs. Internally many of the packs are just a few AA cells soldered together.
If you do this, look for places that sell flat-top and soldertab batteries. Some of the cartridge-type battery packs won't fit the normal button-top batteries, and soldering can be hard on the cells if you try to solder directly to the cell itself.
I did this with my Uniden 900 Mhz DSS phone. Before it would go ~90 minutes on a fresh (new and fully charged) NiCad pack. Now I can get over 2 hours of talk time, leave the phone out of the charger over night, and still have it be perfectly usable the next day.
I was concerned about the charging system, but not any more. A friend has done this for a long time (NiCad->NiMH conversions) and hasn't had any problems, and neither have I.
My wife seems to be "satisfied" by energizers while I'm away...
Heat.
It increases the rate of the reaction, allowing the battery to supply more current. It also works if you roll them back and forth in your hands for a while. I had to learn this trick while living just south of the Yukon border. Cold weather stops the reaction, and your batteries can't provide enough current.
This trick works for both rechargeable and disposable batteries, as long as they're not completely dead.
Imaging-resource.com did a great review of a ton of rechargeable batteries. The electronics geek in you will enjoy his breakdown of how he conducted the tests.
C - A language that combines the speed of assembly with the ease of use of assembly.
You say Tomayto, I say Tomahto, you say Potatoe, we spell it correctly... ;)
Mother, do you think they'll like this sig?
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NiHM accus are fine for everything I ever used, at least when you need AA or AAA types. They offer the same voltage, last long, are cheap, don't have that memory effect, and not to forget, they are nice to the environment!.
The only reason to occasionally use batteries is when you really don't have any accus handy as on journeys, and you can get some at the next kiosk of something. Otherwise (and this means 'usually'): accus! (This might be a redundant, but still, why would anybody use evil throw-away batteries on a regular basis today?! Mind the children...
- Buy a good charger. Cheap ones can fry batteries, take longer to charge, and can go up in smoke easily. Also, make sure it can charge NiMH batteries as well as NiCDs; if you have high-drain devices like digital cameras, then you want NiMHs, and probably don't want to pay for a new charger for 'em. Expect to pay $30-$50 USD for a decent one.
- When you buy batteries, look at the milliamp-hour rating. That's the capacity they can hold: for example, an 1800 mAh AA could supply (theoretically) 1 mA for 1800 hours, 1800 mA for one hour, or anything in between. While mAh ratings do tend to be stretched a bit (the tests are performed under the most favorable circumstances possible), it's the best guide you can get to how long the battery will last in the device you plan to use.
- Don't buy more battery than you need. Your TV remote probably doesn't need expensive 2200 mAh NiMHs, so put in cheaper 800 mAh NiCDs.
- You'll be better off buying online than anywhere else. I've had good luck from several companies, but note that the "Energizer" branded batteries are relabeled and marked-up generics; you can get better batteries, cheaper if you go with other companies.
- Get extra batteries. You should have a few sitting around for when something important goes dead; don't just buy what all your devices need. Get a few extra of each type you use, or just keep alkalines around to use while recharging.
- Don't be too hard on your batteries. Many good chargers have a "fast" and a "trickle" setting; don't use the "fast" setting unless you absolutely can't wait overnight. Fast charges are hard on batteries; once or twice won't hurt much, but repeated fast charges can cause a significant drop in total battery life.
- Finally, if you have some high-drain devices and want to get more battery life, try hacking something onto the AC adaptor. A good guide to doing this with your digital camera is here; the principles are pretty much the same for anything else that has an AC adaptor socket.
Good luck!That's it. I'm no longer part of Team Sanity.
Yeah. A buddy of mine keeps his disposables in the freezer for later use. Then they "wouldn't work" in something. I told him to warm them up and then they were fine.
The only reason we have the rights we have is that people just like us died to gain those rights. -- Cheerio Boy
NiMH batteries last a factor 2-3 longer than NiCd batteries, are less environmentally unfriendly, and lack the memory effect that made people hate rechargeable batteries in the first place. What this means is that a fully charged MiMH battery will last as long, if not longer, than a regular alkaline battery in the same application. Capacity of batteries is rated in milliamp hours. A penlight rated at 2000 mAh will, in theory, provide 2 amps of power for an hour. It goes without saying that bigger is better.
This guy has tested several dozen different types of NiMH penlights for use in digital cameras. Although there are many other uses for the things, this seems to be one of the more common and at least vaguely representative of what to expect.
When choosing a charger, make sure it supports, and is set to charge NiMH batteries. Running a NiCd cycle on them will yield unsatisfactory results. There are fast chargers available that will charge your batteries in as little as an hour and it's commonly accepted that these don't harm the batteries much.
I want the fire back.
http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/BATTS/BATTS.H TM
An important snippet from that page:
I use a digital camera (Minolta Dimage 7Hi) and I use his recommended ones: Powerex 1800 batteries and the very effective Maha C204.
2000mAh Ni-Mh AA cells are very cheap on eBay. You will also find good chargers for under 20$. I recommend that you stay away from thoses fast-charge models since your cells won't last as much. Ni-Mh cells have much more energy than alkalines. As an example, I was looking for some cells to put in my digital camera. The only thing I found was a pair of alkaline cells. After about 5 shots, they were dead.
YAFIRL (Yet another Free iPods referral link)
Personally, I have used the Maha brand battery and charger and have been happy with them.
The alkaline starts out at around 1.63 volts and discharges to around .9 volts before it is considered dead. The NiMH is flat at 1.2 volts. For some apps, the NiMH battery comes up "low battery" (like in my friend's pager) because the pager may consider an alkaline discharged to 1.2 volts as about done with. So you have to find out if 1.2 volts per cell will run your appliance.
The other thing about the NiMH is that it self discharges -- it is even worse than the NiCad, only it isn't supposed to have the memory effect that a NiCad has (the camcorder which doesn't fully discharge the NiCad which means the NiCad never ever seems to ever recharge and ever run the camcorder).
Now for the alkaline rechargeable. They say you can put ordinary alkalines in one of those chargers -- tried it and it won't burn the house down, but it won't hold a charge, or it will recharge but have really high internal resistance on discharge. I guess you have to pay for those fancy Renewal batteries if you want to recharge an alkaline.
OK, here's the deal. A fully charged alkaline is over 1.6 volts (none of this 1.2 volt business), and it is supposed to hold its charge forever (I measure .01 volt per day degradation). The rub is that you can't discharge them (ha, ha). What I mean is that if you use them in a flashlight and discharge them until the light gets dim, you have discharged them down to that .9 volt, and you are lucky to get one or maybe two recharges (if that) out of them. The trick is to discharge them only down to 1.5 volts and then freshen 'em up in the charger. Apparently they only like to be discharged a little bit and then recharged as soon as possible -- I use D-cells in a couple of flashlights (a 4-cell Mag and a 2-cell ordinary flashlight). If I use a flashlight on a project (like to change a dead car battery at night, or to poke around a crawlspace, I recharge them as soon as I can). I am told they will live (Rayovac data sheets) nearly forever that way.
There's also this Battery Shootout ranking system, skewed towards small portable electronic device effectiveness.
Da Blog
I recommend a smart charger like the Maha C204F from Thomas Distributing. They have all sorts of batteries at great prices (not affiliated just a happy customer).
This charger also has a conditioner feature that will help bring those older batteries back to life (the ones that you were using the dumb charger on before!).
Batteries that I've charged with this charger last 3x as long in high drain applications like in my GPS unit.
Moreover, they do have a distinct advantage: they're cheap and of high capacity, though not good for many recharge cycles. While a pair of Ni-MHs cost about $8, a pack of 4 rechargable akalines costs about the same price. Like regular akaline batteries, they have pretty high capacity (about 2200(I think) mAh for a AA, compared with the low 1000's range for most Ni-MHs), and actually come charged, with a long shelf life without discharging itself.
I use these batteries for most of the things that don't work with Ni-MH (graphing calculator, small electronic devices), as these have the usual 1.5 volt, instead of the 1.2 volt on most rechargables. Their downside is the fact that they can only be charged 10-20 times before they leak (the package said 40).
I don't see why people worry about batteries.
:-)
Hell, if you want to reduce your impact on the environment, try a few other sacrifices:
1) Adopt instead of breed.
You might as well adopt one if you plan on having kids (at least as ONE of them). If you don't feel adoption is your civic duty, they'll just accumulate and become a local nuisance. Then you'll need to pool your money with local businessmen, and hire off-duty cops to "clean up" the problem.
2) "Disposable diapers"
Need I say more?
3) Of course... don't expect a woman to give up this convenience while you parade around in a HumVee and a mow your lawn with a 20hp rider tractor. Otherwise you're forcing the burden on someone else.
4) Actually, you need a "push mower" like the old days. Save money and slim that fat ass of yours.
5) Lawn?? Plant a fucking tree you egotistical prick. You can still plant grass that's not harmful to the environment... it's called NATIVE grass. You'll not find it at the nearest local golf course...
6) Trees mean you don't need to water your lawn.
7) Or CHEM-LAWN(tm)
Actually, if you're stupid enough to lay toxic chemicals on your lawn, you have penis-size issues.
8) Don't listen to me... you'll end up spending more money on viagra...
Moderators: If the above ON TOPIC SARCASM offends your sensibilities, go ahead and mark me as Flamebait or Offtopic. The meta moderators will get you...
I know some of you will agree though
It works because the batteries operate via a chemical reaction, basically the acid inside eats away at the container. When the acid inside is mostly equilized it does not have enough umgh to work any more. By adding heat, i.e. direct sunlight, it adds enough umgh to make it happen. You should be able to notice something similar when you shake just dead batteries as well..
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NiCd and NiMH have somewhat lower voltage (~1.2v) than alkaline (~1.5v) but they also have a far lower internal resistance so if you short a NiCd/NiMH you can get far more current than if you short an alkaline.
NiMH also self-discharge quite rapidly - several percent/day. In some apps the self-discharge drains the battery faster than the device does. This also makes them lousy for emergency uses unless they are always on charge.
The upshot of this is that if you have a very low draw app like noise-cancelling headphones or a radio-only walkthing then you may want to stick with alkaline as they last weeks to months anyway and the loss of 0.6v (for 2 cells) may cause problems.
You may also want to stick with alkaline for certain very high-draw apps. Some halogen high-intensity flashlight bulbs specifically recommend against using rechargables. They are designed for use with alkaline and without the limiting factor of the internal resistance of the alkaline battery the bulb will pull too much current and burn out quickly.
On the other hand moderately high draw things like digital cameras are perfect for NiMH. The high draw depletes the alkaline to a point that it can't supply enough current in short order - a couple dozen pictures in my camera. NiMH will power it for a couple hundred. Unless your use level borders on "never", rechargables are the way to go for cameras, flash units, handi-talkies and similar devices.
Beware of chargers that recharge pairs of batteries, however. I recently had some old NiMH batteries that I thought were dead (~12 pix per charge). I had been using the Kodak charger that I got with my camera - it charges cells in pairs. Unfortunately if cells are out of balance it doesn't work well.
I bought a PowerX charger and after a couple charge cycles the batteries were working great again - and they are almost 5 years old.
The PowerX has gotten favorable reviews from ham operators and camera buffs. It has two charge cycles so if you don't need a charge RightNow! you can switch to a slower setting to prolong the life of your battery. Also, each battery is on an independent channel so each battery gets an appropriate charge and you won't be driven crazy when you have an oh-so-common 3 battery device. After charging it switches to a trickle mode to keep the battery topped-off. I've only had mine for a couple of weeks but so far it beats the heck out of my old chargers. Comes with a car cable, too.
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"You are not remembered for doing what is expected of you." - Atul Chitnis
From 650ma for the original shitty nicads to something like 1850ma for the latest generation of Nickle-metal-hydride.
The 1850ma batteries last long on a charge than the best alkaline batteries do new, and you can recharge them a thousand times or so, with no memory effect. The original 1650ma batteries I got with my Fuji camera still gave a full charge two years later when the camera was stolen.
I never buy disposable AAs for anything anymore, instead I have a bunch of AA NmH.
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Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
Well, if the imperdance is entirely real, then it's a resistance.
I've tended to use Nickel-Metal Hydride batteries in my cdplayers and my archos jukebox and they seem to be middle of the road. No memory (or unnoticeable) in high draw devices and they tend to be cheap. I'd assume that Li-Ion are the best to use as that is what my iPod and creative nomad are using at the moment. I've also seen that Li-Ion is what many cameras use in addition to a myriad other devices I haven't listed. NiMH is your best bet for not too long of a useage and a middling to low price range. LI-Ion for longer useage and higher prices.
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why does the porridge bird lay his eggs in the air?
I really wonder if the damage done to the environment and cost of recharging a battery is really all that much better than buying disposable ones. Especially if you factor in the loss in efficiency associated with the delivery of AC power, the conversion to DC and the interface between the charger and the battery (not to mention leakage). Of course, that raises another question: what/how efficient are the methods used by Duracell and the like to build disposable batteries?
`which fortune`
Rechargable batteries are wonderful things. Like a lot of other /. readers, I have a pocketful of AA NiMH batteries. There are some things you should be aware of with rechargables before you jump into them, though.
(Mostly AA specific)
First, make sure your battery-powered device is rated to handle rechargable batteries. Alkaline AA batteries are nominally 1.5volts. "Fresh" batteries will probably test to 1.56volts in a digital multimeter. NiMH AA batteries are nominally 1.2volts, and will usually test as 1.26volts freshly-charged. If your device has a voltage meter (if it shows "battery power remaining" it does) then you need to be sure it can handle running with the different voltage. My old family-band radios (some motorola model, don't remember which) were made assuming alkalines at 1.5volts, and gave noticably less powered-on time with NiMH batteries than with Alkalines. The batteries still had juice in them, but were putting out a slightly lower voltage than the radio wanted, and the radio turned itself off.
Second, all rechargable batteries (except possibly lead-acid/gel-cells) have a normal charge cycle rating. This means, effectively, that they can be recahrged that many times, and then they stop holding a charge, the chemistry inside breaks down after that many charge cycles. By chemistry:
NiCad = 500 charge cycles.
NiMH = 400 charge cycles
Lithium Ion = 350 charge cycles
After you recharge them that many times, expect them to become noticably less useful. This is part of why laptop batteries are only warranted for a year, incidentally... 350 charge cycles, 350 days of charge/discharge (about a year), and you have a battery that doesn't last nearly as long as when it was new. This is also why people that buy laptops like intelligent chargers, and don't recharge immediately upon reconnecting to a wall regardless of charge remaining. Recharge based on charge % remaining, and the battery lasts a lot longer, so wait until the battery gets below, say, 85% charge, and it will last 2-4 years instead of one. Intelligent chargers in laptops will check the charge remaining automatically, and only charge when it drops below a given threshold.
Third, you have different self-discharge rates with different batteries, aka, the shelf life. Alkalines are really good here, they have a quite long shelf life, usually measured in years.
NiCads are less good than alkalines, and especially with the multi-cell NiCad packs where you are concerned with polarity reversal, you want to recharge your NiCads every few months, to keep the charge level above a certain minimum where one cell in a pack might get too low, reverse polarity, and basically kill your multi-cell battery pack.
NiMH batteries self-discharge at about 1-2% per day. Yes, a "freshly-charged" battery that is left on a shelf for a month will be down by 25-50% charge. This is environment dependent, of course, varying with temp and humidity mostly.
Lithium Ion batteries have about the best shelf-life of rechargables, about the same as NiCads, really. Still nowhere near alkalines, though. (Again, leave your laptop sitting on a shelf for 3 months, you'll probably have a dead battery. Be aware, and plan accordingly.)
With all this said, I still love rechargable batteries, and use them whereever they fit the device specs.
Oh, and fair warning, if you travel outside the US. Most of the cheap NiMH chargers you see in Walmart and everywhere else are US voltage only, they work with 110V 60Hz AC ONLY. If you are travelling anywhere outside the US and Canada, get an international charger, that can handle 50/60Hz and 110/120/220V. You'll be much happier, and not unpleasantly surprised when your charger gets very very warm and then suddenly stops charging. Bear in mind that the carribbean, while very near the US and supposedly US power specs, has crappy power regulation on wall plugs, and you'll want an international charger there too. Just another thing to be careful of.
This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is... Oops. Frank, I've got your sig again! Where's mine?
-Matt
I replaced over 100 batteries used in our household (three daughters, geek father) with NiMH. No problems at all. I get the next to highest mAh rated batteries from Thomas Distributing (just a happy customer) and I use an Altek 5798 charger. The tri-state LED's give a good status on when its done charging.
I had a few go bad over the past few years, but I know several sets have had hundreds of charges.
The last AA set I got were 2000 mAh and they are great in my Fuji digicam.
www.thomasdistributing.com - don't let the 'web designer on acid' interface bother you, they have always had the best price and reasonable delivery. I even like the 'free gifts' (synth chamois car cloth, plastic battery holders).
Hope this helps!
Thomas Distributing
I have the Maha C204F charger and I love it. It has been *very* gentle to my batteries. I have had the best luck with the 1800mAh Powerex batteries, but I see they have the 2200mAh available now as well.
I can't recommend NiMH batteries highly enough for high-drain devices like digital cameras; they last longer than alkaline in such applications. But for low-drain devices like remotes, I disagree with some of the posters' suggestions to use them. They self-discharge at a much greater rate than alkaline and are unsuitable for such applications (unless you like finding dead batteries in your remote every few weeks... been there, done that).
Please note that it's getting much easier to recycle the non-rechargable batteries now; I save mine up and take them to the local transfer station where they gladly accept them for recycling. Probably not as common in areas with lower population densities, tho.
Cheers,
- Leo
You don't use science to show that you're right, you use science to become right.
You're talking about supporting value systems of the countries producing them, but then you say go to TARGET or WAL-MART? If you activists want to have an impact, how about starting at home. China doesn't give 2 shits about whether or not you buy a pack of batteries. It's a pointless gesture designed to make YOU feel better. If you want to make a real impact, don't shop at Target or Wal-Mart. Those big box stores are blights.
Why are you saying "Made in China" = "Made in Taiwan"?
I like the way you go on and on about "Made in China" but actually recommended shopping at Wal-Mart.
I do not have a signature
Hmm...
do I patronise the Chinese manufaturer so that their employees can eat?
or do I patronise the American manufacturer so that their employess can buy A BIG SCREEN TV's at AL's TV EMPORIUM - SUNDAY SYNDAY SYNDAY - Save BIG at AL's on SUNDAY. Free hot-dogs, and baloons for the kiddies!.
Moneyed corporations, non-working 'poor' and criminal prisoners are turning productive citizens into tax-slaves.
A couple of notes:
I've had a wonderful experience with the Energizer Rechargables, using the wall charger by the same name. I was given the charger and a set of batteries. I'm still on the same set of batteries (which I mostly use for my Olympus D-390 digital camera). I've recharged them about 8 times and they haven't lost any lifespan between charges (my old Rayovac Renewable system suffered from this).
Radio shack has a nice page about different batteries.
Most of the brands of rechargeable batteries have about the same performance.
:-)
Bullshit. First, there are different kinds of rechargeables -- NiCd, NiMh, Lithium, to name a few most widespread. Their characteristics are quite different. Second, as usual you typically get what you pay for.
But not buying batteries from an electronics store is good advice. They are horribly overpriced there, any brand...
Rechargeable batteries, like toothpaste, is a commodity product.
Toothpaste? You mean you alway buy the cheapest toothpaste you can find??
When you buy a product, you indirectly support the value system in the country of origin.
I do? How interesting... Is it one of those "if you do drugs you support terrorism" rants?
"Made in USA", "Made in Japan", or similar Western-country label is usually a safe bet in terms of (1) the quality of the product and (2) the value system in the country of origin.
Thanks for a good laugh... To start with, Japan is not a Western country. To continue, US produces large amounts of very shoddy products. "Made in USA" is definitely not a guarantee of quality. And what was it about value system again?
Kaa
Kaa's Law: In any sufficiently large group of people most are idiots.
Also, when buying NiMH batteries, pay attention to the mAh rating, which is how much power they hold. AA NIMH batteries might range from 1200mAh or lower to 1950 mAh (the best capacity I've bought so far). This gives you a good indication of how long the batteries will last between charge; clearly there is a big difference out there. And the more expensive batteries do not always have the greatest capacity.
On chargers, there are a lot of different and bad chargers out there. The worst never shut off, just tell you to be sure you only charge batteries for x hours. If you forget and overcharge you can destroy the batteries! Also, if the batteries were not completely discharged then you can overcharge and destroy the battery even if you charge for only the time stated.
The next worst chargers have a simple timer in them and do shut off after x hours. But they still can overcharge a battery if it wasn't fully discharged, or if you try to charge a lower capacity battery. And if you get a higher capacity battery and try to charge it, it will not fully charge.
My rule of thumb is that I never use a charger that insists on charging batteries in pairs. Such chargers cannot sense individual cells, which would allow them to stop charging each cell when it is fully charged. There are a few chargers out there that do sense individual cells and shut off properly though. I think Best Buys sells one for about $30. However, the $9.99 Ray-O-Vac NiMH charger sold at WalMart does this fine. I'm not a Ray-O-Vac fan at all, but I do use and recommend this charger.
And take batteries out of any charger when charged, never trust chargers that promise to keep batteries ready by trickel charging them. I've had them cook batteries.
Again, I want to stress that one should never use chargers that do not sense individual cells and that have to charge in pairs. I have several (I just got one with the 1950 mAh batteries I bought recently) but never use them (I bought the batteries and recharger just to get the batteries, the price was right). Don't risk your expensive batteries to a cheap charger, it will seem to work fine for a while, then you will find that all of you batteries have started leaking and failing.
Remember to look for and pay attention to that mAh rateing when buying batteries.
In applications where the battery might last for years (TV remote control for example, or garage door opener) do not use rechargable batteries. Use Alkaline batteries in these applications; rechargeables will loose their charge too fast, and alkalines are the best choice (I have a garage door opener with the same alkaline battery in it for 19 yeras now).
And thanks for asking here rather than doing a simple Google search on the topic.
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
What do you think you're talking about?
The datasheet is right here for NiMH. That is a very flat horizontal curve until the cliff right at the end. For comparison, the Alkaline curve is here (look on page 2). That curve drops steadily throughout the life.
Jason
ProfQuotes
go to http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/BATTS/BATTS.H TM for a quite good review of nimh's and an explanation. informative, scientific, extensive, etc.
Obviously my main problem is that this device makes horrible use of power (by comparison my Riovolt SP250 radio/cd/mp3 player lasts 15 hours on 2 AA batteries). I was bothered by the number of batteries I was throwing out and the cost of continually refueling the player (bad for the environment and for me).
I decided to try rechargeable batteries. I bought 3 packs of Energizer NiMH rechargeable C-size batteries and an Energizer battery charger. Unfortunately, I didn't pay attention to the fine print on the batteries -- the voltage is only 1.2V (instead of the alkaline's 1.5V). When you add up the voltage from all six batteries, you only get 7.2V for NiMH vs. 9V for alkaline. And the CD player needs the 9V to drive the Vcc on the amplifiers.
I was going to try rechargeable alkaline batteries, but judging by some of the comments here it sounds like other people's experiences with them are not so great.
You don't support American Multinationals working out of foreign countries because it's colonialism, economic albeit - but the same difference.
Go read No Logo by Naomi Klein.
For the most part, multinationals working out of Economic Protection Zones (EPZ's) attempt to get the highest rate of young girls from the countryside to work for them. This allows them to::: treat their workers like shit, pay them little, threaten them easily if they try to unionize, etc etc. - all leading to poor working conditions wherein the girls feel threatened and scared, wherein the girls feel they _have_ to keep working and sending piddly change home to mom and pop, all the while suffering so we can get Gap shirts and all sorts of consumerist b.s. for as cheap as possible.
So no, you are not supporting the Chinese. You are bringing them into economic slavery... Chinese gov't loves it.. the jobs bring in technology profit - but for the workers it is not an advancement.
Go read Small is Beautiful by E.F. Shumacher to see how I think one should work to bring the Third World to a good standard of living.
And as if they dude in the battery factory in the U.S. is living the large life. Give me a break. At least he may have a proper working environment where he is safe, he doesn't work his ass of for jackshit, and he may even be able to join one of those union thingies.
Too bad sweatshops are on Big Al's T.V.
help out.
I like that you went from saying don't buy Chinese products because of political reasons, and you should buy American and Japanese products because of quality ones. Anyway, given the current political climate I wouldn't say America is spectacularly better than China--or if we are, America certainly isn't as good as some other nations (Canada, Sweden, say.)
Also, Taiwan is the Chinese nationalists. Taiwan != China.
I'm on a road shaped like a figure eight; I'm going nowhere but I'm guaranteed to be late.
I still have the green Sanyo "industrial grade" cells I originally bought about 2 years ago, and I've been buying more since for other purposes. The charger (lightning pack 4000) is also excellent. I can't necessarily recommend the newer batteries they've stocked, but I definitely recommend the charger and the green-jacketed Sanyo batteries - they consistently perform well for me, and most reviews note that they perform BETTER than several NiMH battery brands with higher mAh numbers (they're only 1700 mAh).
"I may be quite wrong." - Socrates
First of all, there are three different battery chemistries involving lithium: (metallic) lithium, lithium ion, and lithium polymer.
Lithium batteries aren't generally rechargeable.
Li-ion batteries are rechargeable, but a single cell is about 3.7V (as compared to 1.5V for a alkaline cell or 1.2V for a NiCd or NiMH cell); so they could make a 5/2 AA battery out of it (great for devices that take 10 AA batteries, arranged just so...) or include a bunch of electronics to get a reasonable voltage out and handle charging in a regular charger, which would be a huge pain. There is a standard 7.4 Li-ion battery form factor, though, which is reasonably general.
Lithium polymer batteries are new and somewhat obscure and hard to make (in fact, real lithium polymer batteries are not expected to be available until 2005; currently there are only hybrids). They (like metallic lithium, for that matter) are 3.0V, and not suitable for AA applications, although you can find 3.0V two-AA battery objects. Lithium polymer batteries will also solve the general lithium problem with exploding or bursting into flame if mishandled.
Standard disposeable alkaline batteries have very good capacities but also high internal resistances, so they don't do well in high-drain applications.
NiCD batteries have lower capacities than alkaline, but they have miniscule internal resistance and can push an unbelievable amount of current. I'm getting about 45 amps of current from 1700 mAh NiCD battery packs in one of my RC planes. These batteries deliver close to 100% of their rated capacity even at insane drain levels like this. Downside to NiCD's is that they discharge at about 1%/day, so they are useless for stuff like clocks and calculators, etc.
NiMH have almost the same capacity as alkaline and almost the same internal resistances as NiCD. They are sure to replace NiCD since some new high-drain types can equal NiCD performance. These also self-discharge pretty fast.
Li-Ion are a completely different chemistry. Alkalines push 1.5v/cell. NiCD and NiMh push 1.2v/cell, which is close enough for drop-in replacements. Li-Ions are 3.6v/cell, so they are not really practical in replacing 1.5v alkalines. Li-Ions oxidize over time, so they lose capacity. Useful life for something like a laptop battery is 2-3 years or somewhere around 300 cycles. Li-Ions lose efficiency very fast as current draw increases.
So, to sum things up:
In clocks, calculators, smoke detectors and other long-run, low-current devices, use alkalines.
In high drain devices like digital cameras, flashlights, electric motors, NiMH are probably the best bet.
For insane current draw, use NiCD. Sanyo R-cells can push > 100 amps!
Use lithium only in devices designed for it. A NiMh/NiCD charger can and will explode a Li-ion.
Good luck.
Is operating temperature a concern? NiMH batteries are not so good in low temperatures, so don't use them in a GPS on your Everest Expedition.
What about space/weight/charge density? Lithium Ion batteries have a higher energy density than NiMH and NiCads, but they require more intelligent (read: expensive) chargers, as they are often microprocesser controlled.
Current Drain? NiCads can deliver more current than NiMH batteries.
Access to power supply? Weight and size of chargers? NiCad batteries are the easiest (after Lead Acid) to recharge, so the charger could be lowcost and small sized. You can charge a NiCad quite well with just a dc power supply and an appropriate voltage dropping resistor, just make sure that you time the charging to match the capacity. You can't jury-rig chargers for Li Ion batteries and you have to be very careful for NiMH cells (you really need to detect the voltage drop these guys display when nearing charge completion and trickle charge from that point onwards).
Also, contrary to what others have posted, not all batteries of the same kind are created equal. Stick to name brands (Sanyo batteries have been very good for us) - they tend to last a little longer. Maybe they have more pure electrolyte or electrodes?
Avoid rechargable alkalines. It will end in tears.
Good luck with your decision.
"The big question in our lives is how to be at the same time a hedonist and in a hurry" - Alain Ducasse (?)
Anyone know how to resurrect one of these batteries that supposedly don't have a memory effect? I just brought a new one and it's now down to 1/3 capacity after only a few months. I think it has to do with the fact that I leave my laptop plug in all the time.
EvilCON - Made Famous by
Patronize the American manufacturer, as the taxes they (and their employees) pay will, in part, include school taxes. One hopes that this, in turn, will benefit you, as you've obviously received a substandard sort of education, as evidenced by your atrocious spelling.
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Don't like it? Respond with words, not karma.
Please mod the parent up, buying the cheapest batteries you can find is definitely bad advice. There is even a large quality margin in standard non-rechargable Alkaline batteries, not to mention the more complex rechargables. I always buy Duracell or Energizer alkalines, since they generally last 2-3 times longer than the el-cheapo brand. As for rechargables, the Alkaline rechargables (Energizer has some, as does a company called PureEnergy) are pretty good for the cost. The chargers are inexpensive, and the batteries don't cost much more than standard alkalines...the downside is they only last for 20-50 charges.
A great deal of the raw materials for NiMH batteries comes from China (and Russia), regardless of what the "made in ..." sticker says. (See http://ovonics.com [ECD, the NiMH patent holder] for more info.)
:)
So, if you buy NiMH, you don't have a lot of choice in the matter. This is NOT to suggest avoiding NiMH, which is a superior battery in many situations - just to inject a note of realism.
As for the original poster's question, surely there is a website out there with vast amounts of statistical data on the various brands (and types!) of batteries?
I like NiMH as it is relatively easy (and safe) to recycle. However, keep in mind that NiMH can lose up to 2% of its charge per day sitting on the shelf. NOT a good choice for that emergency flashlight.
If you're not living on the edge, you're just taking up space!
Remember that "Made in America" does not guarantee the item was made in America. It means that most of the labour (by dollar value, not hours) that went into the product, came from the United States. For example, most electronic components (resistors, diodes, transistors) are manufactured in countries where labour is cheap, and enviromental and safety concerns are minor. These are then shipped in bulk, to North America, where they are soldered into a printed circuit board, and then assembled into a chassis. Harley does this too. Less and less of a Harley as made in America, it's just assembled in America. So by buying these "Made in America" products, you consume more of the raw components produced in China (Mexico, Taiwan, etc.)
Are you willing to pay a premium for the "Made in America" label? If not, the company will be forced to price it's product competitively. With the ridiculously low (less than $7US per hour including labour, burden, and markup) for offshore manufacturing, American companies can't compete! So the American companies will start to contract out more and more of the work involved in their product. It's the same thing that happens in my company. We have to compete on terms of quality and lead-time (how long it takes between when you order an item, and when it's in your hands). For high-volume standard consumer goods, it just doesn't work. Warehousing a container load from China is just cheaper than building to order.
Here's a question for you though, do you think that by improving the economy in a country, the quality of life in that country improves?
One thing I've heard is that lower amp-hour batteries are actually BETTER in some applications. In increasing the electrode surface area that goes into a battery, manufacturers encounter a tradeoff with reliability, internal resistance, and longevity.
A lower capacity cell will have thicker electrodes, which conduct more easily and will last through more charge/discharge cycles. Ideal for applications like camera-flash units that draw very heavy current. You'll just have to charge them more frequently.
The higher-capacity cells would be more suitable for low-drain devices, like portable music players, or cameras that don't see much flash use. Their higher internal resistance doesn't pose a problem when the power draw is low.
Another thing to be aware of is that many chargers go into a blitz charging mode on startup, blasting heavy current into the batteries for the first hour, before backing off, taking a reading, and determining how much further charging is needed. This makes sense if the charger is plugged in constantly, and only drained batteries are tossed into it. It only becomes a problem in situations like mine: I was running a little 4xAA charger from the inverter in my vehicle, which would cycle on and off with the engine. Leaving batteries in the charger would cause them to get blasted every time I turned the car on, shortening their life dramatically. Don't do that. Now before I shut off the engine, I peek at the charger to see if it says they're charged. If so, I take them out and toss 'em in a cupholder, so they don't have to endure further charging. Keeping a spare set in my vehicle has proven indispensable though.
Avoid Rayovac. I got a Rayovac "3 in 1" desktop charger, which advertises the ability to charge NiCd, NMH, and rechargeable alkalines. Then I threw in a set of four Rayovac NMH AA's. A few hours later, I discovered that they'd gotten so hot during charging, their labels had warped and peeled, exposing the bare metal can underneath. They still work fine, holding plenty of charge to be useful, but the bare metal means I can't use them in certain devices' battery compartments because of shorting concerns. I put a set of ancient Radio Shack NiCd's in it, and it cooked them too. They were probably dead anyway, but the point is, the Rayovac charger doesn't have a thermal cutoff, which it should! Curiously, this charger works just fine on my other batteries, even AAA's never get more than warm during charging.
Ironically enough, another set of Radio Shack "high capacity" NiCd AA's from the same era work just fine, in the Rayovac charger and others. Because the NiCd chemistry has a lower self-discharge than NMH, they're ideal for occasional-use standby duty. Those old cells sit in my Mag Lite.
Really, for standby jobs, the best chemistry is rechargeable Alkaline. They have almost no self-discharge, so they can sit for months on end and still be ready for service. I've got a pair of Renewal AAA's in my laser pointer, I think I've charged them 5 times in the 5 years I've owned them. (BTW, it's worth the extra bucks for a laser that takes standard batteries. After you've replaced those button cells 2 or 3 times, you begin to see why.)
You should check out Isidor Buchmann's excellent book on the subject. After a free "who are you?" registration, you can read the whole thing on line.
P.S. Anyone know an outfit that rebuilds Lithium-ion laptop batteries?
More than you ever wanted to know about battery tech. Keep an eye on the emerging Lithium Polymer batteries @ roughly 3X the current NiCd and NiMh power/weight and power/size batteries. I use them in my micro R/C helicopter instead of the oringal NiMh and get 3X the run (was 5 now 15 minutes) with less than 1/2 the original battery weight (1.75oz vs 3.75oz). These are gonna be cost effective in the next 10 years or so, making a 100 mile range EV very easy and cheap. This is what they are using in the current solar racers. Environmentally friendly as well! Oh the original question? 2000mah NiMh all the way.
I've found that my Lithium Ion laptop battery stopped holding a charge. A friend suggested draining it, then popping it in the freezer for a day or two to finish the job. charged it back up and it was good as new (or close).
the chemistry behind it? who knows. worked for me.
I strongly disagree. Trading with people in other countries builds cultural bridges, helps to lift people out of poverty, spreads the values of freedom and democracy, and promotes peace between nations. Granted, the situation in China is bad, but do you really think cutting off contact is going to make it any better?
I don't question for one second that your intentions are good, but I do believe that the prescriptions you suggest are a recipe for starvation, poverty and war.
Further reading:
NiMH recharcheables make Alkaline rechargeables look pretty week. They make normal alkaline batteries look weak as well.
I've had very good luck with Ray-O-Vac. Ray-O-Vac also makes higher capacity line of NiMH batteries than other manufacturers (check the labels for the mAh rating).
-------- -------- Support Wesley Clark for president!!!
My charger: Rayovac PS3
Great because it charges rechargeable alkaline, NiMH, and NiCd [not 9Volt form factors, but the standard AAA, AA, C and D batteries] and it won't overcharge them.
I have three or 4 pairs of NiMH for my digital camera [works great in there] and Talkabout radios. Have a couple sets of rechargeable alkalines for stuff like remote controls [long idle time in those]. Don't have any NiCd...too many problems with battery memory which the NiMH doesn't have.
The best battery I've seen was the Kodak Lithium Ion 3V [single battery in the form factor of two AA's]. It ran the camera for three months before I replaced it with the rechargeable NiMH.
Just my $0.02
Hey, I think you missed his point. Well, first of all, China most certainly does give 2 shits if you buy their batteries. In fact, if they can "modernize" and grow their economy using their present value system, then they will see no reason to change it. Only by making clear that China's admission into the collective of successful economies hinges upon not only its economic capabilities, but also the ethical system upon which they are based, will their government see reason to change. Your issues with Target and Wal-Mart are, indeed, well founded but not entirely relevant to the parent's post.
WalMart is generally thought of in economic studies to be a large reason that inflation has remained so low in the US despite 2 recessions and 2 wars in the last 15 years. Plus they have one hell of a large workforce. The way they have helped to keep inflation down (grocery as well) is by making the suppliers give them their best rate. When a company can tell Disney to piss off if their price is too high (ever bought a toy at the wonderfully overpriced world of disney?), they have enormous impact on the economy as a whole when they have 10's of thousands of stores. Personally I prefer to shop at Target because it's not quite so "White Trash", but different strokes for different folks.
Wireless power.
Hmmm....now, that's the good stuff!
Someone's already linked to one of my pieces about batteries, so I need only pimp Dan's Quick Guide to Memory Effect, You Idiots :-).
I strongly recommend Uniross 2300mAh 1.5v rechargeables. Before I got those I had to run the camera on Radioshack-type buy-and-toss batteries. They lasted for about 20-30 pictures without LCD and flash. The new rounds (I bought two rounds of rechargeables, to always keep an extra pair handy), are accountable for at least 250 pictures per round. With some LCD, deletions and flashes here and there. -If it's not less expensive to run on rechargeables, it's definitely more comfortable! h
http://thomas-distributing.com/
they seem to get the latest, highest capacity models, various brands.
NiMH working great for my dad's digital camera and lousy for my Visor. Opposite is true for disposable alkaline. Go figure. Maybe NiMH is good for sporadic high current draw, alkaline better for trickling and low-current apps? Anyone?
"This is not a sig." -- R.
They seem to have the highest life batteries. I just bought a bunch of 1800mAh cells and they work great. I use them in my scanner (scanning receiver - a radio), frequency counter, digital camera (only around the house, not on trips), and a few other devices that are pretty high drain. I've had good luck with Maha cells and the cheapest charger I can get for them. I purchase all my cells and chargers from Thomas Distributing. Always get good service from them.
Here in Canada we have Pure Energy, a great brand of rechargeable alkaline batteries. I've only seen them in AA and AAA, but they cost about the same as non-rechargeable alkalines, can be recharged 100 times, and perform excellently in palmtops and cameras...
and Laser Challenge gear.
The US Army: promoting democracy through unquestioned obedience
Panasonic is (as far as i know) the largest maker of battery cells in the market. They make excellent LiO and NiMH cells. NiMH are probably the best bang for the buck, as they are a direct replacement for regular alkaline batteries. Lithium are great if they will work in our device as they are lighter, and wont be destroyed if you accidentally let them heat up or get too cold. Down side is LiO cost a lot more.
I discovered 'em recently, and bought 12 of the AAs for an old Logitech cordless optical mouse and keyboard setup that can't run off NiCds (1.3 volts) or NiMHs (1.2 volts). (4 in the keyboard, 2 in the mouse; 2x for continuous use).
I liked 'em so much I went back to Target to find more and discovered that they're not carried there anymore. Nor at Radio Schlock. Nor at a bazillion other places. I think Ray O Vac is trying to phase them out.
It's too bad -- rechargeable alkalines do something the others don't: last a long time in the drawer. It takes years for an RA to self-discharge; about 30 days for a NiCd.
(The upshot is that any NiCd you don't store in a a charger is empty when you actually want it).
So now I just buy regular alkaline and recharge them until they start leaking, then throw them out. Recharging before deep discharge gives the longest battery life for alkaline. I had a set in my RC car that I recharged after every play session, and they lasted for two years (with several sessions a month).
If batteries leak badly, I clean up the discharge with white vinegar and baking soda.
I've promised myself not to buy any portable electronic devices for the next couple of decades. I'm holding out for the micro-engines.
Hey, commas are, like, the best invention, ever, except for, maybe, the semicolon; I like semicolons, too, because they're great for, say, joining disparate thoughts.
--
Don't like it? Respond with words, not karma.
us citicens use twice as much energy per caput as europeans not to speak of china, russioa or other countries resulting in the highes co2 emissions worldwide. (http://www.natenergy.org.uk/co2mment.htm) us citicens seem to think using more fuel, ignoring the kioto protocol and pushing their own oil industry (now to be seen in irak) is the right way to treat this planet. let's face it - you are the pigs of this planet! and this is ment in orwells's words as well as mom's.
less random!
I am sorry but I disagree, and to put the record straight, I vote the green party and am socialist of nature (German ;-). Most of my life I grew up in South America. I know these "sweat shops" you are refering to, because I visited them regularly, as my father was in the business of importing/servicing/consulting cloathing manufacturers. Yes, compared to current US and European living standards the workers at such factories are not living well, but ask any of them and they will tell you they are gratefull to have this job, as it provides them with the oportunity to move into the middle class over time. Buy their own home, start their own business, and for them most importantly: send their children to school!
Don't believe me? Well, my fathers business went bancrupt after a kidnapping by "leftish" guerillas. He had to let go 500 direct employees, and the indirect losses can be counted in the '000.
Anyhow, my advice to you is to live in one of these countries you want to "help" and get the big picture. You will soon realize that it is the trade barriers we have build up in the US and Europe that makes it hard for them to grow out of missery, as no export no growth...
This might be a little 'late-in-the-day,' but here's a mini-article on rechargeable batteries.
With industry claiming that one set of rechargeable double-A batteries can be charged up to 1000 times, even before you consider the environmental impact of switching to rechargeable batteries, the economic arguments for using them are very convincing.
In my experience, a set of current generation rechargeables cost no more than two to three times what a set of comparable quality disposable batteries do and even if the advertiser's claims with regard to the number of recharging cycles are wild lies--exaggerated by a factor of one hundred--you *STILL* make out like a bandit by using them. As far as I'm concerned, they're the smartest thing going.
Down to brass facts, or, 'more than you ever wanted to know...'
Current rechargeable batteries are an imperfect technological compromise between alkaline batteries and cheaper disposable battery technologies. As such, you find that even the best rechargeables tend to be somewhat underpowered in terms of the voltages they generate. Disposable and recharable double-A batteries share form factors, but the rechargeable is designed to sustain a slightly lower voltage than the disposeable--when you read the fine print on a sampling of rechargeable double-A's, you find that nearly all of them are rated for 1.25 volts instead of the disposable's 1.5---and in some applications requiring a higher voltage, rechargeables might not be all they're cracked up to be. Personally, I have never seen this to be the case.
For a lot of people who thought about buying rechargeables years ago and rejected the idea, one of the things that put them off was having to charge their batteries all night for units that didn't have anything like the stamina of disposables. This is simply no longer true. Rapid chargers are available from a number of well-recognized companies which will rapidly impart an almost full charge to them, often in as little as one to two hours.
The stamina of rechargeables has also improved over the last few years. Rechargeable batteries are rated according to their maker's claim that their batteries will put out useful voltage over time. This is measured in thousandths of an Ampere per hour (aka, milliampere hours, sometimes abbreviated, mAh) with the number of mAh forming the cornerstone of the company's marketing efforts. In theory, the greater the number of mAh on the battery's label, the longer it will last in high-drain devices like digital cameras, where rechargeables are pretty much imperative if you want to avoid going broke while you poison the local groundwater.
Back in the bad old days, rechargeable batteries were nasty beasts with little to offer. You had to be organized and disciplined to use them. They were expensive. They took all night to charge and compared to a set of Duracells alkalines, they were bad joke. All of that has changed. I use rechargeables exclusively in applications ranging from my portable reading lamp to my digital camera and I couldn't be happier.
Names to look out for at your local electronics outlet include, Sony (more for their charger than their batteries), Duracell, and Power2000, who have just come out with a double-A battery that they claim offers a 2100 mAh of power, which, if true, put them at the top of the heap.
Happy trails.
To mail me, remove the 'mailno' from my email addy.
"Yeah. It smells, too..."
Here's the reality of what your little boycotts could ruin.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/spectator/spec79.html
Most accounts I've seen on www.candlepowerforums.com call the Rayovac charger a "pressure cooker" and is voted Most Likely To Destroy Your Batteries.
People there are big fans of Maha chargers. They just released one that has an individual charge controller for each cell, which means that you can charge non-matched batteries safely, AND you don't have to charge 2 or 4 at a time - You can charge 1 or 3 if you wish.
As to the types of batteries out there:
Alkaline - Reasonably long shelf life, high internal resistance. Good for low-current applications like TV remotes and HP48 calculators. Gentle discharge curve.
NiCd - Toxic, lowest capacity rechargeables. Lowest internal resistance, which is why they're still popular in R/C cars because of their insane current handling capabilities. Flat discharge curve with a steep dropoff at the end.
NiMH - Almost identical to NiCd except non-toxic, double the capacity, and somewhat increased internal resistance. Excellent for medium to high-discharge-rate devices such as CD players and digital cameras. Same basic charging algorithm as NiCds, although the charger must be aware of minor differences between NiCd and NiMH batteries. Both will actually start DROPPING their voltage as they are charged beyond capacity. Modern smart chargers detect this, but the peak and subsequent drop are much smaller with NiMH, requiring a more sensitive charger.
Lithium - Extremely high capacity, current handling capability, and the longest shelf life. Most are 3v, although I've seen 1.5v "Lithium" AAs (might not actually be lithium.) Non-rechargeable
Lithium Ion - Rechargeable, high capacity, high current handling ability. Very lightweight. Unfortunately quite flammable. Between the low internal resistance and flammability, it is not legal to sell bare Li-Ion cells in the U.S. to someone not licensed to work with Li-Ions. Almost anyone you buy "cells" from in the U.S. (such as www.onlybatteries.com) indicates that the cells are sold in a pack with some sort of protection circuitry if you read the fine print. (This circuitry cuts off the battery if a short circuit is detected, preventing the batteries from exploding.)
Lead-Acid - An oldie but goodie. Highest energy density per unit volume, but horrible density per unit weight. DIRT CHEAP. Still used when enormous capacity and current handling ability is needed at minimal cost. (Read: Car batteries.) A number of variants exist. Standard car batteries have very thin electrodes designed to maximize surface area for maximum current handling ability. These types don't like being discharged very deeply. "Deep cycle" cells have thicker electrodes, allowing them to be cycled more deeply but with less current capacity. (Still quite a bit, and nowhere near as deep as any other rechargeable chemistry.) "Gel cells" are a deep-cycle variant that uses a gelled electrolyte. These are much safer and can be sealed, which makes them optimum for situations where the battery might get wet or tipped over. (Automotive lead-acids are vented and cannot be safely tipped over.)
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
countries as an act of job-creating altruism back in the 1980s
BS BS BS. The jobs left (and are leaving) not out of good will, but because of CAPITALISM.. you know, the most efficient (cheapest) manner of production wins.
The Rich Plutocrats who rule the USA dont care about the USA, they are rich citizens of the world, able to buy themselves into living *anywhere*... the Ken Lays, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Bush Family -- WHOMEVER -- all protray themselves (happily) as "great and proud americans" because YOU YANKS are so blinded by Jingoism that you dont see their irresponsible and selfish actions as being clearly against the good of YOUR OWN COMMUNITY (remember all those jobs are gone...)
Then you yanks go down and BUY BUY at walmart, who imports EVERYTHING from abroad to get you "low low prices". Those low low prices are at a cost of a sustainable, local economy...
what you dont see (just yet) is that the "liberals" you blame for this altruism of off-shore manufacturing has been CONDEMNED by the left ALL ALONG. The Capitalists amoung you are *telling* you that foreigners want these jobs, sending these jobs are helping these other economies, and we want free-trade deals to help these other nations is *a fucking lie*. If the 250 million working americans are interested in seeing the USA drop like a stone in water, as the longest to fall in the looming Race To The Bottom... you BETTER start to realize that unfettered Capitalism is at fault. That the economy must be steared and directed by law.. labour law, environmental law, incentives, disincentives, tarrifs, taxes, subsidy etc etc etc... if you DONT start to direct the economy, those rich bastards will suck the USA dry and move on to some other host.
the real tragedy is that the USA, long an 'advocate' of free-market capitalism WONT DO THAT because the masses believe that this Free Market Capitalism is *good for them*... in the 21st century, you'll begin to realize that whats good for GM is not necessarily good for the USA.
welcome to reality.
The majority of "generic" non-rechargeable batteries sold in the U.S. are made by the same "major" manufacturers. Unless the ink used to print the brand name on the battery is somehow causing a performance increase, any apparent performance improvement is probably due to good advertising.
However, among the major manufacturers (and therefore also among the brands of "generic" battery they OEM), there are differences in construction that make some batteries better for some tasks than others.
While working at Kodak, I found that Kodak's Supralife AAA batteries lasted noticeably longer in my Palm than Duracell or Energizer. When I installed a program that tracked battery voltage, I found that the Supralife batteries' voltage declined in a very predictable curve, where Duracell and Energizer tended to fluctuate, sometimes causing the Palm to decide the batteries were near death when they still had useful life. This was several years ago, and the battery formulations may have changed.
The best advice with disposable batteries is: try a few different brands and find out what works best among the brands in your area, in your device, the way you use it.
Alkaline rechargeables are 1.5V. NiMH rechargeables are 1.2V. They hold their charge better than Alkalines, of course (until they run dead, when their voltage drops to 0 very fast). This is, of course, important, as 2 NiMH rechargeables in series gives 2.4V, and 2 alkalines in series gives 3V (i.e. CMOS 3.3V).
Many people don't know that electronics that says "don't use rechargeable batteries", it's because of the voltage. In those, you're fine using alkaline rechargeables.
In many cases you can use NiMH rechargeables and it'll work fine. Electronics is remarkably tolerant to low voltage levels. However, if you read your warranty on many of those devices, you'll find that you void it if you use rechargeable NiMH batteries. With rechargeable alkalines, you don't need to worry at all. It also makes the "battery meter" on electronics work correctly, say, on a Game Boy Advance, where the LED goes from Green to Red at about 1.35V, and then off completely by 1.2V. Rechargeable alkalines show normal behavior. Palm Pilots as well, though Palms can change their battery meter to read NiMH rechargeables.
And don't get me started that NiMH rechargeables lose charge over time by bleed away, and alkalines don't. So NiMH batteries are useless if you want to just leave them in something for a while.
Short answer: Rechargeable alkalines have several advantages over NiMH, which is why you can still buy alkaline rechargeables. NiMH is almost purely better than NiCad, which is why you can't buy NiCad much anymore (plus I think NiMH is friendlier to dispose of).
Whatever happened to Zinc-Air rechargeables?
They were supposed to have even higher energy density than Li-Ion and family, but haven't seen them recently outside of niche hearing aid market. Is there a problem with them breathing atmoshperic air or something?
I used to work at Radio Shack (15 years ago) and remember the some devices would require the use of dummy cells if alkaline batteries were used. The dummy cell was a plastic insert with a shunt wire that basically filled the place of a battery cell. This way, devices that supported NiCd would use all Rechargable cells, or while using Alkaline, you would insert the dummy cells to adjust the voltage.
It seems that most devices now are engineered only for alakaline, and have no room for extra cells to create the required voltage.
Suncoast Linux - Sarasota, FL
Yeah, we shouldn't allow third world countries to advance at all untill we can figure out how to bring them to first-world living standards and human rights instantaneously. Can you honestly say that the average Chinese citizen is worse off now, both economically and in terms of human rights, than they were twenty years ago?
It took centuries for the first world to get to where they are. It won't take nearly that long for the rest of the world (if it can be done at all). Boycotting and trade barriers will only slow the process.