Which Rechargeable Batteries Do You Use?

kramer2718 asks: "I go through a lot of batteries in my digital camera, remote controls, etc. I'd like to go to the rechargeable route for the environment and for my pocketbook, but I don't know which rechargeable batteries are the best. Can anyone out there give me some advice about which brand and types of batteries work well?"

Comments

Fire Marshall Bill

[CmdrPorno]

Lithium-ion ones made by Sony.

MAHA NiMH.

[Anonymous Coward]

MAHA NiMH from http://www.thomasdistributing.com/ . I've had several that have been working perfectly for more than half a decade now.

Re:MAHA NiMH.

[rvw]

You should indeed buy NiMH batteries (not NiCd). I've used Sony and several B-brands, all of them working okay. But beware that not only the batteries are important, but the charger can make a big difference as well. All these batteries suffer from memory-effects (even if they claim NiMH does not). After a while they seem to wear out. At one moment, you charge them, want to use them, and they stop working after a second or so. Then you need to discharge (refresh) them completely. In fact, you should have done this long before. Special rechargers offer the function to discharge them completely before charging. This discharge draws them empty completely.

I use a Sony charger, like the Sony BCG-34HRMF4 Super Quick Charger.

Re:MAHA NiMH.

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm afraid you're mistaken about the "memory effect". There never was a memory effect in consumer-grade batteries, NiCd or NiMH. What people experienced, and what was called "memory effect" was in fact overcharging due to crappy timer-based chargers.

When you put a partially-charged cell into a timer-based charger, the charging circuit won't shut off until well after the cell is cooked, thus the directions to fully discharge the battery before recharging.

However, with modern electronically controlled chargers (Such as the Energizer 30 or 15-minute NiMH charger) this is no longer an issue, and the wear on the battery caused by deep cycling far exceeds any risk of overcharging the cell.

My suggestion is to use NiMH cells in anything that tends to wear down the batteries fairly quickly (cameras, portable electronics, etc) and get a GOOD charger; a charger rated for 30 minutes or below will be electronically controlled and will maximize cell life. Be prepared to spend $50 on a charger.

For any low drain applications such as remote controls, smoke alarms, flashlights etc, your best bet is to use the non-rechargable lithium batteries that have recently become available in AA and AAA sizes. Unlike NiMH, NiCd and Alkaline to a lesser extent, Lithium batteries do not self-discharge over time, so they're perfect for applications where you want a long shelf life between uses. Lithiums also perform well in high-drain devices, but other cell types are much less expensive for such uses ('titanium' alkaline or NiMH).

(captcha on this post is 'loosing', no wonder nobody around here can spell 'losing')

NIMH here

[Anonymous Coward]

18 pack of ray o vac NIMH's. Energizer charger.

Further, I made an effort to simplify devices around them:

1. My flashlights use them
2. My mp3 player uses them
3. The flash on my canon XT uses them
4. I bought a bluetooth headset that uses them ( 1 x aaa ) Motorola H300
5. My wireless mice use them ( both use 2 x aa )

YMMV, but NIMHs are a good way to go. LiPo and LiIon I dont think are really as common or as inexpensive.

Rayovac's OK, but I'd say Energizer

[Yooden_Vranx]

I use Rayovac's nickel metal hydrides. I started out with Rayovac's alkalines, which were one of the first on the market, and just stuck with them since I don't want to buy new chargers. If I were just buying today, I'd go with Energizer over Rayovac because not everyone stocks the Rayovacs, but the Rayovacs do work pretty well. I don't have any actual experience with Energizer. I don't have a speed charger, so it does take a few hours to recharge them if they're pretty deeply drawn down. I haven't seen any alkaline rechargeable in a long time, but even if you do, definitely go NiMH. The alkalines don't have a very high peak power, and if you ever drain them completely, they can't be recharged.

Ni-Metal

[stonefoz]

I still don't trust lithium-ion for regular uses, the device really needs an onboard controller just to keep them safe. Can't overcharge, voltage spike, drain too far, temp ect. However any device will be happy with Ni-Metal. Ni-Metal has the closest performance next to lithium-ion with the only drawback is weight, nickel is heavy.

www.thomas-distributing.com has it all

[holden caufield]

I have no connection to this company, other than being a satisfied customer, but what you want to do is to purchase Powerex NiMH batteries, and a MAHA - MH-C204W Smart World Travel Conditioning Battery Charger.

Then you will be a satisified customer too.

Comparison site

[ximenes]

http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/BATTS/BATTS.H TM has comparisons of various brands from a year or two ago. It seems like basically PowerEx is the way to go, particularly when you take into account that they are now available in 2700 mAh versions. The highest mAh AA NiMH battery that I could find is from Accupower at 2900 mAh. However, they don't seem to perform as well as Sanyo 2700 mAh batteries, and so I would guess that they are also inferior to the PowerEx 2700 mAh ones.

The important thing to remember is that anything towards the top of a comparison list is probably going to work fine; you don't necessary need the very finest NiMH battery available on the market today. For instance, I have some Sanyo 2300 mAh batteries that work just fine.

It seems like www.thomasdistributing.com is the place to buy batteries if you're looking for a reputable online store.

The charger matters more

[Clueless Moron]

A cheap-ass charger overheats your batteries and drastically shortens their lifetime. A negative delta-V charger (like a MH-C777PLUS or that ilk) detects the teeny teeny tiny little voltage drops that NiCd and NiMH batteries do when they reach peak charge and stop right there.

I've always just bought whatever high capacity stuff I can find that's on sale and use a nice charger. I've had cells last nearly ten years by babying them this way.

As for the batteries, NiMH have higher capacity but a pretty horrible self-discharge rate. NiCds are a bit better, but to get decent usage out of either you really need to make a habit of topping them up before going off on your little expeditions. And always, always bring some alkalines with you. Their shelf life is phenomenal.

Oh, and don't forget that the NiCd memory effect is a myth. Let it die, already.

I use NiMH

[grishnav]

To learn about the different chemistries:

http://batteryuniversity.com/

I've found NiMH to be the best balance for all my applications.

I've had good luck buying NiMH in bulk from this company:

http://www.shorelinemarket.com/

I've purchased AA and AAAs in bulk from them (Tenergy AAs and Powerizer AAAs). While they aren't the highest capacity batteries available, they are pretty close, and I haven't been able to beat the price per cell on comparable batteries or the price per MaH.

The AAs seem to do a bit better in high-drain, as they seem to bleed a full charge in about four-six months, which means something that might run practically forever on a set (like a transistor radio you don't use often, or a small scanner), usually won't eat the batteries before they eat themselves. But they've done really well for me.

I'm not real happy with the Powerizers. They seem more like 400-500mah than 850, but alas, I can't really test them. I'm tempted to buy some of the Tenergy AAs to try, but unfortunately I've already got a bunch of the Powerizers.
I also purchased their 10-position AA/AAA charger/discharger. It works fine, but makes this annoying buzz every second or so as it charges and discharges, I'm assuming because of cheap components. Invest the extra bucks for a nice Maha.

Anyway, read up at battery university before you go making any purchases. There is a lot of good info there. Just keep in mind they are operated buy the guy who runs Cadex.

I've given up on 'em.

[dpbsmith]

A few years back I made a big push to try to save money by using rechargeable batteries. I gave up on them. Here are my personal experiences. Your mileage may vary.

--How well devices on 1.2V rechargeable batteries varies a lot from one device to another. Some work just fine. Quite a few work poorly enough to be a nuisance. Conventional incandescent-bulb flashlights, for example, sort of work but are distinctly dim and yellowish. Many motorized devices are noticeably weak and lethargic. You can't really tell how well a device will work until you try it. And then you need to keep mental track of which devices you can use the rechargeables in. I had a cassette recorder that would play OK on 1.2V batteries, but when recording it didn't have quite enough power to hold the recording speed steady and the recordings would have some "wow" and unevenness to them.

--Rechargeables store distinctly less energy, i.e. don't last anywhere near as long on a single charge as a disposable. This creates a large nuisance factor. Even if the device is only going to be used at home, it means that if you have devices that take N disposable batteries, you will need considerably more than N rechargeables, and probably more charges than you thought, in order to have freshly charged batteries always ready to swap in.

--The nuisance factor of storing less energy is considerable. If my wife takes her camera on a vacation, she can put in an (expensive) disposable lithium at the start and that's it, she's set, no charger to drag along.

--Rechargeables lose energy if not kept in the charger. This means you can't just keep a drawerful of freshly-charged batteries available.

--Rechargeables die fairly quickly, typically in about two years. And suffer reduced capacity as they age. Yes, they do this no matter how anal you are about following whatever your favorite superstitious battery-care ritual ([always|never] discharge them completely before recharging, [do|don't] just leave them continuously charging in the charger, etc.) Individual batteries have enormous individual variation in their useful life. You can have two "C" batteries bought in the same package at the same time and one may suddenly crap out in a year, the other may be going strong after four... which makes the management problem more complicated.

ACTUAL USEFUL TIP: In my experience, smaller rechargeables were very consistently worse in terms of premature failure. AA's were terrible. D's were pretty good.

--It is like pulling teeth to get a manufacturer to replace a rechargeable battery that has failed "early." They know darn well the products aren't long-lived and will not just happily replace them on your say-so.

--Because of the various factors mentioned, you cannot just replace all the alkaline disposables in your house with rechargeables, so you still need to have a drawerful of alkaline D's, C's, AA's, and AAA's as well as finding space for a charger or two and another outlet strip and so forth.

--Because rechargeables require a certain amount of attention... what does it mean when the charger is showing a flashing red light? a steady green light? etc... and because so many of us develop our own personal rituals ("the charger on the left is with the charged batteries that are ready for use and just being kept topped up...") you can't really share rechargeables with other family members—even adult members, certainly not kids—except on the basis of "every time you need a battery come see me."

--Because the rechargeable batteries themselves are expensive, and because the chargers are expensive (and because it's never completely clear whether it's safe to use any charger other than the one designed specifically for the specific batteries) and because the batteries tend to fail in a few years, it is not at all clear that you actually save money using them in a general way.

Obviously, if you have a battery-hungry device that you use all the time that runs fine off 1.2V rechargeables... say one that you use so often that you replace the batteries every week... you may save money.

Re:I've given up on 'em.

[Kalak]

Battery Recycling and Disposal Guide for Households

Re:I've given up on 'em.

[evilviper]

A few years back I made a big push to try to save money by using rechargeable batteries. I gave up on them.

Your experience is seriously out-of-date, and just about the exact opposite of reality now.

How well devices on 1.2V rechargeable batteries varies a lot from one device to another. Some work just fine. Quite a few work poorly enough to be a nuisance.

1) The more batteries a device has, the more chance that there will be a problem. Anything that only uses 2 batteries will be fine. 4 should be okay as well. 6-8 and you've got a real issue. In that case, some higher-end devices have extra compartments for extra rechargable batteries. On my Sega Nomad, I added a couple myself.

2) Panasonic's NiCD batteries are rated at 1.25 volts, which helps.

3) Alkaline batteries offer lower voltages over time, as they become drained, so just about everything has to be able to operate on 1.2V anyhow, otherwise it will have horendous battery life. NiCD batteries, unlike Alkalines, will hold their 1.2V until they're almost completely drained. That works great in most modern devices, but is considered a drawback in flashlights because you get no warning.

4) But more than that. Modern Ni-MH batteries, though rated at 1.2V, really offer 1.5V (in my own tests) when freshly charged, and slowly go down, like Alkalines.

Rechargeables store distinctly less energy, i.e. don't last anywhere near as long on a single charge as a disposable.

This hasn't been true for over a decade.

1) "High capacity" AA NiCDs from Radioshack (850mAH?) have just slightly less power than Alkalines, and have been sold for at least a decade now.

2) High Capacity AA Panasonic NiCDs (1100mAH) last as long or longer than Alkalines, DESPITE the lower voltage of NiCD.

3) NiMH AA batteries, as sold by Energizer and Duracell (2000+ mAH), last nearly TWICE as long as disposible Alkaline batteries.

Rechargeables lose energy if not kept in the charger.

1) True for NiCD, but absolutely not true for NiMH. NiMH batteries will hold their charge for months.

2) I haven't seen an always-on charger in well over a decade. So your experience is obviously very out-of-date, and not remotely applicable or helpful.

3) Recent batteries and chargers have gotten charge time down to 30 minutes, so unless you are in a situation desperately need a battery R

4) Leaving NiCD batteries constantly charging will significantly reduces their lifespan. That may have been causing some of the other issues you listed.

Rechargeables die fairly quickly, typically in about two years. And suffer reduced capacity as they age.

1) Really crappy NiCDs, under an extremely heavy duty cycle, may have the life you describe. The better ones will last far longer. And in more realistic usage, even the crappy ones will last far more than a year.

2) NiMH have no such problems. They'll last for many more years, and exhibit very little capacity loss.

you cannot just replace all the alkaline disposables in your house with rechargeables,

Not true. With NiMH batteries, EVERYTHING I have is operating on rechargables.

("the charger on the left is with the charged batteries that are ready for use and just being kept topped up...") you can't really share rechargeables with other family members

Yeah, 20 years ago that was a real problem. Ever since, it's been trivially easy.

it is not at all clear that you actually save money using them in a general way.

It's been overwhelmingly proven, time and time again, in study after study, that you save significant money, even with the cheapest, oldest rechargables.

Today, the situtation is worlds better, and extremely clear-cut.

Tell me, does your laptop computer operate on disposible Alkaline AA batteries, or does it use rechargeables? How about your iPod?

Energizer NiMH

[Eil]

If, like me, you typically only use AA or AAA batteries, just go to your local department store and get the bundled 4-pack of Energizer NiMH batteries and charger for $15-20. Spring for the better, more expensive charger (or buy one online) only if you're constantly going through batteries or need sizes other than AA and AAA.

When buying the batteries themselves, go for the highest capacity they have in stock, 2500mAH or higher. Compared to alkalines, they pay for themselves after just a few recharges and each charge lasts about as long or longer than your typical alkaline battery. Most NiMH batteries are rated to last up to about 1000 charges. In my case, that means I have a better chance of losing them before they go permanently dead.

You can't replace alkalines with NiMH in all situations, though. NiMH batteries lose their charge at a rate of about 1% per day, so this takes them out of the running for low-drain applications like remote controls, digital clocks, and smoke alarms. Things that you'd never change the batteries in more than once a year. They also don't replace NiCad batteries in especially high current draw devices like RC cars.

Another possible con is that devices which contain built-in battery meters (MP3 players and PDAs) are calibrated for alkalines. Thus, when you put in an NiMH battery, they usually show the battery as being only 80% right out of the charger. However, they will stay at that level for quite a long time and then start to drop off quickly when the power is almost gone. When your device says you have about 20% left on your batteries, you probably only have a couple of minutes before they die completely. It's not a smooth discharge curve like alkalines.

But on the whole, the savings are worth it. I used to pay more in batteries for my GameBoy Advance than I did for the unit itself and the games. Now, after a $30 investment in a charger and batteries, I just rotate through the same set of batteries.

duh

[gEvil (beta)]

Potato. To recharge it you just drop it on the ground and wait.

Re:The ones that came with my laptop comp

[Dr.Dubious DDQ]

As far as I've ever been able to find, C and D rechargeables are complete rip-offs.

Every time I see a rechargeable C or D, they appear to have exactly the same capacity as a mid-range AA. Apparently, they just stick a AA core inside a C or D sized "shell". Anybody ever found a "real" NiMH D-Cell?