Topic: Rechargeable Batteries

[aaronji]

I have searched the forums on this topic, but most of the information I found is pretty badly outdated...

I was just curious: what kinds of rechargeable AA (or other size) NiMH batteries have people found to work well?  Or poorly?  There are a lot of brands out there and I know the quality varies a lot.  Just want to make sure I don't buy some that only give me an hour of record time or don't hold a charge well or can't be cycled a bunch of times...

[NOLAfishwater]

Go with Duracell AA's with the most  mAh and buy yourself a Lacrosse Technology BC-900 Alpha Battery Charger

[fozzy]

I have had good luck w/ the Lenmar batteries

[F.O.Bean]

Go with Duracell AA's with the most  mAh and buy yourself a Lacrosse Technology BC-900 Alpha Battery Charger

I always used the Energizer rechargeables and they worked well. I also owned thats ame charger from La Crosse and it was sweet as hell. When I buy some new rechargeable AA's for my portable cd player, I will def be rebuying that charger even tho it is 50 bucks. It cycles the AA's when you get them to get them to their maximum capacity and runtime Very cool charger. Highly recommended!

[anhisr]

I have that charger and it is great.  Lets you test the battery to see how much of a charge the battery can still hold. Each slot is independent of the others.  You don't have to charge in pairs. 

[Belexes]

That La Crosse charger looks great. I'm adding that to my wish list.

[Jamos]

The new Sanyo Eneloop batteries are supposed to be most excellent...even though they don't have as high mAh ratings as other brands.

I've used older Sanyo's, energizers, and batteryspace.com makes really good rechargeables.  They make batteries that then get rebranded by the big name companies.


edit: I forgot about the PowerEx batteries.  I've used them and they are excellent.  Even the 9v rechargables
are very good.

[gewwang]

I've used about 4 different brands over the last 5 years and the powerex's are my favorite
MAHA POWEREX 2700 mAh AA (4 pk = $12.97 at thomasdistributing.com)


And they have a sale on the charger I use with 4 of the Powerex 2700's going on thru 12/15.$73 for the charger and batteries.

http://thomasdistributing.com/shop/-maha-mhc9000-battery-charger-combo-kitbrfree-best-way-shipping-till-christmas-on-this-itembrincludes-4-maha-aa-2700-batteriesbr1-four-cell-battery-holder-storage-case-p-540.html?osCsid=enu5404jvojkm4u3b29hv79nm6



This charger has 5 different modes but I only use 2 of them. Either charge which happens after each show. Or refresh & analyze, which I do once every 2 months. This mode does a charge, discharge, and charge

[prof_peabody]

Keep reminding myself I need to get rechargeables because the R-09 has way more record time than the old M1.  Thanks for all the info.  +T to saving the environment.

[Jamos]

Where I work we have typically gone through 4000+ batteries in a year! 

Just this year I've convinced everyone to switch over almost exclusively to rechargeables.  The cost so far has come out to about 2/3 what alkalines cost and we are down to recycling about 500 a year now (some things still need alkalines).

Most devices won't run as long with the NiMh batteries, but usually that's not a problem.

It was disgusting me how many batt's we were recycling, and I feel a good amount better with the situation now...although hopefully as capacities improve even more, we can switch completely over.

[aaronji]

Thanks for the suggestions!

Just got back from the local electronics emporium (MediaMarkt); they only had Duracell (2650 mAh), Panasonic (2600), Hama (2700), GP (2700) and GP ReCyko (2050).  NOLAfishwater recommended the Duracells, so I was about to get those, til I realized that the batteries packaged with a charger are 2300 mAh and not 2650.  So I would have to get the 2650 batteries, plus the charger with the 2300's.  Seemed like a waste...

I'll check a couple of other stores to see if I can do better...

I can get the Maha PowerEx batteries shipped here (to Holland) but at a pretty hefty premium...Anyone know Euro distributors for this stuff???

Once again, thanks for your help...

[wheresjerry]

I grabbed the Eneloop batteries, http://thomasdistributing.com/shop/nexcell-energyon-ultralow-self-discharge-nimh-batteriesbr2000mah-rechargeable-nimhbr4-battery-packbrincludes-one-free-four-cell-battery-holder-p-994.html?SP_id=72&osCsid=jogmjnb3d3obp4jstd1kpbc0b0  they hold a great charge sitting around waiting for the next show....and this charger  http://thomasdistributing.com/maha-mh-c800s-battery-charger.htm

[wbrisette]

I have used a bunch of different brands in my wireless transmitter/receiver pair. For the most part they all seem to work the same as long as they are the 2500 or greater mAh variety. Recently I switched to Tenergy because I can buy a block of 24 for less than $35.00 from http://www.all-battery.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=564

I use a heavy duty recharger because I always need fully charged batteries when I'm working on location with my wireless mics. I bought this one: http://thomasdistributing.com/shop/-maha-mhc808m-aa-aaa-c-d-battery-chargerbrdeluxe-8-cell-professional-battery-chargerfull-lcd-displaybrspecial-price-8797-p-517.html?SP_id=&osCsid=69u6kn04kdkl41v1giat5qm0a2

Wayne

[drewski1986]

The BC-900  is $38.97 here  http://www.nimhbattery.com/la_crosse_bc-900_battery_charger.php

I found this link on the oade bros. site.  Just ordered one for myself.

[aaronji]

The BC-900  is $38.97 here  http://www.nimhbattery.com/la_crosse_bc-900_battery_charger.php

I found this link on the oade bros. site.  Just ordered one for myself.

+T for the heads-up, Drew!  I am about to order one of these puppies even though the shipping to Europe is BRUTAL (almost the same cost as the charger).  I guess the exchange rate will soften the blow a bit...

I have a question, however:  can the power cord be disconnected?  If yes, is it a standard sort of configuration?  I will need to be able to plug into Euro-style sockets, so I will need to replace that cable.  I can use an adapter, if necessary, but prefer not to...