Is Energizer trying to kill rechargeable batteries? They're sure trying.

[frank10]

I'm still trying to get the kids to use rechargeables more. Seems they only want to use them when there aren't any non-rechargeables left. Also, some of these toys can take 6 AAs, which means two charging cycles with my charger.

If you have kids you would have to have some kind of system for Rechargables and they would have to be taught about them, which would require them to be old enough to at least comprehend things. Also sometimes there are so many toys that you couldn't possibly have Rechargables in all them without spending a fortune and losing some batteries and if they are lost that would be bad. I would suggest getting a bulk pack of alkalines for these purposes, obviously in the more high drain toys or more expensive toys that you intend to resell when your kid is done with them I would put Rechargables in those but otherwise most toys won't eat through even one set of eneloops in the lifetime they will be used. So it's definitely not wrong to use alkalines in some applications, especially if its throw away toys. They have bulk packs of batteries on slickdeals often and you can get them at places like the Home Depot, if you don't have Sam's or Costco memberships.

My cousins didn't have problems with batteries when they were babies, and they had a baby swing that took D batteries. But of course everything is more expensive now than when they were young enough to use a baby swing. Now they have a Wii, and a million other gadgets now that the kids are older and I give them 20 alkalines and they are gone in a couple weeks. I can only imagine how much they are spending on batteries, and I see them with the expensive little packs of batteries too.

 

[N8N]

I'm still trying to get the kids to use rechargeables more. Seems they only want to use them when there aren't any non-rechargeables left. Also, some of these toys can take 6 AAs, which means two charging cycles with my charger.

Maybe the solution is to have extra AAs charged up and on hand so that there's no down-time when the cells go dead? Just a thought. Don't know if you're doing that already or not.

 

[T0rch]

The selection of rechargeable in stores is frustrating. I agree with the op that it seems like Energizer is trying to dominate shelves. Several stores near me either only carry Energizer, or if they do carry anything else Energizer is still 80% of the whats available. I wouldn't know about Eneloops, lsd technology, etc, if not for the internet.

I think people just don't want to wait 12 hours when they need to charge some batteries, especially kids....of any age. That and the wall chargers you find in stores in kit form are not that great. So alkaline still dominates. I got my kid to get with the program by having charged up batteries on hand.

 

[HKJ]

I think people just don't want to wait 12 hours when they need to charge some batteries, especially kids....of any age. That and the wall chargers you find in stores in kit form are not that great. So alkaline still dominates. I got my kid to get with the program by having charged up batteries on hand.

Get a decent charger, with 1A charge current it only takes to 2 to 2½ hour to charge a NiMH battery.
I mostly uses a MH-C9000 (Analyzing charger 4 way, can do 1A) and a MH-801D (8 way 1A or 2A charger).

 

[T0rch]

Get a decent charger, with 1A charge current it only takes to 2 to 2½ hour to charge a NiMH battery.
I mostly uses a MH-C9000 (Analyzing charger 4 way, can do 1A) and a MH-801D (8 way 1A or 2A charger).

I have an iCharger 306b currently.

 

[HKJ]

I have an iCharger 306b currently.

Definitely not the charger for loose NiMH cells.

 

[T0rch]

Definitely not the charger for loose NiMH cells.

Why's that? It works fine for every different kind of battery I've used it for.

Edit: With loose cells I've been charging four at a time.

 

[HKJ]

Why's that? It works fine for every different kind of battery I've used it for.

Because it only takes one at a time and is "difficult" to operate. With AA batteries you usual uses more than one at a time, this makes it slow and cumbersome to charge the batteries with a hobby charger.
It is not that I am against hobby chargers, I have a couple and is using them often, but not to charge AA or AAA batteries and with the newer Xtar chargers I do also charge many of my LiIons in a cradle charger.

 

[5pyral]

I would bet this is true. You don't see oil companies working on solar cars. I am just getting into Li-Ion cells for my lights. What a money saver! Those 123s were getting expensive.

 

[SaraAB87]

Having charged batteries on hand is the solution, but that also means you have to buy more batteries than you need. This is what I do, I usually always have 4 charged in the box. Since eneloops don't lose all their charge over time like previous cells you can leave them till they are ready to use without worry.

You can save your Rechargables by putting alkalines or cheaper batteries of some sort in the cheap, low drain toys, just watch out for leaks if the toys are stored or forgotten about.

 

[idleprocess]

I would bet this is true. You don't see oil companies working on solar cars. I am just getting into Li-Ion cells for my lights. What a money saver! Those 123s were getting expensive.

Solar cars perhaps not, but at least one of them is serious about solar power...

 

[StorminMatt]

Solar cars perhaps not, but at least one of them is serious about solar power...

Oil interests aside, you'll never see a solar car that's anything more than a curiosity or a college project. Solar energy is just far too diffuse for something the size of a car to intercept enough of it to power the car. Stationary PV panels could certainly be used to charge electric vehicles. And maybe you could even have a roof mounted panel to charge the batteries on an electric vehicle to some degree while parked or in an emergency (ie dead battery in the middle of nowhere). But onboard photovoltaic panels will never be able to provide enough power for a car to cruise at 65MPH on even a level road.

 

[Arilou]

They're sure trying to kill sales with this junk (read the reviews)

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00164BTMC/?tag=cpf0b6-20
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0031JYRCY/?tag=cpf0b6-20

 

[StorminMatt]

They're sure trying to kill sales with this junk (read the reviews)

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00164BTMC/?tag=cpf0b6-20
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0031JYRCY/?tag=cpf0b6-20

You would think that, if Energizer was serious about NiMH, they would contract with Tenergy for C and D batteries. Tenergy's C and D batteries are both reasonably priced. And the quality is good.

 

[Beacon of Light]

I am in the camp that since the mid 90s when NiMH became THEE go-to rechargeable battery, there is literally no need for alkalines AT ALL. Seeing alkaline batteries at any satore now in 2013, it feels like somehow I traveled time back to 1970, but I have knowledge of the future and know of the benefit of LSD rechargeables, only I cannot tell a soul. It is weird that people still buy alkalines with the NiMH batteries being out for almost 20 years now. I too would have expected alkalines to have become extinct by now. I know for me I never buy them and haven't bought primaries since before NiCads even and that was early 90s. Buying primaries in 2013 you'd have to be a sucker.

 

[Beacon of Light]

Really, this is a case of Energizer treating customers like morons and also blatantly trying to extend the shelf life of a product which was functionally obsolete about three years ago.

only 3 years? Heck it seems since even Nicads were around since the late 80s, primaries became dead to me...

 

[N8N]

only 3 years? Heck it seems since even Nicads were around since the late 80s, primaries became dead to me...

More than 3 years for sure... Eneloops hit the market in 2005, so say 2006 or so is when everyone should have realized alkaleaks were dead. Unfortunately it hasn't happened yet... Duracell at least sold 'loops and speculation is that their new 'ion core' are Eneloop XX rebranded... would be great if so, now to get smart chargers in stores!

Sent from my XT897 using Tapatalk

 

[Beacon of Light]

It'd be way more honest to just sell AA to D adapter sleeves like eneloop does, and more practical too as many chargers will take AAs but not Cs or Ds, and then you're not using "special" cells in your D cell using devices. Although I wish that the 3xAA to D adapters were more readily available, those get you to at least the same order of magnitude of capacity as a real D cell. I saw in another thread that there's a Chinese eBay seller selling them (and the 4xAAA to C) for a reasonable price, just waiting on a quality report before ordering. And yeah, the price is kind of high, it's about the same for 2xD as the regular price for 4xAA Duraloops. Or only slightly less than Tenergy Centura Ds. The Centura Cs are actually less than the 2500 mAh Energizer Cs on Amazon!

Or to look at it another way, the cheap "CTA" cells that DX sells are likely better than these!

Anyone have these 2xAAA C cell adapters or 3xAA D cell adapters? Where to buy and what are the quality of these?

 

[N8N]

Anyone have these 2xAAA C cell adapters or 3xAA D cell adapters? Where to buy and what are the quality of these?

I posted a review of them here

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...ot-World-Electric-Fan-quot-eBay-cell-adapters

they were $5.99 each w/ free shipping last time I checked, but the guy cut me a little break because I got 5 of each type.

 

[jtr1962]

only 3 years? Heck it seems since even Nicads were around since the late 80s, primaries became dead to me...

I was being charitable on the assumption that it might take a few years before Eneloops entered the public consciousness. And yes, to me also primaries have been pretty much dead since Nicads were around. I remember the "good" old days of 600 mAh AA Nicads. Nowadays we no longer have to put up with low capacity or high self-discharge, and yet rechargeables are still off the radar for many people.