Unopened Sanyo AA's. How low can they go?

[frosty]

I have a couple of packets of Sanyo HR-3u AA's, that I have put in a draw and forgotten about. Came across them today and thought I'd better charge them up. Tested the voltage at about 0.90 for all of them. The charger seems to be charging them OK. But have I damaged them by letting them discharge so low, or can a "refresh" on the charger get them back to life? Thanks for any thoughts.

[Al]

Charge them, use them, think about it. then you will know ... ;-)

[frosty]

I've charged one set and they seem OK, but I just wonder if they'll stand up to a high amp draw such as my mag85.

[SilverFox]

Hello Frosty,

If the are high capacity cells, they are most likely damaged, but may still be useful.

If the are lower capacity cells, they are most likely damaged, but can be recovered to pretty much normal use in around 5 charge/discharge cycles.

Tom

[frosty]

Thanks. They are 2500mah.

[SilverFox]

Hello Frosty,

I was afraid you would say that...

There has been a problem with some batches of the 2500 mAh cells. The problem cells develop a high rate of self discharge. They work very well, right off the charger, but can be completely discharged in a week or two.

I would suggest that you charge them up, measure their voltage, then let them sit for a week or so. Measure the voltage again and you will get an idea of how well they are holding up to self discharge.

I consider those as higher capacity cells, but think you should try them and see what you find out. They may work very well for you. With the 2500 cells, it seems that some of them work well and handle abuse better than others.

In a Mag85, you will get better performance (brighter, whiter light) from the Titanium Power Max 1800 mAh cells, but will loose some runtime.

Tom

[frosty]

I think I'll keep them but just for remotes and the like. I've just bought some eneloop's as replacements to avoid this happening again.