What are considered the best AA and AAA batteries for general use?

Doug

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Is there a consensus? What about a charger to charge them? Thanks...
 

archimedes

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Yes, I think you will see quite a few votes for eneloops (NiMH rechargeable), Maha C9000 (charger), and (for non-rechargeable lithium primaries) Energizer L91/L92 ... including my own :)
 

Yamabushi

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My vote:

Primaries: Energizer L91 for high current applications; EA91 for low current (< 500 mA) applications. Energizer L92 for high current applications; EA92 for low current (< 400 mA) applications.

Rechargeables: Sanyo XX 2500 mAh AA or Imedion 2400 mAh AA / 950 mAh AAA.

Charger: Maha C9000
 

Doug

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What about the new Nitecore i4 v2 charger? Hey, I have 18650's, RCR123's, etc, etc I can charge also :)
 

tandem

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Another vote for Eneloops. For "general use" I use nothing but. I also use them in emergency kits and cars and all sorts of environments. They work great. I keep a cache of L91 and L92 Lithium primaries on hand as well for emergencies but the Eneloops get used first. I haven't ever had to dip into my L91/92 stores which is no surprise given we have enough eneloops in car/home/grab and go kits, plus Li-ion cells, to provide light for days if not weeks or months in the case of our home, and thus far the Zombie Apocalypse has yet to befall our corner of civilization.

On chargers... I always vote for a standalone NiMH charger of the smarter variety than the Nitecore i4 V2 is, with the proviso that one cares about performance or has enough cells to manage that caring makes sense.

Unlike Li-ion cells, NiMH cells can benefit from a smarter charger - one that has different program modes such as "break-in" (slow low current charge, discharge, slow low current charge) or "refresh". If all your cells are used regularly in high drain devices a smart charger won't be as useful but if you have a mix of uses including some sitting idle for a long time, a smart charger will be useful to gain max performance.

Or you can just use any old properly terminating NiMH charger and accept the result as it stands. With Eneloops that'll still be very good performance.

I've got 120+ AAA + AA Eneloops/Duraloops and the collection is still growing albeit more slowly now. As a result I find a smart charger is worth it to me so a Maha C9000 is the main charger I use for these cells. If I had but a couple dozen... maybe it wouldn't be worth the coin and I'd just use my Duracell CEF23 portable charger ($14 or less when I bought a bunch of them for myself and gifts for family and friends).

Another reason for contemplating separate chargers - if you have a family, I don't let my wife or kids charge li-ion cells for safety reasons. I'm prepared to supervise charging of these cells; I don't want to ask this of them. If the Zombie Apocalypse hits our town then I'll train them up on proper li-ion charging protocol.
 

sofabralley

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AAA batteries are commonly used in small electronic devices, such as TV remote controls, MP3 players and digital cameras. Devices that require the same voltage, but have a higher current draw, are often designed to use larger batteries such as the AA battery type. AA batteries have about three times the capacity of AAA batteries.
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http://www.cheap-aubatteries.com
 

Viking

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For rechargeable batteries , eneloop without a doubt.
They hold their capacity best.


Capacity after 6 months: 90%
Capacity after 1 year: 85%
capacity after 3 years 75%


No other batteries hold their capacity that good.


Make sure you get HR-3UTGA ( AA ) and HR-4UTGA ( AAA ).
They also make some high capacity cells ( eneloop XX ) , but they don't hold their capacity as good as HR-3UTGA and HR-4UTGA.


But of course , if you realy need high capacity cells , go for the eneloop XX ( 2500 mAh ). But they will only hold 75 % of their capacity after a year. And also has less
Charging / Discharging Cycles ( up to 500 ).
HR-3UTGA and and HR-4UTGA has
up to 1500 Charging / Discharging Cycles.

 
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iron potato

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My vote same with most members over here....

AAA I have Sony CycleEnergy, so I continue use it.

AA I use Eneloop Tones & Eneloop XX

Charge them with Maha MH-C9000

Off topic, Li-ion I use hobby or Xtar charger :)
 

Hamaremon

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My vote:

Primaries: Energizer L91 for high current applications; EA91 for low current (< 500 mA) applications. Energizer L92 for high current applications; EA92 for low current (< 400 mA) applications.

Rechargeables: Sanyo XX 2500 mAh AA or Imedion 2400 mAh AA / 950 mAh AAA.

Charger: Maha C9000
?.
 

tandem

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For rechargeable batteries , eneloop without a doubt.
They hold their capacity best.

Capacity after 6 months: 90%
Capacity after 1 year: 85%
capacity after 3 years 75%

Edit: I imagine you are talking about retained charge rather than total available capacity.

As far as total available capacity, my 2 year old Eneloops and Imedions both seem to be holding 90 - 100% of their original capacity. I ran break-in on every single one of my cells and tracked capacity when new; each year, sometimes twice a year, I run break-in or refresh/analyse on all of them and I'm not seeing much decline in capacity. The latest batch I ran had Eneloops ~ 1920 - 1960 mAh which is about the same as they were new (some report higher capacity than the initial breakin) and all of my 36 Imedion AA cells turn in ~2250 mAh which is about what they reported as new as well. AAA cells likewise seem little affected by 2 years of in-use aging.

In short, I'm happy. I bought most of my AA Eneloop/Duraloops for under two dollars a cell and they are getting used over and over and over again and never disappoint.
 

Viking

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Edit: I imagine you are talking about retained charge rather than total available capacity.

Yes, and I refer only to the specs on their website. I have not done any tests my self.


When I had to buy LSD batteries, I examined the market and found a few who, like Eneloop claimed to be able to keep 85% capacity after one year , but no one claimed to hold 75% after 3 years.


Maha claims Imedion batteries hold 85% of their capacity after a year like the Eneloops. Unfortunately, they fail to mention how much they hold after 3 years.

After your tests, which I find very interesting, I certainly do not deny they may hold as well after 3 years as the Eneloops.

Imedion wins at least on one parameter, they have greater capacity than Eneloop.
They Loses a little on another. They can be recharged up to 1000 times , the Enellops can be recharged up to 1500 times.

How many different brands have you tested ?
And have you found other brands who are just as good as Imedion and Eneloop?


 
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Yamabushi

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I can see being worried about retained charge or number of recharges but why both? The longer they sit on the shelf, the fewer cycles they'll undergo.

Sanyo Eneloop are rated for 1500 recharges; Sanyo XX are rated for 500 recharges; Imedion 2400 mAh are rated for 1000 recharges. On average, I probably recharge about once every two months so I'll probably be dead before any of these batteries. On the other hand, if I was charging once a week, I would be worried about the number of recharges but not about retained charge.
 

Viking

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That's why I inserted the word "little" in that sentence , but not in the above about selfdischarge and capacity.

Personally , I almost don't care about how many cycles a cell can take , but others do.

Cycles certainly is a parameter for some to consider




They Loses a little on another. They can be recharged up to 1000 times , the Enellops can be recharged up to 1500 times.
 
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Heavy6

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Still using Eneloop AAs and AAAs from 2007-08 and a Maha C9000 charger. Everyone pretty much loves this combo. Including me. That's daily use on a small ranch.

I also use my La Crosse 9009 charger. A lot. Not so much love.
 

tandem

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Of the LSD variety, I'm only using Eneloops (almost 150 in our collection) and a couple dozen Imedions. I bought Imedions only once, Eneloops time after time. The extra 200+ mAh (actual) is irrelevant for my usage. Eneloops I get cheaper and for no other reason I'd buy them above the Imedions. Perhaps the Eneloops can hold their voltage at higher current drain. Maybe some might care. My bottom line is they just work and are inexpensive. No need for further analysis, not for me, not for NiMH chemistry at any rate.

Silverfox did a NiMH cell shootout - it is in the archives here and worth looking at. As I've been able to buy most of my Eneloop/Duraloops for under two dollars a cell, quite simply I can't be bothered to test other cells. These work great.

They last years by all accounts, and my own experience with them has been first rate. My cells are mostly 2 years in use, some are 3 years / 4 years from date of manufacture. I'm just not seeing sufficient difference between the newer or less used cells and the oldest / most used cells to warrant marking them specially so they can be used in appropriate devices. They... just... all... work... great.

Did I mention they cost ~ 2 bucks a cell? Some have had many dozens of recharges, others a handful. A few only three or four cycles. In practical use I can't tell them apart unless I check my database or run them through my analyser and even then I can't often tell.

So rarely do we see "workhorse" type products that just keep going and going (not like the Energizer bunny) with no hiccups for so little money that it isn't surprising why so many Eneloop users praise the darn things so much.
 
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Yamabushi

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@Viking: I wasn't commenting directly on your post. It was just a general observation that most people obsess about having both retained capacity and a high number of recharges.

I also find it interesting that most people ignore the fact that the Eneloops have lower capacity immediately after a recharge and one year later compared to the Sanyo XX and Imedion. Sanyo Eneloop 2000 mAh are 85% (1700 mAh) at 1 year; Sanyo XX 2500 mAh are 75% (1875 mAh) at 1 year; Imedion 2400 mAh are at 85% (2040 mAh) at 1 year.
 

tandem

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I don't find that interesting at all.

What is more interesting is that the label capacity of an Imedion is virtually never reached. They should be labelled 2250 or 2275 mAh.

By the way, 85% if that leaves you at 1870-ish after a year. As I've not left any of my cells sitting specially marked for testing a year out, this is all theoretical thumb twiddling. I won't believe either figure unless one of us puts up some discharge tests at different rates and I'm just not interested enough in the answer to put eight or so cells of each type aside.

(If I want real low self-discharge power storage, I'm going to charge up a swack of Li-ion cells to 4.0 or 4.05V and leave them in a cool room. They'll have a ton of charge left in them one year out.)

The Imedion AA cells are fine for lower current draw devices; as current demand rises, they suffer from more voltage sag than Eneloops and other cells. I just don't find them, for my purposes, a compelling value, and I own both.
 
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