Selecting a battery for a 3 month time-lapse gig : alkaline low discharge or high mAh

brycenesbitt · Aug 30, 2015

I'm setting up a construction camera for a 3-4 month run. In that timeframe, what battery should I choose? At what point does the discharge curve from a high mAh battery cross that of an Eneloop or Alkaline?

I see:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?149804-Eneloop-Self-Discharge-study
But here I'm looking for more of a comparison. I have a variety of Sanyo, Duracell and off brand batteries, and a Maha charger.
The Eneloops test out at 1900+ mAh, the off brands never match their rated capacity, but will test out above 2,500 mAh.

The camera itself is rated for 78 days of life on an "alkaline" battery, taking 3,700 pictures.

SemiMan · Aug 30, 2015

brycenesbitt said:
I'm setting up a construction camera for a 3-4 month run. In that timeframe, what battery should I choose? At what point does the discharge curve from a high mAh battery cross that of an Eneloop or Alkaline?

I see:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?149804-Eneloop-Self-Discharge-study
But here I'm looking for more of a comparison. I have a variety of Sanyo, Duracell and off brand batteries, and a Maha charger.
The Eneloops test out at 1900+ mAh, the off brands never match their rated capacity, but will test out above 2,500 mAh.

The camera itself is rated for 78 days of live on an "alkaline" battery, taking 3,700 pictures.

If it matters use Lithium.

WalkIntoTheLight · Aug 30, 2015

Yeah, alkalines will outlast NiMH in a very low-drain application like this. And since alkalines will only last 78 days, you won't get 3-4 months from Eneloops. Energizer Ultimate Lithiums are your best bet; they'll probably make it to the end (barely).

brycenesbitt · Aug 31, 2015

When, roughly, does the curve cross over between a high mAh battery and an Eneloop?
For a high drain same day application the high mAh will win.
When does the Eneloop win?

HKJ · Aug 31, 2015

There is some info here: http://lygte-info.dk/info/ComparisonOfAABatteryChemistry UK.html

WalkIntoTheLight · Aug 31, 2015

brycenesbitt said:
When, roughly, does the curve cross over between a high mAh battery and an Eneloop?
For a high drain same day application the high mAh will win.
When does the Eneloop win?

NiMH cells that are not low-self-discharge will lose 1%-2% capacity every day. Envelops will lose close to 0%. After a month, the Eneloops will be a much better choice.

BringerOfLight · Aug 31, 2015

At low discharge rates you can expect:
Good Alkaline: 3Wh
Eneloop: 2.5Wh
Eneloop XX: 3.1Wh
L91 Lithium: 4.5Wh

High capacity NiMh cells are a bad choice, while some might give a slightly better capacity than an Eneloop, if you are unlucky it will have a high self discharge rate.

With Alkalines, you never know if they'll decide to leak once they are discharged a fair amount.

I would go with Eneloops or L91s.

Selecting a battery for a 3 month time-lapse gig : alkaline low discharge or high mAh

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