Nitelite78
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2017
- Messages
- 22
Just wondering if anyone had any luck with the cheap no name type rechargeables. I saw some enerstar brand for sale at my local dollar store the other day. They were 2200mah and $4 a pair.
Budget nimh aa rechargeables
- Thread starter Nitelite78
- Start date
Help Support Candle Power Flashlight Forum
I've had limited luck with budget rechargeable batteries. Often they are overrated in capacity and in less than a year or two they develop fast discharge such that I have to recharge them before use if they have been sitting for over a month or two. These same batteries over 3-5 years and several use cycles tend to often give errors on smart chargers that in turn refuse to charge them and are prone to be damaged very easily if when used in sets has one being discharged too low in voltage.
In other words you may save money on them and get enough cycles so they end up cheaper than buying alkaline batteries but over time the annoyance of them underperforming and causing you a lot of checking and charging and such rules them out as a good long term investment. My advice is to pass on them as $2 a battery for nimh isn't cheap at all if they were under $3 a pair then perhaps they would be considered closer to "Cheap" IMO.
degarb
Flashlight Enthusiast
Firstly, the worst nimh, for me, was energizer. A quarter were bad in plastic from wally. . Happened consistently, but was years ago. . Not sure now days the fair price of a aa: I switched to liion when they quite rating them in milli amp hours. Most important investment is a smart charger. . I got the c900 reconditioned, breakin, the genius.
Check out price and reviews of the Amazon ebl brand low self discharge.
For me, every nimh purchase, is a waste of money. And I have wasted much cash, as I now use the equivalent of 32 cells (2400 milli amp hour per cell) per day. The aa cells have a way of dissappearing and failing at a staggering rate. . Also, if not low self discharging, they better have 2750 mah that you can use off charger. Else, useless.
And true, some of the most durable cells I owned were lower capacity, 1400 if I remember, generics.
The good name brands were Duracell, Sanyo, eneloop. . As I recall. Energizer, bad.
One other note, you may get by cheaper in the short run with budget nimh batteries but when you do the math the high end rechargeable nimh batteries (eneloop variants) are CHEAPER per use as you get more cycles out of them without issues. In other words a $2 battery may get 20 problem free cycles of use while a $3 battery may get you 200 cycles of use so the cheaper battery cost you 10 cents per cycle instead of 1.5 cents a cycle.
Nitelite78
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2017
- Messages
- 22
This confirmed my suspicions. I think I will invest in the eneloops for a few bucks more. Thanks for the replies.
iamlucky13
Flashlight Enthusiast
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2016
- Messages
- 1,139
Amazonbasics NiMH are $8.99 for a 4-pack, so that's $4.50 a pair:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CWNMR5Y/?tag=cpf0b6-20
There have been a couple versions, but the current version is suspected by some to be rebranded Eneloops (aside from physical appearance and charge-discharge comparisons, the part number is "HR-3UTG-AMZN," which is similar to the numbers on the first three generations of Eneloops). See the reviews and answers to questions posted by "Nlee_the_engineer" in the above link. That said, the reviews are mixed, so it's hard to say for sure if they're Eneloops.
I'm probably going to give them a try, because the price is a decent amount better. I've got a set of the High Capacity version in my cart for next time I send in an order.
Also, if you need a larger number of NiMH and have a Costco membership (or a friend who does), somebody in another thread just pointed out Costco has Eneloop 10-packs for $20.
Nitelite78
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2017
- Messages
- 22
Wow...I'm in Canada and here Costco has the 10 pack with charger for $56.99 and a 12 pack of batteries for $38.99!
Timothybil
Flashlight Enthusiast
I have been using the Amazon LSD High Capacity AA cells for several years and have had no problems with them. I, too, believe that they are re-badged Eneloop XX cells. If you buy eight at one time, rather than four, they are about half the price of Eneloops, which works just fine for me.
One thing I did learn. The Amazon cells to much better in higher drain devices than alkaline cells. I have the Energizer Folding LED lantern, the one that takes either four or eight AA cells. When I used it with the four alkaline cells that came with the light, it started to act real weird. After some use, when I would turn it on it would turn off almost immediately. If during that little interval I would dim the light, it would stay on. After I replaced the alkalines with the NiMH cells, my MTS Mini tester told me that the alkalines still have 50& of their capacity. I have yet to have that problem with the NiMH cells. Apparently, alkaline cells under high drain sag their voltage much faster than NiMH cells do, which would be another reason for switching to NiMH cells.
One thing I did learn. The Amazon cells to much better in higher drain devices than alkaline cells. I have the Energizer Folding LED lantern, the one that takes either four or eight AA cells. When I used it with the four alkaline cells that came with the light, it started to act real weird. After some use, when I would turn it on it would turn off almost immediately. If during that little interval I would dim the light, it would stay on. After I replaced the alkalines with the NiMH cells, my MTS Mini tester told me that the alkalines still have 50& of their capacity. I have yet to have that problem with the NiMH cells. Apparently, alkaline cells under high drain sag their voltage much faster than NiMH cells do, which would be another reason for switching to NiMH cells.
iamlucky13
Flashlight Enthusiast
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2016
- Messages
- 1,139
Ouch. Even accounting for the exchange rate, that's ridiculous. Given how badly the mismatched cross-border pricing worked for Target, I'm surprised Costco is able to retain business doing the same.
I see Amazon.ca prices are also higher. Is there a national sales tax in Canada?
Glad to hear the Amazon batteries are working well for you after several years of use. One of the concerns I have with online reviews is few people tell you how long they have used a product. Feedback after a couple years of use is relatively rare.
The voltage sag under load for alkalines is a fairly common topic of discussion for devices like high end lights. You'll see it in reviews by folks like selfbuilt when they test runtimes with different battery types. The alkalines usually do well in the low modes, but very poorly compared to the NiMH batteries in high modes.
Nitelite78
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2017
- Messages
- 22
It is ridiculous...taxes vary for each province, unfortunately I live in Nova Scotia with the highest rate in the country, 15%. So add that to the already high prices and it doesn't take long to see why online buying out of country is so tempting even with shipping costs.
Kurt_Woloch
Enlightened
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2014
- Messages
- 290
Yes, I had some luck with them. They're actually not so bad as the quality of brand name rechargeables is mixed as well, at least if you don't know which brands actually suck and which are good. ;-) Just make sure you buy ready-to-use (pre-charged) ones since they tend to be more stable and last longer. I think they are good for low-drain household items that don't use them up that fast anyway. I have them in a seldom used flashlight and in my soap dispenser that runs for over a year on a charge, and my mother has some in her blood pressure monitor, running on the same charge since May 2015 whereas the alkalines that came with it only lasted for 15 months, and the zinc-carbon my parents bought to replace them only lasted less than 3 months. In such cases it doesn't really matter much if they do 100 or 200 cycles, or if they give 2000 or 2400 mAh. But $4 for a PAIR sounds rather expensive to me... I usually buy such cells for EUR 4-5 for a 4-pack when they are on sale.
Nitelite78
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2017
- Messages
- 22
That's good to hear...they are currently building an Ikea not far from me.
In the last few months, the best price I've seen on NiMH batteries is $14.99 for a Duracell 4-pack. Regular price is around $22. An Eneloop 12-pack for $40 is an EXCELLENT price.
This reminds me of a year or two back when I was looking for a Sony radio. It was US$15 on amazon.com and CDN$45 on amazon.ca. And that was the short time when the Canadian dollar was ABOVE the US dollar. When people were asking why magazines were over double the US price in Canada, the companies responded by deleting the prices from the covers.
Budget nimh aa rechargeable batteries will cost you even more because you will have to replace them more often.
Buy trusted brand name that has very low rate of failure which is "made in Japan Eneloopes".
Buy trusted brand name that has very low rate of failure which is "made in Japan Eneloopes".
Last edited:
Need a Light?
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2016
- Messages
- 144
Recently got a 4 pack of Duracell ion core 2550mah (eneloop pro?) with (junk serial nimh charger) for $5, so deals on good cells can be found.
In general get made in Japan cells. A previous poster said energizers were bad but I bought the made in Japan 2300s back in 2009 I think, I still use them in higher drain devices with probably 80% of their rated capacity. The made in China aaa bought in the same pack were all but useless back in 2012.
Some energizers are made in Japan and good, some not. I don't think any energizers are LSD cells though even though they may hold a charge longer than previous batteries of theirs.
Need a Light?
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2016
- Messages
- 144
I've more recently seen Japanese 2000mah energizers, with suspiciously eneloop-like shape and texture on bottom. Possible?
Possible but probably not eneloops as Energizer has had a lot of years to go with rebranded eneloops and rejected the idea while Duracell has done so with their Ion core line. I have over a dozen 2000mah duraloops and a few (newer) 2400mah duraloops.
