Advice needed how to replace alkies with Eneloops

[Jumi]

It's 250€ for 136 LSD cells and two 8 bay charger with EU plugs shipped and taxed to Finland from Battery jucntion.
That 250€ goes to alkalines in one month so after that it is free to use for few years if cells and chargers work.

Juha

 

[asdalton]

Especially with "shrinkage", I would consider getting a bunch of less expensive high-capacity NiMHs. If you keep them on trickle charge until needed, and use them within a week, I can't imagine the self-discharge problem would be much of a problem at all.

High capacity NiMH cells have gotten a bad reputation on CPF, due to underperformance and short life spans. Is there a brand that doesn't have a problem with duds and premature deaths?

 

[tylernt]

High capacity NiMH cells have gotten a bad reputation on CPF, due to underperformance and short life spans. Is there a brand that doesn't have a problem with duds and premature deaths?

I haven't tried them myself, but Sanyo makes 2300 and 2700mAh NiMHs. About the same price as Eneloops though, so not much cost savings.

 

[Kestrel]

If the upfront costs of Eneloops are daunting, try the Rayovac 4.0's or go to Costco for the Duracell precharged, even if they are black tops.

I've seen more than one instance here on CPF of someone having their Duracell pre-charged cells get thrown away - they just look too darn much like Duracell alkalines - same problem with Energizer NiMH's as well. :rant:

Eneloop all the way IMO - that unique white wrapper is a constant reminder to the non-enlightened that these are different and require different handling than AA disposables.

 

[LED_Thrift]

That's a great point Kestrel. I bought 20 Duraloops at Costco and I'm afraid my children will toss them out.

After dealing with different problems with non-LSD NiMH cells, I'm sold on Eneloops & Rayovac Hybrids.

 

[TakeTheActive]

I dont think there will be the need for a blue bin. If a cell is underperforming, just use the recycle bin. With reliable cells, the number of lemons will be low...

As a Programmer/Analyst, I'm just accustomed to 'covering all the bases'. :thinking:

For example:

On one of my 'Troubleshooting' assignments, the Auditing Department couldn't understand why so many "ITEMS" were appearing in 'Bucket B', when some of them should have appeared in 'Bucket C' instead, which was currently EMPTY!?!

It turned out that the 'genius' :rolleyes: original 'non-native USA' programmer (over a year or so ago) wrote (something like):

If Code='A'
  Save Amount to 'Bucket A'
Else
  Save Amount to 'Bucket B'
End-If

since the *ONLY* choices available AT THAT TIME were 'Bucket A' or 'Bucket B".

IMHO, s/he *SHOULD* have written (something like):

If Code='A'
  Save Amount to 'Bucket A'
Else
  If Code='B'
    Save Amount to 'Bucket B'
  Else
    Goto ERROR-ROUTINE
  End-If
End-If

With *MY* logic, if neither Code 'A' or 'B' were selected, an ERROR would be generated. And thus, ~6 months of "Backing Bucket C out of Bucket B" would have been limited to just a few days. :sigh:

Yeah, it took the Auditing Department ~6 months to even notice it! :shrug:

So much for saving $$$ by outsourcing IT to 'Outside the USA'... :ironic: :shrug: :shakehead :banghead: :rant: :hairpull: :oops: (YEAH! I'm pissed at how USA IT folks have been 'hit' :broke: by 'management budgets'!!! :thumbsdow)

 

[Apollo Cree]

A very big point from a practicality point will be to not screw around with any bad or even flaky batteries. Toss them. Don't give the boss or users a reason to dislike recharagables. After you've paid for rechargables several times over, don't be shy about throwing them out.

You probably don't need eneloops, any good rechargeable batteries will not self discharge before you drain them through use anyway.

I'd be tempted to not even bother with especially "smart" chargers. Get something that will trickle charge the batteries overnight and simply do that.

 

[Egsise]

Thanks a lot guys to let me know all the details i need to consider.

Eneloops are the only way, mostly because they perform very well in extreme temperatures.
The average temperature here in december, january and february is 5°F/-15°C.
Also the look of Eneloops is quite unique, so that people don't throw them away by mistake.(wishful thinking...)

I was thinking that Ansmann Energy 16 would be simple but smart charger, with AA Eneloops charge rate is 0.33C and trickle charge is ~10mA.
3 years warranty is enough, and I think it would be wise to replace all cells and chargers after 3 years.

 

[brted]

I was thinking that Ansmann Energy 16 would be simple but smart charger, with AA Eneloops charge rate is 0.33C and trickle charge is ~10mA.

Sounds like a great choice. That's a very good charger that is very simple to use and charges 12 AA's at a time individually. You can't go wrong with the Eneloops either. Let us know how it works out!

 

[jtr1962]

The biggest problem I see here is making sure the end users don't throw dead batteries in the trash as I'm sure they're used to doing. All the rest is easy if everyone learns the new system ( dead batteries are here, recharged ones are there, so and so has the responsibility of recharging, etc. ).

Second, I wholeheartedly think Eneloops are by far the best choice here. You don't have to keep track of when the cell was last charged. This might be a problem with regular NiMH is for some reason a cell sits unused for a few weeks. Also, Eneloops are a known quantity. They're top of the line and can be counted on. Not worth the relatively small savings taking a chance on some other type of cell. All it takes are a small percentage of bad cells before the additional labor costs of managing cells eat up whatever money was saved. This is completely different situation from hobby use where a person isn't compensated for their time.

 

[Kestrel]

I wholeheartedly think Eneloops are by far the best choice here.

• You don't have to keep track of when the cell was last charged. This might be a problem with regular NiMH is for some reason a cell sits unused for a few weeks.
• Eneloops are a known quantity. They're top of the line and can be counted on. Not worth the relatively small savings taking a chance on some other type of cell. All it takes are a small percentage of bad cells before the additional labor costs of managing cells eat up whatever money was saved.

100% right on. :thumbsup:

 

[LED_Thrift]

100% right on +2

 

[uk_caver]

Also the look of Eneloops is quite unique, so that people don't throw them away by mistake.(wishful thinking...)

That's a good point (as long as the Eneloops don't get lost in the snow...)

Being largely white, there is the option of marking them up with permanent marker, etc.
Even if that isn't actually needed to identify individual cells, if there is something written on them (group/division/whatever), it can be another little hint to people that they're not disposable.