Help a newbie, please- Recharchable batts for low-draw devices?

[porterdog]

Greetings, CPF!

I really did try and research this, but got bogged down with the array of choices, the different chemistries/technologies, spacers allowing the use of small cells as large, and the complex and technical charging protocols. Not to mention the hovering threats of explosion, fire, and/or toxic gas. Yikes.

I've promised to help a friend of mine get some rechargable batteries. She's Having a Baby, and though Change is Bad things like baby swings (that used to get wound up) and baby monitors (that used to plug in) now all take batteries. She's both green enough and frugal enough to see advantages to rechargable cells.

She is not technical, so complicated chargers that require deeper understanding of electrochemical reality are, possibly, a liability.

She's not using the batteries in ultra-bright flashlights or lifesaving gear.

She'll need a mix of sizes, from AAA (crib toys) to D (aforementioned swing) and 9V.

She's also single, so economy is high priority (she's also smart, and fully cognizant of the fact that economy<>cost).

I've used the flashlight reviews on this site extensively to choose products for myself and gifts for others, and really appreciate the wisdom and fortright-but-not-condescending eloquence with which information is shared here.

If you-all were in my position, what would you recommend my friend buy?

Alternatively, if there's a comprehensive reference you think I should read before posing this question, feel free to send me there!

Thanks in advance,
Robert

PS- if this is the wrong forum, I apologize. Seemed like the bulk of the battery discussion was here.

 

[SmokeDiver]

A good place to start is http://www.batteryjunction.com/. Look under NiHM rechargables. Another way to go is to look under "battery & charger combos".

Make sure your friend goes with a smart charger. Also consider pruchasing two sets of each size. That way, when one is in use one is always charging/charged up. A critical factor when tyring to get baby to go to sleep.

 

[BentHeadTX]

The easy answer is to use the low self discharge Sanyo Eneloop batteries. Downside is they are available in only AAA and AA sizes. Thomas Distributing has low self discharge C and D cells to take care of the swing.

http://thomasdistributing.com/shop/...batteriesbrprecharged-2-battery-pk-p-997.html

Not sure of any 9V low self discharge batteries though I have used an Accupower Accumanager 20 AAA/AA/C/D and 9V charger for the last several years and it works well. Very, very slow with D cells though. It costs $49.95 at Thomas.

If the D cells are rather pricey along with the charger, go to Costco and pick up a Sanyo Eneloop pack that has 8 AA, 4AAA and a charger for around $30.

 

[VidPro]

if you look at battery charger combos, stay away from the batteries in them oh great how you gonna do that.
most of the batteries i got with a charger are in the trash, long before other batteries. especially the free and cheap "unbranded" junk.

ok so i still have my lacross batteries, but what are they good for

for todays consumer, i would recommend the new wizz bang LSD stuff, especially for the intermittant use stuff, because they wont be at different Capacities during its discharge lifetime, so they wont reverse charge as much, and then should last years longer. and average consumers dont know what ruins rechargables.

if they go through batteries every 2-3 days, like portable music toys, and child monitors and stuff that doesnt have enough initial battery for its use, then go with good high-capacity stuff, otherwise the lower capacity LSD stuff is completly enough.

for 9v and multi AAA applications, get an adapter |

for a charger, i would probably go for one of them medium speed MAHA chargers, as long as it will do overnight safely, and it MUST have ability to do C&D sizes.
If you just get AA chargers, it will be ok for a while, but then when you realise that you didnt plunk down $4-5 bucks for some one shot alkalines at the open all night store, you might realise that recharging the C&D was a good idea to. so make sure the charger will charge everything.

especially with the incomming C&D sized LSD batteries, going rechargable TODAY, would be a pleasure compared to 10 years ago.
its a fine time to change to rechargables.

stay FAR away from sleeved C&D sized Faux batteries, the lightweight low capacity larger sized, as they are not real C&D but AAs stuffed in a sleeve, and they are not good replacements for real C&D cells, although they will work. that error would make a person think that the larger sizes are junk.
a C cell should have at least 4000ma of real capacity, and a D should have 9000ma of real capacity at LEAST , to be acting like thier alkie counterparts.

 

[mdocod]

All LSD regardless of lower capacity.. They will be more trouble free in the long run, and she can charge em up, store them away for a year or 2, pull them back out when she needs to start using them again in a new toy and they will still work, ordinary cells if left to sit in storage without routine maintenance will eventually become very hard to restore,



for AAAs:
http://thomasdistributing.com/shop/...P_id=&osCsid=25a69f309b994618bf7aff9c4d561876

for AAs:
http://thomasdistributing.com/shop/...id=65&osCsid=9d81c702bf72eb7930b761af7e84080f

for Cs:
http://thomasdistributing.com/shop/...batteriesbrprecharged-2-battery-pk-p-998.html

for Ds:
http://thomasdistributing.com/shop/...batteriesbrprecharged-2-battery-pk-p-997.html


there aren't any 9V available in LSD at the moment, so really anything NIMH will have to do... the 9.6V version might be better for some applications... just pick out one that isn't on the bleeding edge of capacity, as the highest capacity cells also tend to be the most frustrating to keep maintained. (faster self discharging)..

for a charger...
here's some decent options:
http://thomasdistributing.com/shop/...P_id=&osCsid=021253e4047c98085889a1fd0ecac35a
http://thomasdistributing.com/shop/...P_id=&osCsid=018579a328b26fe35af82cccd4db5def

this charger is even better IMO but doesn't include 9V charging support (would require a separate charger for 9Vs)
http://thomasdistributing.com/shop/...P_id=&osCsid=b5ba6605591d6599a1c4ac9eedd2ed4b

The cheapest "good" charger I know of is the BC1HU, Problem with it is the slow charge speed, which causes it to miss charge termination on C and D size cells about 25% of the time in my experience. Most chargers have this problem anyways, so it's up to the user to kinda have an inkling as to when it's been long enough... The good news with NIMH is you can generally overcharge the crap out of em many times and they live to see another day, and remain safe when forgotten on chargers. The method I like, is if I put 4 D size cells on a charger, 1 of them will usually miss the termination, when the others are "done" I give it another hour, if it hasn't terminated I call it done.
http://batteryjunction.com/vabcunsmch.html

 

[Dances with Flashlight]

The easy answer is to use the low self discharge Sanyo Eneloop batteries. Downside is they are available in only AAA and AA sizes. Thomas Distributing has low self discharge C and D cells to take care of the swing.

http://thomasdistributing.com/shop/...batteriesbrprecharged-2-battery-pk-p-997.html

Not sure of any 9V low self discharge batteries though I have used an Accupower Accumanager 20 AAA/AA/C/D and 9V charger for the last several years and it works well. Very, very slow with D cells though. It costs $49.95 at Thomas.

If the D cells are rather pricey along with the charger, go to Costco and pick up a Sanyo Eneloop pack that has 8 AA, 4AAA and a charger for around $30.

Would you use the Sanyo Eneloops in an ARC AAA that gets used constantly? Is there a better rechargeable for these?