I have a few ?? NiMH batteries vs. Li Dispo. vs Alk. (AA)..Chargers and what to get?

[AFARR]

I see the sticky above with the NiMH....looks like the Duracell 2650 is probably my best bet (I can find them on the internet fairly easily)...but when I did a search, I saw a few people complain about how quickly they lost their capacity..only a few cycles.

So, I got to thinking (never a good thing...and often dangerous)...and came up with a few questions....

#1. I see the ratings on the capacity of the NiMH batteries above, but how does that compare to a (say) Energizer Alkaline disposable AA or Energizer Lithium disposable?

#2. Some of my AA batteries (I have a mix of AA NiMH I got from ebay (mostly) or local stores...Duracell, Kodak, Polaroid, Tenergy and a couple of Eneloops and no-names) are used in things like the Mouse I'm using as I type this, some in my kids digital cameras, etc..so they get used soon after they come off the charger.....however some of them are for backup flashlights, or for my camera bag (which I use infrequently)...

So, I need a recommendation on a AA NiMH battery that will do fairly well to hold it's charge during long term storage (for the backup flashlights and my camera...I don't want to miss that once in a Millenium shot of Elvis getting into the Flying Saucer because my batteries are dead...), but have a reasonable capacity (so I don't have keep changing out the batteries in the kids stuff or the mouse).

Any recommendations towards these? Price is a consideration, but lower on the list....I don't want Unobtanium Plated Cells...just a good product for a fair price.

And, finally....

#3. The Chargers...I use the Energizer and Eneloop chargers that came with the batteries. I put the Energizer 4 cell (AA and AAA) in a camera bag so we have a way to recharge if we are away from the house (and it collapses the smallest). I use the Eneloop for the bulk of the charging of the mixed AA batteries (and some AAA). I figure there is probably a MUCH better charger to get full capacity out of the batteries (at least for home use...I'll probably still keep the Energizer in the camera bag for emergencies.

I know there has to be a better (not necessarily faster...since the batteries can sit overnight to charge here at home) way to charge...

Any suggestions?


Thanks!!

AFARR

 

[Eugene]

I bought Eneloops for all my gear and then all the others I had or buy now are for the kids stuff, that way mine can easily be kept separate from theirs. My kids are young enough that their cameras are toy ones so if they go dead its not a big deal.

Testing with out good camera for example, it will run around 250 shots on alkalines, 450 on Eneloops and 500 on Lithium. But I was able to get a lot of the eneloops back when brick and mortar stores had them fort $8 a pack which is close to the price of lithium so there wasn't any advantage of the lithium.

I bought a MAHA C401FS for a travel charger and a C9000 for my home charger.

We may go somewhere and take 1000 pictures but the batteries in the camera and a spare set still can cover that, I think I've only used the 401 once when traveling.

I numbered all the batteries and tested their capacity on the c9000 then about once a year will check them to see how they are doing that way I can catch any underperforming.

 

[AFARR]

Thanks for the info.

I was reading a bunch of the threads...a lot of them have almost too much detail for a newbie like me, but I would have guessed similar results...

From the testing...looks like Lithium AA are about 3Ah (3000mAh), NiMH are 2500 to 1800 mAh (obviously varies) and alkaline (I think they tested Energizer) are about 1000mAh...so goes along with what you get for shots.

I'm tending towards getting 12 or 16 more eneloops for the important stuff (flash in the camera), and possibly some Duracell 2650mAh for the kids stuff.

I also saw the results on the Maha chargers and La Crosse products...I think the 9000 will be the home charger also, but I think the La Crosse 700 (for about $30) might be a better travel charger.

Thanks again for the info--and if anyone else has some more input, I'd much appreciate it.

AFARR

 

[KiwiMark]

I'm tending towards . . . more eneloops

I believe that this is the right answer - they are far better to use.

Some people think that the higher capacity cells will run their gadgets for longer, but that generally isn't true. If you charge some AA batteries and put them in the camera and as spares - a couple of weeks later when you use up the batteries in the camera and change to the spares, Eneloops will have more power ('normal' NiMH cells will have self-discharged off a significant chunk of their capacity).

 

[uk_caver]

Decent AA alkalines seem to be are around 2700-2800mAh in nominal capacity.

However, unlike NiMH and lithium cells, the actual achieved capacity drops more rapidly at low temperatures than with the other kinds of batteries, and also drops greatly at high loads.

*Very* roughly speaking, at normal temperatures (~20 degrees C) an decent alkaline AA will only give 2/3 of its nominal capacity if drained at 0.5 Amp, and only about 1/3 of nominal capacity if drained at 1 Amp.

For more information on alkalines, check out:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=64660