Lidl red Tronic battery test

[KentS]

I got a bunch of these the other week. They were really dirt cheap (<$5 for 4AAA, 4AA, 2C or 2D) so I wasn't expecting to much. However, 'instant' NiMH at this price especially C and D sizes which are uncommon here were irresistible. After reading about a man being unlucky with his in another thread I decided to do some tests. I have a Technoline (LaCrosse) BC-900 so I can measure the AAA and AA cells. I will update this post with more results later.

The AAA are rated 850mAh, AA 2100mAH, C 4000mAh and D 4500mAh.

AA batteris.
They were all made 201006.

First full charge/discharge/charge cycle:

battery capacity %_of_stated
1 1.998Ah 95
2 2.08Ah 99
3 2.09Ah 99.5
4 2.18Ah 104

​

Second full charge/discharge/charge cycle with AA:

battery capacity %_of_stated
1 2.10Ah 100
2 2.15Ah 102
3 2.19Ah 104
4 2.18Ah 104

​

Now they will rest for a while and we will see if they really are low self discharge.

 

[vali]

Do the 'Instand' word means LSD? Right now I am not aware of really bad LSD cells (praying for this not to change in the future).

I never saw a LSD tronic before and my experience with them goes from the old 1700 mAh to the 2300 mAh and 2500 mAh cells. There was a 2000 mAh version with the same appearance as the 2500 mAh. They just changed the number in the label.

I never got those results with any of them (regular NiMH)

 

[KentS]

This was the first time I tried Lidl cells. They should be some sort of eneloop-clone, probably only rebranded cells. I got their C/D charger too.

 

[Kaamos]

I have 8 Tronic 2500 mAh batteries and the best one so far clocks 1400 mAh, running BC900 refresh again and again. These are extreme HSD batteries, after a few days on the shelf after charging and they are almost dead.

I should have known. I've had some of their older, 2100 mAh batteries that were almost as bad. Well, they cost next to nothing, but I'll try to return them. Not really because of the money, they were 2 eur 4 pc, but in principle I think they deserve the feedback.

 

[vali]

This was the first time I tried Lidl cells. They should be some sort of eneloop-clone, probably only rebranded cells. I got their C/D charger too.

Good news if they are LSD

 

[mcnair55]

I am interested in this thread as next Thursday in the UK,they will have pre charged ready to go batteries on sale at a very nice price.I use four brands Eneloop-Duracell-Endepro and Instants.

The standard rechargeable Tronic brand I have bought before are ok for a couple of years but then you need to replace them but first time I have seen the "ready to go" for sale in the UK.

I am going to try a pack of AAA and AA just because for the price worth a go and I need extra stock to feed my growing collection.

 

[TinderBox (UK)]

EDIT: the two battery`s that i only got around 20mah on the first discharge test, I decided to discharge them again and again and the discharge capacity is going up and up, it currently at 131 and 162mah, strange?

Just bought a couple of packs of pre-charged red AA 2100mah made 2010/06

All had a voltage of 1.29 volts , I put them in my C9000 on a 200mah discharge 0.2C , and two out of four were flat less than 20mah , the other two had around 200/250mah left in them.

This is poor after 10months since manufacture they should have had 75-80% charge left, so what went wrong, they looked so great in the review in post 1. :shakehead

I am going to give them a full charger/discharge and see what the capacity is like.

John.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e306/policeman999/front-1.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e306/policeman999/back-1.jpg

 

[TinderBox (UK)]

Strange , I am now getting an discharger of 344mah and 375mah and stiill going for the two battery`s that only discharged 20mah before, by repeating the discharge, these battery have not been charged by me can anybody explain?

Also the voltage has gone up from 1.04v to 1.06v as the battery discharges, very strange.

EDIT: the two battery`s that i only got around 20mah on the first discharge test, I decided to discharge them again and again and the discharge capacity is going up and up, it currently at 131 and 162mah, strange?

Just bought a couple of packs of pre-charged red AA 2100mah made 2010/06

All had a voltage of 1.29 volts , I put them in my C9000 on a 200mah discharge 0.2C , and two out of four were flat less than 20mah , the other two had around 200/250mah left in them.

This is poor after 10months since manufacture they should have had 75-80% charge left, so what went wrong, they looked so great in the review in post 1. :shakehead

I am going to give them a full charger/discharge and see what the capacity is like.

John.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e306/policeman999/front-1.jpg

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e306/policeman999/back-1.jpg

 

[SilverFox]

Hello John,

I believe you are seeing the results of a passivation layer being dissolved.

Tom

 

[TinderBox (UK)]

Hi. Tom

I have never seen this happen before, should i be worried about the usability of these battery`s , both problems battery`s have now discharged 748mah and 778mah, dying to see how close to 2100mah i get.

Hello John,

I believe you are seeing the results of a passivation layer being dissolved.

Tom

 

[SilverFox]

Hello John,

I don't think it is something to worry about. It just seems to be how the low self discharge cells work. Over time they seem to go to sleep, but once you start using them the come back to normal life. If the capacities drop, then you can start to worry.

Tom

 

[s0lar]

I have bought 4 AA and 4 AAA Tronic cells about 7 months ago in a Lidl store in Sweden.

AA 1: 1666(out of the box),2002,2064,1897,1660(charged in 30min charger),1897,1977,1955,2021,2029
AA 2: 1715(out of the box),1968,2087,1868,700(charged in 30min charger),1959(charged in 30min charger),1964,1976,2056,2048
AA 3: 1718(out of the box),2057,2073,1986,700(charged in 30min charger),2010,2007,1969,unknown,1992,2016,2079
AA 4: 1620(out of the box),2037,2060,1967,700(charged in 30min charger),1954(charged in 30min charger),1998,1989,unknown,1973,2021,2057

Apart from the too early termination from a 30min charge, these cells really performed well!
Charging at 0.1C to 2C, mostly done at around 0.3C to 0.8C.
Discharging mostly at 0.25C.
Only my Sanyo XX cells perform better, looking only to the LSD cells I own.

AAA's:
1: 755,789,545,738,769,763
2: 685,756,542,708,752
3: 723,801,779,790,790
4: 772,793,793,822,797

Charging at 0.1 to 1C, mostly at 0.5 to 1C.
Discharging mostly at 0.35C.
Somehow the charging must have terminated too soon as well here, but good performance again!
My LSD TopCraft Aldi AAA cells outperform these ones by 5%. I do not have TopCraft AA LSD cells.

 

[TinderBox (UK)]

Battery were made 2010/06 that`s 10 months old.

Out of box discharge capacity below.

AA 1: 1596mah (out of the box), that`s 76% of the 2100mah capacity
AA 2: 1680mah (out of the box), that`s 80% of the 2100mah capacity
AA 3: 1689mah (out of the box), that`s 80% of the 2100mah capacity
AA 4: 1755mah (out of the box), that`s 83% of the 2100mah capacity

 

[Mr Happy]

Battery were made 2010/06 that`s 10 months old.

Out of box discharge capacity below.

AA 1: 1596mah (out of the box), that`s 76% of the 2100mah capacity
AA 2: 1680mah (out of the box), that`s 80% of the 2100mah capacity
AA 3: 1689mah (out of the box), that`s 80% of the 2100mah capacity
AA 4: 1755mah (out of the box), that`s 83% of the 2100mah capacity

You are hurting my eyes using the back tick (`) in all your posts. Can you not find the apostrophe (') on your keyboard?

 

[srfreddy]

You are hurting my eyes using the back tick (`) in all your posts. Can you not find the apostrophe (') on your keyboard?

Does it matter?

 

[DT 123]

Now Lidl is selling Tronic eco cells (2100 mAh) (4 cells for 3.99 Euro). The packaging is green and the cells are black with orange labelling (energy 2100). DOP 06/2011.

Since you wrote about 'red' Tronic cells they seem to have changed the outfit.

 

[DT 123]

The new Lidl Tronic AA are still a little bit disappointing. I tested a set of 4.

1) Discharge out of the box @500mA with a CM 420:
1628 1633 1635 1660 mAh
These values seem to be quite good if the production date 06/2011 is correct. I can discharge from Eneloops from 06/2011 only about 1400 (I assume that were originally not full)

2) Charge @1000mA, DisCharge @500mA with a CM 420:
1865 1873 1871 1897 mAh

3) Charge @1000mA, DisCharge @500mA with a CM 420:
1890 1888 1896 1925 mAh

4) Break-In with a C-9000:
1917 1915 1911 1934 mAh

Discharge & Break-In values are lower than expected.
The packaging says that the full capacity will be reach only after 5 times charging cycles. So I will continue to cycle.

 

[vali]

I don't think they are dissapointing. There is little capacity variation between samples and for me is a good sign. I preffer a well made and robust cell over a few mAh more (that's why I like eneloops instead high capacity cells).

 

[DT 123]

I hoped to get 3-4% more capacity than with the eneloops. Also knowing that I will certainly not get it.
But i get about 2% less capacity (although as 2100 labelled).

Thats why I said a little bit disappointing.

But the cells seem to be very constant:

17.01.2012 CM 420 DisCharge 500mA 1978 1968 1974 1996 (these are the results after the Break-In)
17.01.2012 CM 420 Charge 1000mA 2055 2055 2072 2088
17.01.2012 CM 420 DisCharge 500mA 1904 1903 1916 1938
17.01.2012 CM 420 Charge 500mA 2151 2102 2102 2143
Edit:
18.01.2012 CM 420 DisCharge 500mA 1871 1861 1870 1891
18.01.2012 CM 420 Charge 500mA 2111 2119 2128 2144
19.01.2012 CM 420 DisCharge 500mA 1882 1883 1890 1916

 

[TinderBox (UK)]

Lidl has got the ready to use battery`s back in again for £2.99 a pack. for AA AAA C D 9V

I bought a couple of packets of the AA 2300mah battery`s

John.