afdk
Newly Enlightened
:wave:What are the best availible NiMh D size cells currently?
NiMh Rechargeable Batteries
- Thread starter afdk
- Start date
Help Support Candle Power Flashlight Forum
- Status
bladerunner
Newly Enlightened
I don't have an answer for you, but if you ask this in the batteries section those guys can help. Look for Flashlight Electronics-Batteries Included. And. welcome to CPF!
EndOfTheTunnel
Newly Enlightened
I've been researching this lately, and have come up with what appears to be the winner:
AccuEvolution D's by AccuPower
There are several other D-size NiMH batteries available, though. Here's a quick rundown:
Low-capacity C/D, around 2500 mAh - these are AA or similar size cells wrapped in a C-size or D-size can. Very light for their size.
Better-capacity C/D, around 5000 mAh - as above, but they get 2 cells inside (this one I'm not too sure about - might need someone to follow up on this)
Full-capacity D, over 9000 mAh - the full volume available contains power-storing goodness. These come in 2 flavours: 'regular' aka 'standard' NiMH, and LSD - or Low Self Discharge - NiMH.
Standard NiMH tend to boast higher capacities, up to 12000 mAh. However, their drawback is that they loose power on their own, after being removed from the battery charger. So, if you charge them up all the way to 12000 mAh, and let them sit for a week, they will have lost a significant amount of that charge.
LSD, on the other hand, have slightly lower max capacities, around 9000 or 10000 mAh. But, they do not suffer the same self-discharge problem as standard NiMH. That is to say, they don't suffer as badly. They do loose some power on their own, but at a much, much lower rate. A week after a full charge, an LSD cell will retain more power than a standard cell with a higher max initial capacity.
The AccuEvolution is one of very few full-capacity, LSD D-size cells that I've found, there just are not a lot of choices yet.
An additional consideration for any full-capacity D-size cell is the charger needed to fully charge them safely, and reliably. For that, though, I'll relegate to the Search function
AccuEvolution D's by AccuPower
There are several other D-size NiMH batteries available, though. Here's a quick rundown:
Low-capacity C/D, around 2500 mAh - these are AA or similar size cells wrapped in a C-size or D-size can. Very light for their size.
Better-capacity C/D, around 5000 mAh - as above, but they get 2 cells inside (this one I'm not too sure about - might need someone to follow up on this)
Full-capacity D, over 9000 mAh - the full volume available contains power-storing goodness. These come in 2 flavours: 'regular' aka 'standard' NiMH, and LSD - or Low Self Discharge - NiMH.
Standard NiMH tend to boast higher capacities, up to 12000 mAh. However, their drawback is that they loose power on their own, after being removed from the battery charger. So, if you charge them up all the way to 12000 mAh, and let them sit for a week, they will have lost a significant amount of that charge.
LSD, on the other hand, have slightly lower max capacities, around 9000 or 10000 mAh. But, they do not suffer the same self-discharge problem as standard NiMH. That is to say, they don't suffer as badly. They do loose some power on their own, but at a much, much lower rate. A week after a full charge, an LSD cell will retain more power than a standard cell with a higher max initial capacity.
The AccuEvolution is one of very few full-capacity, LSD D-size cells that I've found, there just are not a lot of choices yet.
An additional consideration for any full-capacity D-size cell is the charger needed to fully charge them safely, and reliably. For that, though, I'll relegate to the Search function
Last edited:
march.brown
Flashlight Enthusiast
If you use a "3AA to D" parallel convertor , you could use three Eneloop AA's to give 6000 mAh ... Eneloops are easy to get and easy to charge plus they are much cheaper than the high quality LSD D cells.
If you can't find any "3AA to D" parallel convertors then just modify the series convertors ... You have to unsolder one of the springs and move it to the negative end of the convertor then solder in a small bridge at each end to parallel the cells correctly ... If you can solder then you can do this easily ... I wouldn't like to use these with current drains of over 2A though.
You wouldn't need to buy an expensive D cell charger either.
.
pobox1475
Enlightened
Three Eneloops = about $9. Battery Junction has AccuEvolution's for $10 each. In a device that uses two D's you would have to charge six cells. What if it utilizes four to eight D's? That would be a lot of charging. The MAHA 8 bay MH-C808M is a very pricey charger. It is however the top AAA/AA/C/D contender IMHO and worth it's $85 price. Since I have devices that use C's & D's this combo is on my list.
Kestrel
Flashaholic
- This should have been posted in the /Batteries-Electronics/ subforum.
- It is a very common topic in that subforum and a 'search' would have probably yielded suitable answers without yet another thread on this.
- Finally, this question has been answered here in a very suitable manner.
- Status
