Rayovac Hybrid AA and Duracell NiMH - any comments?

[ltiu]

I recently got a few tips from you guys regarding rechargeables.

I heard from a few to stay away from Energinzer 2500 maH AA.

I also heard a few say good things about Sanyo 2000 maH Eneloops.

I visited my local Lowes, Target and Walmart today.

I could not find any Sanyo.

I did find those Energizers that I should stay away from, man! these were everywhere.

I found other alternatives:

1) Duracell 2650 maH AA
2) Duracell 1800 maH AA
3) Rayovac Hybrid 2100 maH AA

Can you guys on this forum say anything about these alternatives? Your experiences?

Thanks.

 

[oldvultureface]

Excellent experience with Hybrids.

 

[whippoorwill]

+1 on the hybrids.

I have been unimpressed with the Duracell 2650's.

I have some Energizers 1850's that have totally surprised me with their quality.

 

[ltiu]

Unimpressed by Duracell 2650's? Can you elaborate?

I did not find any Energizer 1850's. I only found Duracell 1800's.

Looks like Rayovac Hybrids and Sanyo Eneloops are equivalent in technologies:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel_metal_hydride_battery#Self-discharge

In the absence of Eneloops in local stores, I got the Hybrids today and I am happy.

 

[Quickbeam]

+2 on Hybrids. Work great and really hold their charge over time.

 

[lowatts]

I just got some Eneloops to replace my aging NiMH, the low self discharge more than offset any disadvantage with lower potential maximum capacity for my purposes since storage life is my priority.

I bought a bunch of Duracell AA NiMH from Amazon cheap about year and a half ago, does not hold charge very well and now really doesn't charge up well anymore. I don't recommend them, their only advantage is price if you can get them cheap like I did and you don't plan on keeping them for long.

 

[whippoorwill]

Unimpressed by Duracell 2650's? Can you elaborate?

The self discharge rate is very high IMO. It seems to be much higher than other batteries of similar capacity.

 

[mapson]

You should be able to find Kodak's Pre-charged batteries at Walmart. Right on top of packaging, "Pre-charged", these are like the Sanyo Eneloops and Rayovac Hybrids. Lower right corner should state less or equal to 2100mah, I believe.

 

[ltiu]

For those of you with Hybrids.

I got my new AA Hybrids with the official Rayovac Hybrid charger. I know they are good to go fresh from the store. But I like to start at the top so I decided to charge my batteries first, before using for the first time.

I charged the Hybrid batteries and they kept going (charging - the red LED did not go out) for a good 7 hours. I touched the batteries and these were hot, hot enough to feel a bit of pain but not hot enough to make me take my fingers off quick (I can leave my fingers touching the batteries).

Is this normal? I expected the charge to complete in less time (red LED goes out after maybe 6 hours ... ) and the batteries not that hot.

For comparison, I got Eneloops with the official Sanyo Eneloop charger at the same time. Charged these fresh from the store. The green charge light on the Sanyo changer went out after about 2 hours, indicating change is complete. The Eneloops were not hot, not even warm, I would say these were luke warm.

Contrast this to the Hybrids which kept on charging and got hot.

Makes me wonder if there is anything wrong with the Hybrids or maybe the Hybrid changer is bad?

Or is this all normal?

 

[johnny13oi]

For those of you with Hybrids.

I got my new AA Hybrids with the official Rayovac Hybrid charger. I know they are good to go fresh from the store. But I like to start at the top so I decided to charge my batteries first, before using for the first time.

I charged the Hybrid batteries and they kept going (charging - the red LED did not go out) for a good 7 hours. I touched the batteries and these were hot, hot enough to feel a bit of pain but not hot enough to make me take my fingers off quick (I can leave my fingers touching the batteries).

Is this normal? I expected the charge to complete in less time (red LED goes out after maybe 6 hours ... ) and the batteries not that hot.

For comparison, I got Eneloops with the official Sanyo Eneloop charger at the same time. Charged these fresh from the store. The green charge light on the Sanyo changer went out after about 2 hours, indicating change is complete. The Eneloops were not hot, not even warm, I would say these were luke warm.

Contrast this to the Hybrids which kept on charging and got hot.

Makes me wonder if there is anything wrong with the Hybrids or maybe the Hybrid changer is bad?

Or is this all normal?

I have this charger too .. I believe the Hybrid charger is just a simple 8 hour charger and will charge for 8 hours regardless of state of charge of the batteries .. The batteries were being overcharged that was why they were getting so hot. All I do is check every now and then and if they get hot I just remove them.

 

[ltiu]

So it's a stupid charger.

Thanks for letting me know.

 

[lumenal]

You should be able to find Kodak's Pre-charged batteries at Walmart. Right on top of packaging, "Pre-charged", these are like the Sanyo Eneloops and Rayovac Hybrids. Lower right corner should state less or equal to 2100mah, I believe.

+1 to mapson.

I use Eneloops, Hybrids and they work well.

But I've been pleasantly surprised with the Kodak Pre-Charged batteries.

They seem to be holding their own with the Hybrids and Eneloops.

And they only cost $7.88 at Wal*Mart! IMO, one heck of a bargain!

One thing though, they are a little wider in diameter than the Hybrids and Eneloops, and may not fit in every light.

But this can be a good thing. They will get rid of annoying "battery rattle" attributed to thinner cells! :rock:

At such a low price, they've become my "beater" LSD cells, (e.g. strictly charge them in my Energizer 15 min. charger,etc.).

 

[bp044]

Which of the Hybrids brands are the best.? Which are the best value ,consistent with performance and durability ?

 

[barkingmad]

I have been impressed by the Sanyo Eneloop batteries - seemed better than the Uniross Hybrio batteries I tested - true 2000mah capacity, good voltage and hold up well under load.

Realistically these Hybrid batteries should replace normal NiMH and Alkaline batteries in almost all situations. Can see almost no point in Alkaline and higher capacity NiMH only if they are good quality ones and if you use the batteries almost immediately once charged.

 

[LEDninja]

Eneloop AAA - 10 months from package date, 1.316V, Batteries stay cool after top up.
Eneloop AA - 12 months from package date, 1.312V, Batteries hot after top up.
Hybrid AAA - unknown manufacture/package date, 1.29V, Batteries being topped up now feels warm.

IIRC the extra info on the charger/hybrid package claim 85% charge at end of 3 (or 6) months. Eneloop claims that at the end of 1 year. The lower voltage of the hybrids out of the the package seem to confirm the higher discharge rate of the hybrids as the hybrids are just released and should have been manufactured after the Eneloops I got.

Maybe I should set up a schedule like this: for unused batteries -
Once a year charge Eneloops and unprotected li-ons during Xmas holidays.
Twice a year during changeover from standard time to summer time and back again change clocks, put new battery in smoke detector, charge Hybrids.
Once a month, pay bills, charge NiMH and protected li-ons.
Life is sooo complicated.

 

[ltiu]

The battery packaging claims:

Eneloops - 85% charge after 1 year
Hybrids - 80% after 6 months

Not too bad. Eneloops seems better for a few extra $$$.

 

[mapson]

I wanted to comment on various posts so I'll do it all in one instead of multiple posts.

Realistically these Hybrid batteries should replace normal NiMH and Alkaline batteries in almost all situations. Can see almost no point in Alkaline and higher capacity NiMH only if they are good quality ones and if you use the batteries almost immediately once charged.

I agree with most of your points, the LSD batteries should be the main type of battery for almost anything high draining. I still use my Alks in clocks and remotes though, in those situations, I see no point in spending the extra money to put a LSD in there. An Alkaline can easily last one year plus more in those.

Higher cap. nimh batts are out of my house, while it's true that they can still be valid for immediate use after charging but in my case, I just don't use them in that way. Usually they get some use and then sit for a while, for example even if I used them in a digital camera...very few times do I drain it completely right after charging, so they end up slowly draining away until the very next time I "need" to take a picture.

Which of the Hybrids brands are the best.? Which are the best value ,consistent with performance and durability ?

In the US, there are so far three main ones, Sanyo Eneloops, Rayovac Hybrids, and Kodak Pre-charged. Many others if you add other countries, look in my other thread regarding other "brands" of LSD batteries here.

I use Eneloops, Hybrids and they work well.

But I've been pleasantly surprised with the Kodak Pre-Charged batteries.

They seem to be holding their own with the Hybrids and Eneloops.

And they only cost $7.88 at Wal*Mart! IMO, one heck of a bargain!

The only complaint I have with the Kodaks are they packaged too similar to the standard nimhs, confused me the first time I saw them. They may confused others too and cause the general public to not realize the improved feature of the Pre-charged. Stopped by a Walmart and was happy to see only Pre-charged tags and hooks, seems like all the Pre-charged I saw at that particular store has been grabbed up.

 

[musicalfruit]

So it's a stupid charger.

Thanks for letting me know.

So this has been confirmed? (That the Rayovac charger is stupid while the Eneloop charger is intelligent.)

If so, too bad as the Rayovac bundle seems nice (8 batteries & charger for $20).

 

[Eugene]

Which of the Hybrids brands are the best.? Which are the best value ,consistent with performance and durability ?

RayoVac is the only Hybrid Brand, Hybrid is their name for the low self discharge technology. Other brands use different names, for example Sanyo calls theirs Eneloop.

Eneloop seems to come out the most consistent when comparing cell to cell but the others such as rayovac hybrid are real close.

The main factor seems to come down to availability and cost. I get the Eneloop for $7.99 / 4 at HHGreg stores around me and haven't found any of the other brands for a lower price yet.

 

[Eugene]

So this has been confirmed? (That the Rayovac charger is stupid while the Eneloop charger is intelligent.)

If so, too bad as the Rayovac bundle seems nice (8 batteries & charger for $20).

Not really when you consider the charger is junk so your throwing away $. Just buy a decent (i.e. non timer) charger and buy batteries as you need them.