Were Duracell LSD's ever confirmed as Eneloops?

[Canuke]

I've got a set of 8 Duracell LSD cells with the white caps, which I understood were probably Eneloop rebrands.

Was this ever verified? In my Leatherman Monarch (direct-drive Cree, 3 AAA cells), I consistently get brighter output with sharper falloff with the Eneloops when fully discharged, than I do the Duracells. The latter seem dimmer from the get-go, and have a longer, more alkaline-like falloff towards empty... sounds like higher internal resistance. The 3 cells stay close in terms of voltage through the discharge cycle, so it isn't one bad cell.

They've been like that since I got them, no apparent change.

 

[Canuke]

Ah, digging a little deeper I find this thread:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=190608

So now my question evolves: are white-caps always Eneloops? (I don't have the packaging anymore, so I don't know if they were made in Japan or not.)

 

[Ragiska]

i think it is printed on the side of the cell where they were made

 

[UnknownVT]

So now my question evolves: are white-caps always Eneloops? (I don't have the packaging anymore, so I don't know if they were made in Japan or not.)

As Ragiska posted it is printed on the side of the battery -

Another way of confirmaing is to look/feel very carefully along the spine of the clear covering - lightly embossed is a date code see post #19

 

[Bones]

Unless Duracell commits the same faux pas as Sony initially did with their CycleEnergy Blue, I think it's highly unlikely that we are ever going to receive confirmation that the Duracell Pre-charged is a re-badged Eneloop:

Picked up a pack of Sony CycleEnergy AAs today. I noticed in the fine print in the bottom back of the label:

"This Nickel-Metal Hydride Rechargeable Battery uses improved self-discharge eneloop technology."

Considering that Sanyo probably trademarked the name "eneloop", I think this statement pretty states unequivocally that Sony CycleEnergy = Sanyo Eneloop!

However, we do know from the Sony admittance that Sanyo does re-badge the Eneloop, and the preponderance of anecdotal evidence certainly supports the same supposition about the Duracell Pre-charged.

 

[Canuke]

Thanks for the info guys, I'll check 'em when I get home tonight.

In the meantime, I wonder whether Sanyo hands off the poorer performers to re-badges... or whether I'm just seeing things that aren't there. I'll have to do some testing.

 

[UnknownVT]

In the meantime, I wonder whether Sanyo hands off the poorer performers to re-badges... or whether I'm just seeing things that aren't there. I'll have to do some testing.

OK very limited sampling -

I also posted basically this in another thread - but thought it may be of interest -

I just got a Maha C9000 (code: 0H0FA) - so this is "novice" usage -
I ran a discharge test on 3 different sets of my LSDs to compare.

These were perhaps my least used sets -
which have had what I would term my "ignorant" usage -
ie: I just charge them in a cheapo smart charger (Soshine SC-C3 Intelligent Rapid Charger) and use -
recharge when necessary - usually after they get depleted (shutdown) in equipment.
But like I said these were my least used - 1 to 3 cycles may be....

I topped up charged each set then left on charger for 1 hour (trickle charged? I know, maybe I should have left them on for 2 hours but I was impatient - and those batteries were all relatively recently fully charged on my cheapo charger or the Maha C9000 anyway) -
turned charger off then started discharge at 0.2C (for all these = 400mA)

... Kodak Pre-Charged ...... eneloop ................... DuraLoop
1) 1951 mAh (322min) .... 1878 mAh (311min) .... 1867 mAh (308min)
2) 1961 mAh (326min) .... 1867 mAh (311min) .... 1858 mAh (308min)
3) 1994 mAh (329min) .... 1900 mAh (315min) .... 1872 mAh (309min)
4) 1944 mAh (323min) .... 1861 mAh (310min) .... 1868 mAh (310min)

The DuraLoops (Duracell Pre-Charged made in Japan with white tops) may have had a slight "advantage" I actually ran a refresh & analyze on those - but forgot to look in the 2 hour window and missed what capacity they read

It would appear on this sampling of only 3 sets, that slot (3) on my Maha C9000 may read higher than the other slots?

Also please see summary post #57 from eneloop vs. Kodak Pre-Charged Voltage Maintenance.

 

[crofty]

I wonder whether Sanyo hands off the poorer performers to re-badges

That`s what I`ve always suspected, but that`s just my suspicion and I`ve got no evidence to confirm or deny it.

Maybe the re-badges are made from recycled eneloops aswell, whether they would be just as good or not I don`t know, again just my suspicion.

Or, maybe the less consistent cells get passed onto re-badges, I can`t imagine all of the eneloops sanyo makes are exactly equal, yet again just my suspicion.

 

[Marduke]

Seeing as how each cell is not tested as it comes off the line, I find it difficult to see how they would send someone the "poor picks".

If their line works like the manufacturing and assembly lines from any other factory that makes multiple brands, it's simply a matter of something like lines A, B, C, and D get "Eneloop" labels at the end, and lines E, F, G, and H get "Duracell Pre-Charged" labels at the end.


Or the other popular method:
All production from June and July are Eneloop, they switch over the weekend and everything from August and September goes to "Duracell" order commitments.

 

[Mr Happy]

Nobody has shown any evidence that Duraloops perform differently from Eneloops. I have seen no difference in my own testing either.

 

[jhellwig]

If their line works like the manufacturing and assembly lines from any other factory that makes multiple brands, it's simply a matter of something like lines A, B, C, and D get "Eneloop" labels at the end, and lines E, F, G, and H get "Duracell Pre-Charged" labels at the end.


Or the other popular method:
All production from June and July are Eneloop, they switch over the weekend and everything from August and September goes to "Duracell" order commitments.

A lot of places make many different brands under one roof but the company they make them for specs what goes into it. Therefore it would likely have the same case and ways of date coding and be completely different inside.

 

[AKDoug]

So now my question evolves: are white-caps always Eneloops? (I don't have the packaging anymore, so I don't know if they were made in Japan or not.)

I checked while buying some of these today. I found both white and black top that said made in China. Did not find any black top that said made in Japan.

 

[65535]

I have 2 differently wrapped Eneloops one like all the pictures I have seen of them including this thread. Another has a tighter more squared off wrapper. It's thicker and darker.

 

[Woods Walker]

Target has them on sale 4XAA for 9.99. So I got some more. They work great. The ones in my local Target are White tops.

 

[Marduke]

All Duraloops are white tops, but not all Duracell Pre-charged with white tops are Duraloops

 

[Woods Walker]

These are precharged white tops. Don't know more beyond that. They look like all the rest I own.

 

[Marduke]

"Made in Japan" in the clincher. If it says that, they are definitely Duraloops.

 

[Woods Walker]

"Made in Japan" in the clincher. If it says that, they are definitely Duraloops.

Ok good to know. I will check the new ones for that. Thanks.

 

[Bones]

I have 2 differently wrapped Eneloops one like all the pictures I have seen of them including this thread. Another has a tighter more squared off wrapper. It's thicker and darker.

Hopefully, you just have both known versions of the Eneloop 65535.

About a year after it was introduced, Sanyo decided to re-size the Eneloop to provide for a taller positive post. The second version has been unofficially dubbed the Eneloop-R.

Kansi-Event covered the change in great detail in the webpage hyperlinked below. The first link is in the Japanese language, the second is the Google translation:

http://www.kansai-event.com ... eneloopR.html

http://translate.google.com ... eneloopR.html

Should any of your Eneloops prove to be something other than one of the two known versions, it would be interesting to see an image and hear how and where they were acquired.

 

[fireguy]

I was in WalMart this evening and saw a package of "Duraloops". They had the white top and "Made in Japan" on the back. Price was $17.97 for 4 AA's (Canadian). Costco price of Eneloops was $26.97 for 6 AA, 2 AAA and 2 each of the C and D spacers. That works out to $13.49 for 4 AA and $13.49 for 2 AA/2AAA. This makes them cheaper than Duraloops.

My question: if the price were equal, and there was a package of Duraloops (white top, Japan) and a package of Eneloops, which would you buy? If the Eneloops were more expensive, would you buy them?

They also had Energizer NiMH in 2450 mAh capacity. Guess this is a marketing way to say "they're not the crappy 2500's"?

All of the RayOVac were black top and Chinese (both std and hybrid). There were some C2 RayOVac C NiMH but they had no mAh markings anywhere. Curious.