Your usages of rechargeable 1.2V Ni-MH or 1.5V Li-ion AA/AAA batteries?

[XTAR Light]

Comparing with the disposable batteries, we benefit more from the rechargeable batteries. As for AA/AAA rechargeable batteries, many people may choose Eneloop or other Ni-Mh batteries. With technology getting mature, the rechargeable 1.5V Li-ion batteries come into the market, and some people choose them for the high-drain gadgets and electronics, such as racing cars, remote controls, electric toys, etc.

For example, one customer told that he found his 1.2V Ni-MH rechargeable batteries last about as long or longer in lost to medium drain devices. However, he also noticed that anything that depends on the voltage such as motors or flashlights are definitely stronger or brighter with 1.5V Li-ion batteries than with NiMh batteries.

For both of the rechargeable 1.2V Ni-MH and 1.5V Li-ion AA/AAA batteries, what's your application of them in your life? Thanks for your kind comments!

 

[fuyume]

I don't own any of these, yet, but I'm considering picking up at least a couple of the 1.5 V Lithium-Ion AAs. If I do, they will go in things I use relatively often, like my EDC flashlight and bicycle taillamp. That way, I can reserve my Energizer L91s for emergency storage.

 

[fuyume]

One other thing I will say is that battery manufacturers who make USB rechargeable cells need to get on board with USB-C. I have no desire to carry around three different types of cables in my handbag (Lightning, micro-USB, USB-C) to charge my devices.

 

[mpetry912]

I'm 100% on NiMh AA and AAA, very good luck with them, far better than the old Nicads.

 

[3_gun]

Use the heck out of Eneloops 1.2v 1900, Duracell 1.2v 2500 & Energizer 1.2v 2500 batteries. They're in every AA remote, mouse & keyboard I use. The kids get to play with the $1 cheap LED lights loaded with them. Got 8 Eneloop, 8 Energizer + 4 Duracell batteries for the total cost of $6 with a 4 bay charger. Not sure how many cycles they have left but for what I've got invested in them I'm pretty sure I'll be money ahead in the end. Haven't gotten any 1.5v AA rechargeables yet & not sure I will since I've moved to the 18650/21700 formats for the most part

 

[KITROBASKIN]

I don't own any of these, yet, but I'm considering picking up at least a couple of the 1.5 V Lithium-Ion AAs. If I do, they will go in things I use relatively often, like my EDC flashlight and bicycle taillamp. That way, I can reserve my Energizer L91s for emergency storage.

I ordered 4 AA's from Xtar, without thinking how I could charge them. There is a notice on each battery saying to use a charger that is made for 1.5V Li-ion batteries. So I ordered one of Xtar's chargers that can also charge Ni-MH. Also ordered a compact, 2Amp, single bay 26700 capable charger for ~ $12. All four AA batteries tested at 1.5Volts +

 

[Owen]

For example, one customer told that he found his 1.2V Ni-MH rechargeable batteries last about as long or longer in lost to medium drain devices. However, he also noticed that anything that depends on the voltage such as motors or flashlights are definitely stronger or brighter with 1.5V Li-ion batteries than with NiMh batteries.

For both of the rechargeable 1.2V Ni-MH and 1.5V Li-ion AA/AAA batteries, what's your application of them in your life?

These are fantastic batteries(mine are Keeppowers). As with the 3V RCR123s, the cutoff due to the protection circuit is the only potential downside.
You really nailed it with voltage dependant motors or flashlights, as the li-ion's constant voltage means superior performance to NiMH from the outset, and the gap just gets bigger with every second that goes by.
I have some older Manscaper body hair trimmers that use 2xAA, and the difference between the 1.5V li-ion and Eneloop Pros or alkalines is immediately apparent in use. The big story is the lack of voltage drop under load, though, as they never bog or slow down.
I'm using them in my backpacking headlamp, too.
Slim chance I'd ever drain one on a single trip, but if I ever do, it'll charge right up from my power banks.

 

[fuyume]

I ordered 4 AA's from Xtar, without thinking how I could charge them. There is a notice on each battery saying to use a charger that is made for 1.5V Li-ion batteries. So I ordered one of Xtar's chargers that can also charge Ni-MH. Also ordered a compact, 2Amp, single bay 26700 capable charger for ~ $12. All four AA batteries tested at 1.5Volts +

I'm thinking about the ones with the built-in USB chargers. I'll only ever need to use one or two AAs at a time.

 

[fivemega]

Idea of the rechargeable 1.5V Li-ion batteries are great but due to weak protection circuit, voltage drops to almost 1.2V (under load) which means no advantage to NiMH
So, constant 1.5 Volt is false advertisement.
If they really hold the voltage 1.5V under load of 2~3A, then they will win.
However, they work well on low current devices such as remote control and ...

 

[this_is_nascar]

I started using these in various devices, such as my blood pressure machine, my police scanner portable radio and my handheld CB radio. All of which takes AA cells.

 

[Poppy]

The batteries that get used the most in my house are my 18v Ryobi tool batteries, and 18650 batteries for flashlights. I have a small bunch of 1.2 V NiMH batteries that for the most part just lie around waiting to be used. The kids have out grown most AA powered toys, where the batteries were used, when they were younger.

I have a couple of AA and AAA lights that will take either NiMH, alkalines, or 3.7-4.2V Li Ion, and for the most part they are loaded with NiMH, but for giggles, I sometimes load them with 3.7 - 4.2V Li Ion.

It seems to me that my remotes last longer with 1.5 V alkalines than they do with 1.2V NiMH. So, I'll often load them with alkalines. I hadn't considered getting 1.5V Li Ion cells, (and a separate charger for them, as mentioned needed by Kitrobaskin), but I imagine that they would be superior to 1.2V NiMH for remotes, which appear to be voltage sensitive.

 

[Poppy]

This 2 AA light rides in a vinyl bag attached to my ashtray.
It is always ready for deployment, to help direct traffic, or other uses.
I have it loaded with NiMH and occasionally top them off.
I keep a 4 pack of Energizer L91's for long time back up.

 

[KITROBASKIN]

Poppy, looks like you have one of those 348's(?) on the bottom of the last picture. That is a classic!

A typical fresh alkaline I have tested usually reads 1.58V and they are labelled 1.5V, so it is hard to believe in the false advertising comment. Aren't all batteries (unless they are much larger for a given use) going to sag with a load?

 

[Poppy]

Poppy, looks like you have one of those 348's(?) on the bottom of the last picture. That is a classic!

A typical fresh alkaline I have tested usually reads 1.58V and they are labelled 1.5V, so it is hard to believe in the false advertising comment. Aren't all batteries (unless they are much larger for a given use) going to sag with a load?

Yes, a neat little light. If I knew they were going to be discontinued I would have bought more.

 

[Owen]

Aren't all batteries (unless they are much larger for a given use) going to sag with a load?

Not the "constant voltage" li-ions like the Keeppower 3V RCR123 and 1.5V 14500/AA, which maintain the same voltage, even under load.
They aren't made for heavy loads, though, so they could be the perfect thing or totally useless depending on what you want to use them in.
The maximum discharge rating for the AA is 1.5A according to Keeppower, whereas I've seen an Eneloop Pro test that went up to 10A.
'Course its capacity was cut more than in half at that load, and it was dead in 10 minutes, but...hey, maybe somebody needs that from a AA(?).

 

[fuyume]

The batteries that get used the most in my house are my 18v Ryobi tool batteries, and 18650 batteries for flashlights. I have a small bunch of 1.2 V NiMH batteries that for the most part just lie around waiting to be used. The kids have out grown most AA powered toys, where the batteries were used, when they were younger.

I have a couple of AA and AAA lights that will take either NiMH, alkalines, or 3.7-4.2V Li Ion, and for the most part they are loaded with NiMH, but for giggles, I sometimes load them with 3.7 - 4.2V Li Ion.

It seems to me that my remotes last longer with 1.5 V alkalines than they do with 1.2V NiMH. So, I'll often load them with alkalines. I hadn't considered getting 1.5V Li Ion cells, (and a separate charger for them, as mentioned needed by Kitrobaskin), but I imagine that they would be superior to 1.2V NiMH for remotes, which appear to be voltage sensitive.

Likely what you are experiencing is the self-discharge rate of NiMH batteries. They are not really intended for occasional-use devices, because they have a high self-discharge rate.

 

[fuyume]

Not the "constant voltage" li-ions like the Keeppower 3V RCR123 and 1.5V 14500/AA, which maintain the same voltage, even under load.
They aren't made for heavy loads, though, so they could be the perfect thing or totally useless depending on what you want to use them in.
The maximum discharge rating for the AA is 1.5A according to Keeppower, whereas I've seen an Eneloop Pro test that went up to 10A.
'Course its capacity was cut more than in half at that load, and it was dead in 10 minutes, but...hey, maybe somebody needs that from a AA(?).

TBPF, the Energizer L91 has a max discharge rate of 2.5 A, but their capacity graphs show a discharge rate of 1 A. So, I think I can be happy with a 1.5 A max discharge from the Keeppower batteries or the Fenix batteries (which I assume are probably made in the same factory and simply packaged differently for different customers).

 

[Lynx_Arc]

The batteries that get used the most in my house are my 18v Ryobi tool batteries, and 18650 batteries for flashlights. I have a small bunch of 1.2 V NiMH batteries that for the most part just lie around waiting to be used. The kids have out grown most AA powered toys, where the batteries were used, when they were younger.

I have a couple of AA and AAA lights that will take either NiMH, alkalines, or 3.7-4.2V Li Ion, and for the most part they are loaded with NiMH, but for giggles, I sometimes load them with 3.7 - 4.2V Li Ion.

It seems to me that my remotes last longer with 1.5 V alkalines than they do with 1.2V NiMH. So, I'll often load them with alkalines. I hadn't considered getting 1.5V Li Ion cells, (and a separate charger for them, as mentioned needed by Kitrobaskin), but I imagine that they would be superior to 1.2V NiMH for remotes, which appear to be voltage sensitive.

The reason remotes last longer with alkaleaks is twofold.
1)under very low drain alkaleak AAs can have about 2800mah, while nimh cannot match that and regular eneloops have about 2000mah or the alkaleak have 40% more capacity.
2)some remotes don't operate well around 1.2-1.25v which can reduce the usable capacity of them even more.

My issue is I have several remotes that I use occasionally that paying $2-$3 for lithium primaries or eneloops per battery usually they need 2 of them gets costly at $4+ per remote vs about 50 cents for cheap alkaleaks that even though they likely have about the same capacity as eneloops cost a lot less and can actually run longer in some devices.

What I've considered and wish I had a 3D printer is to make a battery holder for coin cells to use 1-2 of them in remotes with adapters. You should get decent worry free (no alkaspewage) use from them at a fraction of the cost of L91/L92 cells or nimh as I already have a few small remotes that use coin cells.

I do somewhat worry about remotes that take 4 batteries as the higher voltage of lithium primaries in 4 cell series can reach 7.2v, far above 6v by 20%. I would consider 3 cells plus a dummy cell using lithium primaries may suffice.

I thought about using a single lithium ion cell in remotes with dropping resistor inline via a dummy cell for 2 cell remotes.

 

[Coulomb.]

Generally I use NiMH AA, AAA, C (rarely) and 9v batteries for most things that take batteries:

• LED penlights and keychain lights
• oven thermometer
• tv (etc) remotes
• kitchen scale
• bathroom scale
• electric razor
• dive lights (for scuba diving)
• weather radios
• clocks
• battery operated holiday lights and displays
• TPMS reset widgets
• Voltmeters
• IR thermometer
• portable CD player
• computer mouse
• in a 10S2P pack as a 12v power source for general troubleshooting and operation of 12v devices away from a car or boat

I use Eneloops for AA and AAA and Tenergy Century C and "9v." They don't leak and damage devices the way alkalines do. For clocks they probably don't last as long but I just replace them twice a year at DST changeover so it doesn't matter.

The only two places where they don't work out well are:

1. Alarms, that is smoke alarms and CO alarms, because these devices have touchy voltage-sensitive low battery detection circuits that trip around 1.3 volts. I use alkaline cells in these for now and note that the trend is towards devices with permanently installed primary lithium metal batteries that are sized to last for the lifetime of the device's sensor.
2. Incandescent flashlights, which I have solved by giving all my incandescent flashlights away. (Brightness and color temperature both drop unacceptably low at 1.2 volts in most of these)

I don't think there's anything where I'd rather have a 1.5v lithium. For that matter, I don't use 10400 cells in the devices I have that can accept them. I don't like handling li-ion cells that are not part of a well-designed pack, and the great thing about NiMH AA/AAA cells is that I can bring a whole bunch of them and just swap them in when needed, and recharge them at my leisure.

I have flashlights and power banks that use 18650 and 21700 cells but they stay in the device where they have a certain amount of cushioning and protection, and are charged in place.

I have larger power tools that use 21700 packs ranging from 3S1P to 5S3P which work well. The power tool packs have thermal limits and various protection circuits, and the cells are well cushioned against drops and knocks.

 

[Coulomb.]

Likely what you are experiencing is the self-discharge rate of NiMH batteries. They are not really intended for occasional-use devices, because they have a high self-discharge rate.

Good, modern LSD (low self drain) NiMH cells will self-discharge fairly rapidly (months) to 1.25 volts or so and then stay there a long time, many years if new. Self drain does increase with cycle age but it takes a lot of cycles in devices where the batteries will typically last for months or a year or more.