How Do You Keep Track of Your Batteries?

I'm relatively new to the flashlight phenom and the candlepower forums. However, in 6 short months I've managed to accumulate about 10 flashlights and too many NiMH batteries, both AA and AAA. I haven't made it to other types of rechargeable batteries yet, but am determined to use only rechargeables for environmental reasons. I'm constantly charging batteries and trying to keep track of which batteries are full, which halfway full and which at any other level. So, my question for anyone, which I haven't seen on these forums, is: how do you all keep track of what stages your batteries are at and keep them all charged, or don't you?

BTW, I know there's an important NiMH breakthrough now in the form of Sanyo's Eneloop, Uniross' Hybrio, Panasonic R2, Varta Ready2Use, and others coming on the market which might make it much simpler. You don't need to mention these since I now have dozen's of standard rechargeables and need a better system for the immediate future.

Thanks.

Harvey

Welcome, I use a Label maker and mark the date when the cells was first activated for use, ie 6/2/2005 Cell no1 / no2, 8/10/2003 cell no1 / no2/ no 3 so on, this way they don't get mixed up

I'm not using that many at any time. Only about 10 in various lights and radios that see regular use, so it's easy to just have two piles, charged and not. The charged never sit very long before use.

Geoff

I use a simple divider in a drawer. The ones on the right side are fully charged...the ones on the left need charging.

I have 4 AA plastic cases from TD. I find them convenient to carry AA in my camera bag, wife's purse, etc. I put the charged batteries as shown on the box, the empty one reversed. Simple as that.

with a roll of masking tape and a fine tipped sharpie

I stick one in a flashlight; if it lights up it is good if not I recharge it. I must be saving a bundle on not buy masking tape and sharpies.
Topper

I have a small 2 sided tacklebox from Walmart, was around $3. Hols about 8 cells per side. One side is the good AA cells like Sanyo and Energizer, the other side is ok AAs and AAAs. In the middle slots are RCR123s. I always assume the AA/AAA need charging before using them, because they usually do (I only use the Sanyos regularly, in my camera).
I also go with Toppers practice, since I only have 10 AAs and 6 AAAs. The 4 Sanyos stay with the camera in it's case, so there's not alot to mess with.
But I do have a bag of not-dead batteries for my Infinity Ultra to read with, or my SMJ nitelight.

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=777_3&products_id=100599

Plus sticky label with recharge dates on, on exterior of case, not battery.

Batteries sharpie ID's

1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, etc

D.O.P. capacity etc on SS

There are a couple threads related to this now
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/143603
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/147196

I had stopped using rechargeables for a while because of the self discharge but with the introduction of eneloop have went back. I just printed up clear inkjet labels since they were so thin they didn't add any size to the battery and I can wrap them back around themselves to keep from wearing off. Then started up a spreadsheet to track them as well as investing in a decent charger.

I just mark them with tape and a sequential number. I then keep track of the specifics re: purchase date, initial capacity with a spreadsheet.

As far as keeping track of their current charge, rotation etc., I gave up doing that many years ago - it was a losing battle. Now after performing a "forming charge" on new purchases, they just get used. When I need some, I charge whichever ones are handy. Of course, I always have some loaded in a charger on trickle charge for the unexpected. NiMH technology is a godsend as far as not worrying about memory effects.

Many years ago I decided that AA size battery was the only size I use. I have actually not purchased products specifically because they used something other than AA size. I also have chosen one product over another competing product because it used AA vs. some other size batteries. Products that fall under this were cameras, PDAs, MP3 players, shortwave radios, flashlights and more.

Now that I have AA->D and AA->C adapters, I have a little more "room" in my decisions.

Good luck, don't be too anal about batteries - just use them within their limits and buy new ones when they wear out. Newer capacities and newer technologies come out every so often and just follow the upgrade cycle naturally.

I strongly recommend getting (if you don't already own) a charger that charges each battery individually (and NOT in pairs). I have a Maha CH-800S and a Maha CH-9000. The CH-800S is top-notch for a good all-around AA charger. I have not had any problems with the CH-9000, although others are seeing behaviors that aren't consistent. You can find lots of threads pertaining to these.

I am actually near the end of a study of self-discharge of some batteries, but I am doing this more to put together matched sets of 8 AA's in a pack, but not based on their capacity, so much as their self-discharge rates over a 30-60 day period.

i weigh mine. as the charge evaporates, the cells get slightly lighter.

oh. or i just line them up on my dresser.

Eventually I'll go the spreadsheet route, but for now, I am refreshing all my cells and noting in a notebook the actual capacity vs. claimed capacity, percentage loss (or gain), and date tested. I plan to do this a couple times a year. Then when I need a matched set, say four cells, I can simply look for four with a percentage number as close together as possible. If you use a spreadsheet, you can arrange it to sort by brand first, then capacities, making selecting a matched set even easier. I have read of various ways to mark actual serial numbers on cells for use in the spreadsheet. Labels and markers seem to present clearance and longevity difficulties. One gentleman suggested scribing a serial number on the base. This is the route I have chosen. I use a carbide electric engraver set on a very low intensity level to mark the serial number. I use the first letter of the brand, plus a number. So Rayovac's would be marked R1, R2, etc. One beauty is that you can repeat this coding for all cell sizes. If I have 10 AA and 10 AAA Rayovac cells, I can just engrave the AA from R1-R10, and then the AAA from R1-R10 also, since it's always apparent which cells you are dealing with. Occasionally, you have more than one brand beginning with the same letter, for example, Sony and Sanyo. In this case I use the first two letters, plus the number. SO1, SO2, etc. for Sony, and SA1, SA2, etc. for the Sanyo's. I store the serialized cells sequentially in plastic cell holders purchased from Thomas Distributing.

So far, the best performers in terms of actual capacity vs. claimed, low self-discharge, and how well cells within a brand stay matched with age, have been my Sony, Sanyo, Panasonic and Rayovac cells of 1800-2300 mAh. My old, neglected Rayovac 1800's are returning close to 1900 mAh, and they're not even done refreshing yet. The Sanyo 2300's also returned more than claimed, and were all within 40 mAh capacity of each other. The Sanyo's and Sony's especially are notable for how close together their actual capacities are (uniformity), and also in the fact that they required only a single discharge/charge cycle to meet or exceed their rated capacity. The Sony's are excellent in retaining their charge over time. Is it a coincidence that all these top performers are made in Japan? And that the worst and most inconsistent returns all come from my cells made in China?

In refreshing my cells, the worst performers, so far, are Lenmar NoMem, by a wide margin! Sometimes they never acquire more than 75% claimed capacity, or once discharging commences, the under-load voltage plummets to like 1.1 - 1.2 volts right away. Lenmar = garbage.

I'm sorry ... what was the question?

While I've listed mine on a spreadsheet I don't track every charge, its mainly to track what device they are in and which ones are kept together in sets.

I name mine

I've tried Sharpies and even paint markers but couldn't keep the numbers on the cells. I've given up on serial numbers until I think of something much more durable.

One thing that has helped me keep track of them without numbers is making custom boxes for each size cell. This post has instructions for using simple home-made die cutters to cut perfect holes in foam so you may use any box you like and not have to worry about shorting, moisture or shock damage.

More to the point, after making a few great boxes with die cut foam for myself I realized that I could solve at least one of my battery 'disorganization' dillemas. I started looking for boxes that are shaped in such a way that the holes for the cells may be cut in a pattern that makes it easy to use the cells FIFO (first in, first out).

The first one I did that way wasn't intentional. It was a small, oval shaped Tupperware-type box and I just drilled holes for the AAAs in an oval shape. Eventually it dawned on me that as long as I left at least one hole empty I could just always remove the cells in one direction -- and I'd have a FIFO box with no hassles or paperwork. I drew a couple of arrows on the lid and told Mrs Umbra they represented the direction in which the cells should be used and it works fine for us.

There are obvious limitations with the FIFO boxes. There are things I just can't keep track of without serial numbers. They won't scale to ALL amounts of cells that different folks use.

On the positive side, it's simple, low maintainence and it may solve the rotation problem for some.

Until I got some little boxes with my latest charger I kept my sets of AAAs in little zip-lock bags. Charged cells were all the same way around in the bag, discharged cells arranged in alternating directions.

For partial charges or finding out which cell bottomed out first I used a small digital multimeter then marked the cell with a permanent marker. (And it turned out to be the same cell running out first every time.)

I don't keep a spreadsheet - seems like Too Much Information.

I am finding now that the spreadsheet idea provides powerful organization and sorting, but labels stating measured capacities are still needed on the individual batteries, in addition to S/N's. When you start to pick out matched sets to put in various electronics, this leaves "gaps" in your remaining available cells. It gets harder to pick out subsequent matched sets because it is difficult to know which cells are already in other equipment, and which are available. It would be nice to have a way in your spreadsheet to check off cells already in use, or organize the listing so available remaining cells are at the top, and currently used cells at the bottom. Barring this, the other option is to label each cell with it's capcacity. This way you can see at a glance from your remaining cells, which are closest matched in capacity. Otherwise, all you have is the S/N etched or marked on each cell, which forces you to go back to your spreadsheet, and unless you have arranged it to segregate available cells from cells currently in use, it's not too practical. I suppose you could forgo the spreadsheet altogether, except it sure makes it easy to update capacites later on without having to relabel each individual cell. Plus the spreadsheet can sort cells by capacities automatically. I guess you really should do both!

Turbo, I can see your problem - I think it's one of the reasons I don't want to go to using a spreadsheet. Perhaps knowing the actual capacities of cells makes us worry too much about matching things up, but I know it's nice to get things as good as possible.

It sounds like you actually need a database, not a spreadsheet. If an online one would be practical enough (OK with broadband) I'm sure someone (maybe even myself) could whip something up.

Let's get thinking.

Fields for: cell serial number, date first used, best measured cell capacity, likely cell capacity off a fast charge, date last charged, pop-up menu for equipment currently in (incl 'on shelf' and 'in charger' of course)... what else?

Output/search results: Available cells, listed in capacity order or date last charged order. Printable of course.

Would I use it myself? I really hope not.

TorchBoy said:

Let's get thinking.

Fields for: cell serial number, date first used, best measured cell capacity, likely cell capacity off a fast charge, date last charged, pop-up menu for equipment currently in (incl 'on shelf' and 'in charger' of course)... what else?

Click to expand...

Actual capacity/claimed capacity, as a percentage increase or decrease. Let's you easily spot cells in decline.

Matching cells is nice because if you use a battery of cells and one fails before the others, it may go unnoticed and that cell will be overdischarged, or reverese charged, which will kill it very quickly.