Anyone still using rechargeable Ni-mh AA Bateries ?

[LONG_KEELER]

Just wondering if the technology has improved of late, and worth switching from single use to rechargeable AA's.

Any thoughts or recent experiences ?

I now charge via the cigar socket (USB connectors) , Tablet, Phone.

AA Batteries still for H/H VHF and H/H GPS.

Thanks.

 

[PaulRainbow]

I use them for a variety of things onboard, torches, remotes, keyboard, mouse etc. AA and AAA, £2.99 for 4 from Lidl. Charged by a 12v charger that plugs into a cig lighter socket, so they don't even cost anything to charge

 

[penberth3]

The lower voltage can be a problem with some electronic gadgets.

 

[alahol2]

Been using Ni-mh for several years now in all sorts of equipment. The 'long shelf life' type seem to be the best as they don't appear to lose too much charge if not used for a few weeks. We usually have half a dozen spares charged and ready on board.

 

[GHA]

Yep. Eneloops , and amazon has some good ones as well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eneloop

Torch, head torch and little yamaha guitar amp runs for ages.
Slightly low voltage doesn't really make a difference if they're kept fully charged.

Charged with one of these which does AAA & 18650's as well, velcroed under the chart table. Not just the money saving but self sufficiency as well.

http://charger.nitecore.com/CHARGER/i/NEWi4/

 

[jwilson]

I used good quality ones for many years, but once bulk packs of disposable alkalines became readily available on Amazon at quite good prices switched to them - Energiser or Duracell "Industrial". Fully charged the NiMhs are actually better than an alkaline for high-current-draw items but as they go partially flat in a month or two unused charging them all up before use is a pain - I will have probably 20+ AAs in use at a time in various items - mostly camera flashes.

For intermittently used items the convenience of alkalines is good. The Sanyo Eneloop brand and some Energiser NiMhs minimise loss of power unused, but it still happens and I have not been that impressed by their longevity.

 

[Roberto]

I use them for a lot of devices, most devices actually
Bear in mind some portable electronics indicate charge level through voltage, so if you use fully charged NiMH their "charge status bar" will probably show as "half charged".
For clocks and similar low drain devices I use alkaline ones, as the self discharge of nimh is higher than the drain so one should charge them too often. Also, in critical devices such as strobe lights, replacement battery banks for portable vhf, replacement batteries for torches and other things which may go into the grab bag, only alkaline.

 

[RAI]

For grab bag applications I use Lithium batteries. Maybe in the mistaken belief that they have long shelf life and high capacity. So far I have only found one shot Lithium AA. Why no rechargeable ones? Too pyrotechnic perhaps?

 

[2Tizwoz]

I've found them unreliable as they lose their charge in storage and although my camera has a setting for re-chargeables it doesn't last long with them so I've switched to using alkalines although they have to be thrown away.

 

[doug748]

I find alkalines last about a week in my digitally tuned multi band Eton radio. A charged Ni-mh set give me about 3 weeks. I feel this is probably the case whenever you have a gadget fizzing away with a relatively high rate of constant discharge.

Reading this thread made me question myself and I found this:

http://www.greenbatteries.com/battery-myths-vs-battery-facts-1/

 

[William_H]

OP might like to try NiZn rechargeable batteries. Start at a voltage of 1.7 volts and come in AA size. Solves the problem of low voltage from NIMh types at 1.2 volts. olewill