Rechargable Duracell batteries-how should they behave?

[ffiill]

I recently bought some AA Duracell rechargable batteries and charger to use with my Shortwave receiver.
I have never used this type of rechargable batteries before.
I was suprised that they arrived discharged and seem to slowly discharge when not in use?
Have I been sold old stock or fraudulently relabled stock?

 

[PCUK]

The latest rechargeables have almost no self discharge and should remain charged for a year or more when not used. They normally come fully charged and provide full power until they suddenly run out.
Sounds like you have a duff set.

 

[rogerthebodger]

I have started to use grandcell Alkaline rechargeable and these are the chargers recommended http://www.grandcell.co.za/products/brand/2

 

[VicS]

There are two types of Duracell rechargeable batteries.

What I take to be "ordinary " NiMH batteries which do lose their charge in storage

And the " Staycharged" type which they claim retain their charge up to 5 times longer. Up to a year when not in use. They are supplied ready charged

I have found no mention of the capacity of either type

I guess for infrequently used items the latter type will be better but for very infrequently and not heavily used items IMHO ordinary non rechargeable types are a better bet as they have a guaranteed shelf life of 7 years.

Always worth keeping a set of ordinary alkaline batteries with anything normally using rechargeable IMO.

 

[charles_reed]

There are two types of Duracell rechargeable batteries.

What I take to be "ordinary " NiMH batteries which do lose their charge in storage

And the " Staycharged" type which they claim retain their charge up to 5 times longer. Up to a year when not in use. They are supplied ready charged

I have found no mention of the capacity of either type

I guess for infrequently used items the latter type will be better but for very infrequently and not heavily used items IMHO ordinary non rechargeable types are a better bet as they have a guaranteed shelf life of 7 years.

Always worth keeping a set of ordinary alkaline batteries with anything normally using rechargeable IMO.

To add to VicS post, the higher the capacity the higher the self-discharge of NiMH batteries - the more recent eneloop cells discharge far more slowly than conventional NiMH, but even they lose about 2%/month. They are the only ones which have any form of ready-to-use from new warranty.
Duracell rechargeables are reasonably good quality, but I doubt you'd be able to get an exchange under the Sale of Goods act, unless you've been unsuccessful in trying to charge them.

 

[VicS]

Actually I now find there ia a third type

Duracell "Supreme" which have a capacity of 1700mAh


Also now found that the Staychrged type have a capacity of 2000mAh

And that the ordinary ones have a capacity of 1700mAh

 

[Bodach na mara]

Last year, after four years of use, the Uniross rechargeables in my camera were losing their ability to hold charge. I renewed them with Duracells and had good charge retention for about six months, but by the nine month satge they were so bad that the camera completely shut down and lost its date and time settings. I recharged all four, left them out of the camera, and found that two would hold charge (as measured by open-circuit voltageonly for a few weesk. The other two lost charge to the poimnt where the OC voltage was less than 1 volt within a week.

When I looked around for replacements, my main criterion was "anything but Duracell" and stuff their fluffy rabbit. I considered GP Recyco precharged batteries as I have some very good GP AAA cells, several years old but fell for the advertising on CPC's website and bought these: http://cpc.farnell.com/contour-energy-systems/reaa4rtu/battery-4xaa-ready-to-use-nimh/dp/BT05207

There is no indication of mAh capacity, but I have been using them for quite a while now and have not needed to recharge them yet. I should say that the price is a bit high from the web site, but I got them using a product code from one of their regular mailings of offers for a lot less. Unfortunately that code expired on 8 May. Look around at other places like batterymill, cellpacksolutions, batterycity. There are lots of better batteries than the Bunny ones

 

[jwilson]

I recently bought some AA Duracell rechargable batteries and charger to use with my Shortwave receiver.
I have never used this type of rechargable batteries before.
I was suprised that they arrived discharged and seem to slowly discharge when not in use?
Have I been sold old stock or fraudulently relabled stock?

All standard NiMh batteries are sold empty, and once charged go near flat in 3-6 months. But when freshly charged they can deliver a lot of power. The Duracell ones I have seen are only 2000 maH (measure of power), whereas other makes can be 2700-2800 and if bought online can be far cheaper than Duracell.

Low self-discharge NiMhs generally have slightly lower capacity but go flat when unused more slowly. They are often sold pre-charged.

Use either of these for something that will flatten a normal alkaline battery in a few hours or days of use - ie cameras, flashguns, handheld VHF. You will recoup the battery costs compared to non-rechargeables very fast.

For something that uses very little power, ie clocks, remote controls, or rarely used kit, non-rechargeables are by far the best.

 

[ditchcrawler]

I use Duracell AA rechargables and mine are 2450 capacity bought from www.7dayshop.com No problems but I do charge them regularly as they are used in model yacht racing.

 

[ianat182]

Bear in mind too that many of the rechargables are only 1.2v (compared to the alkaline 1.5v )which often are no good for cameras or voltage sensitive items, even radio doorbells and thermostats.

ianat182

 

[Elemental]

I recently bought some AA Duracell rechargable batteries and charger to use with my Shortwave receiver.
I have never used this type of rechargable batteries before.
I was suprised that they arrived discharged and seem to slowly discharge when not in use?
Have I been sold old stock or fraudulently relabled stock?

I'd agree with all of the previous posts. Sanyo Eneloop NimH batts stay charged for ages but standard ones will discharge quite quickly.

Answering the OP questions - No, I don;t think you have been sold old or relabelled stock. Leastways, new stock would behave the same.

 

[alahol2]

I've recently bought a couple of packs of these. They arrived pretty well fully charged and have worked well so far. The ones I have not yet used still show near full when tested in the charger. It's usually 6 - 9 months down the line that you find out if they are as good as the claims.