I recently bought a replacement digital camera. Takes AA batteries (majority of our stuff takes AA). I have had previous rechargables (NiCad, NiMH) and even that old charger that would recharge alkaline....Ok so I'm dating myself....

There are now a variety of rechargables. Can anyone suggest a GOOD one to go with. The camera is used a lot in Ice Rinks so cold may be an issue but only for an hour or 2 max. Majority of time it is warm/hot weather. I'd like a decent run time on the battery. I'm planning on having one set in camera with 1 for back up. I would buy more later if the set is good. I'd rather spend good money now to save later, though I don't want to get too expensive.

Any thoughts? Suggestions? Things to avoid completely. Please do not give massive technical data....I'm not an engineer. Good 'field use experience' is more valuable to me. If the 'system' for charging also has multiple ways to 'charge' (ie. 110v, 12v, solar, iGo, USB) even better but 110 v is primary.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Sanyo Eneloops for the batteries. Seems to be a pretty broad consensus that they are one of the better batteries out there. They are one of the low self discharge NiMH batteries, that won't go dead from sitting in the drawer (well, they will, just not in a month or two, it will take a couple years).

One of the Powerex/Maha chargers would be my choice, though there are probably as good as or better chargers. Couple years ago I had found a pretty comprehensive review of chargers available (how full they were able to charge, how long, how hot they got, explained the charging methods, etc), but I can't for the life of me find it again

Sanyo also has a new eneloop that is a little lower capacity but has even better cold temperature characteristics.
I have 1650mAH sanyo NiMH from 1999 that I still use in kids toys.
Avoid any fast chargers, those 15 minute battery cookers, with low self discharge nimh you can just carry extras knowing they are always ready. I've taken eneloops that sat for 6 months to a year and ran them through 450+ pictures in our camera, Lithium just under 500 so close enough in performance to make lithium unneeded anymore.
Avoid chargers that charge in pairs, any charger should charge each battery independently. Avoid ones that just trickle charge (take 8 hours or more), charging too slow or too fast isn't best for their health.

Second the recommend on maha.

I am another satisfied user of Eneloops - ultimately the cheapest way to go, as well. I agree also with Eugene comments about chargers - avoid the simple ones.

Another vote for Eneloops -- have gotten them at Costco.

Dunno I tried rechargable sonys and they died in the camera bag NOT inside the camera withen 10 hours before I could use them. That was the first and last time I used um.

+1 for Eneloops. Just get a good charger that does NOT charge batteries in pairs and does NOT have a charge rate above 1000mA. Trust me, your batteries will last far longer.

Eneloops are the only way to go for rechargeable AAs and AAAs.

The charger in the sets sold at Costco charges only in pairs.

High charge rates cook batteries; slower charging is better. Charging in pairs is bad if the two batteries have dissimilar charge states. If you only use them in pairs, it's acceptable in my book to charge them the same way.

before low self discharge they did that, the low self discharge fixed that issue.

Eneloops are pretty much the top of the heap. I'm very pleased with mine.

I've also had very good luck with Duracell's pre-charged AA/AAA line (white tops, made in Japan). These are widely believed to be rebranded Eneloops. I stock up when they come on sale at $7-8 for a 4-pack.

The value of a single channel, intelligent charger cannot be emphasized too strongly. I have a Powerex/Maha and like its advanced functions. But the one I use most is a Duracell CEF23DX4N with the 12VDC plug; I now have three of these, and they can be had for under $20.

With these good chargers, I am able to revive and use cells written off by others as junk. That's perfect in my belt light, which sees a lot of use. And since I have a 12VDC solar panels set up, I can charge my batts off-grid (and that's mostly what I do every day).

You mentioned operating in cold conditions. You might consider having a set of disposable lithium AAs (if your camera can accept them) as a sort of second backup. Lithium batteries are quite good in cold weather, although I think Eneloops will work fine for the limited times you mention.

I am phasing out conventional alkaline AAs and AAAs, and using primarily rechargables and lithiums. Vastly cheaper to operate equipment that way.

I bought a set of Eneloops that came in a case with a small charger from Costco about 3 or so years ago. I started using them last year, and they still had their original charge on them. I've been very pleased with them.

Now, for those recommending more in the way of charger than that little charger that came with the Eneloops (it says to charge in pairs) - can you recommend a couple of chargers?
Any from this website you'd recommend, or steer me away from as being too much or to little charger?

Lighthound chargers

Thanks

Dave

Right at hand is my Maha C401FS - individual charging channels (4), choice of slow or fast rates - purchased about three years ago for around 25 bucks. I could not find it on the Lighthound site.

You might check out candlepower forums. They will tell you more than you want to know about battery chargers and batteries, but it is good advice. A lot of people rave about the Maha 9000.

Yes, CPF is a good place to go, though it's a bit intimidating at first. There are usually "sticky threads" for common topics like chargers.

My Maha 9000 is suitable for me because I'm interested in the nerdy details and fiddling with the many options. FWIW I got it for $50 shipped and that included four high capacity cells.

I think most people would find the Maha 9000 to be more charger than they need. Something like the 800S would be a better fit, though it's not inexpensive. The other option, as I mentioned, the Duracell Mobile Charger CEF23DX4N is simple to use, versatile, and well regarded (though it's not super fast).

Except CPF will ask why your not using CR123 or lithium ion, I don't hang out much there anymore.

C401FS is a nice little charger too, I have that and the c9000. going to buy one of the simpeler 8 bays to put out where the kids can use it.
I use eneloops in all my gear and the maha imedion in all the kids gear, that way i can tell mine from theirs easier. They both have those leapster handhelds and vtech kidzoom digital cameras, each taking 4 AA's.

There certainly is a high tech crowd there that keeps pushing us into the future, but there is also a faction that includes me that prefers the commonly available battery configurations. I like being able to have the ability to swap batteries between radio, GPS, and lights. Generally i have found the conversation on CPF to be fairly civil and informative, verging at times toward impossibly nerdy (a bit like ETS..)

Consumers Union tested different battery types and developed costs per picture for alkalines, lithiums, and rechargeables. Eneloops were by far the cheapest in that application.

What I need now is a good solar panel to feed juice to my battery charger. This would be really handy in a power outage. Any suggestions?

Sanyo Eneloops are great batteries, but the rebranded "Duraloops" sold under the Duracell brand are an easier way to buy them locally. I don't recall ever seeing Eneloops in a store around here, but I do see Duraloops at places like my local Target.

However, you need to be careful because Duracell sells different kinds of rechargeable batteries and only one of them are Duraloops. The other kind of rechargeables are "normal" NiMH batteries. They can have a higher rated capacity but they do self-discharge over time, which most folks find annoying and inconvenient.

Just one thing to add to dougwalkabout's description. Besides looking for white tops to the batteries and "Made in Japan", also look for the words "Pre-charged" or "Active Charged" on the package.

Don't be surprised if you find black-topped batteries or white-topped batteries that say "Made in China" mixed in with the Duraloops, all with very similar packaging. That's why you need to look carefully so you get what you want.

Running an AA battery charger takes a tiny amount of juice. The combination that is cheapest and easiest is an amorphous solar (PV) panel tied to a lead-acid battery. The battery can simply be the one in your car, riding lawn mower, or even the UPS for your computer.

You could probably squeak by with a 5-watt panel if you have lots of direct sun, but you can get a 15-watt panel for nearly the same price. And often, you can find great deals on 45 or 60 watt amorphous panels ganged together at retailers like Costco etc. These often include a charge controller so you don't fry your battery. Note that amorphous panels are relatively large and heavy for their output - fine for home and car camping, but not for backpacking.

I would strongly suggest getting a basic multimeter if you're doing anything with solar panels. These can be had for under 10 bucks, and they will let you confirm polarity and check the voltage of your main battery (esp. important if you don't have a charge controller).

There are smaller and more efficient solar panels out there, but before you buy keep in mind that there are some big technological improvements in the pipe that should drop the cost per watt way down. So buy only what you need now, and save your shekels for the next wave of photovoltaics.

Thank you for the information. Ideally I would like a panel that would make sense for backpacking and bike touring, but for most of the trips I make, my pack is actually lighter if I just carry extra batteries.

I will keep an eye on pending developments....

The difficulty thing is getting a panel large enough to sustain the input to the charger to complete a full charge cycle. Too small of a panel and a cloud may drop the voltage low enough to reset a smart charger. Thats why a of solar battery chargers use just a simple trickle circuit (think cheap cordless phone where the batteries go bad after a year), or higher end have a battery in between.
If you do go solar charger I'd recommend then getting a home charger like the c9000 so you can test and refresh the batteries after the trip so see what damage the trickle charging did to them.
Eneloops take labels very well, a sharpie stays on them longer than other batteries I have, or maybe you can just see the faded sharpie against the white better, I don't know. But I number all mine as I buy them then mark a purchase date in a spreadsheet then run them through a refresh cycle on the c9000 and note the initial capacity. Then I'll refresh them once a year or so and note the capacity to watch for any that have dropped in capacity.

Has Anyone looked at Nickel Zinc Batteries?

reference http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel-zinc_battery


avail at Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/PowerGenix-ZR-PGX1...pd_bxgy_e_img_b

Same general recharge and loss rates at NiMh, but significantly higher voltages. Since Regular Alkaline batteries start at ~1.5, and NiMh start at ~ 1.2 voltage, some poeple have found NiMh are not as long-lifed.

For electronics that NEED the voltage (like camera flashes)it might be worth looking at. Review seem to be positive.

Disadvantages -
requires different charger than NiMh- not compatible.
Not good with non-LED flash lights voltage too high

I've been to CPF. Nice group but these reviews are EXACTLY what I needed. I 'know' you guys better than CPF. I'm very comfortable with your reviews and think I have my answer as to what i'll get. May start with the 'duracell' duraloops (have a few stores near me that may carry. As far charging in pairs, I'll look for the single charge option but I use in pairs and charge in pairs so maybe that would be Ok......

NiMH is close to 1.3/1.4v hot off the charger and then drops to 1.2v and stays there for the rest of its charge cycle.
Alkaline starts at 1.5v and drops to 1.4, 1.3, 1.2, 1.1, etc over its life so they drop fo 1.2 around 50% of their life.

I get twice as many camera flashes from NiMH as I do alkaline

Even thought you use them in pairs every battery is very slightly different so one can discharge a little bit more than another and therefore when charged as a pair will overcharge before its pair mate reaches full charge. So while its not as bad as say 15 minute charging or trickle charging it is still rough on the batteries.

Sanyo though does put a pair charges in some of those cosco kits but their eneloops are the tightest QC and therefore have the smallest of differences. but IMHO chargers are inexpensive enough it makes no sense to get one that has to charge in pairs.

Though I have other "smart" chargers, some very smart (programmable parameters), I prefer to charge Eneloop AAs in the famous old Maha MH-C204F charger. It only does pairs, and probably unlike most people I often use these batteries in singles too.

What I like about this charger is the Eneloops come off it at a few mV less than 1.5V. Way high, BUT they last notably longer in any app, and remarkably longer in devices that are more voltage sensitive (my GPS e.g.). Of course this voltage probably drops to 1.2V pretty quickly, but there still is a performance improvement. Now I expect the batteries may not last for as many charges, but they've lasted a long time so far and if I get 500 charges or even 250 instead of 1000, I don't really care. I mean these Eneloops are "paid for" after about 5 charges anyway. I'm more concerned with the increased runtime I get while I'm using them. When I'm at home and have access to lots of power options I don't care about runtime...

Anyway, just saying what I do. Bottom line is as far as I'm concerned, Eneloops made NiMH really worthwhile. Some regular NiMH have greater capacity, theoretically, if you use them quite quickly. But I'd never use the regular ones in anything where I need to set it up then expect it to work properly/optimally some extended time later. And I always carry some spare alkalines JIC, fairly lightweight insurance.