Rechargeable Cells

Has anyone tried the 'extreme' 2900mAh NIMH cells? They are on ebay at many prices so i'm worried that some/all may be re-branded cheapies.

Neil

I would be very wary of noname rechargeables from ebay. For standard NiMH rechargable then go fo Uniross or Energyser. Remember higher capacity is offset by fewer recharge cycles.

However if you want the best rechargable then it has to be the Sanyo Eneloop. These deliver high power, and do not suffer from the self-discharge issues of standard NiMH batteries.

You definitely get hjat you pay for and with rechargable batteries it is better and cheaper in the long run to get quality.  I recommend the Eneloop.

Edited By EtheAv8r on 18/01/2013 19:45:37

Gentlemen,

This subject has come up on another forum, a friend of mine has just bought himself another camera and he bought some batteries off EBay of similar rating mentioned, he has his own industrial charger manufacturing business, train chargers etc, when he got the batteries he charged them up and found that they didnt charge anywhere near a third of their rated capacity so totally useless for the job. Dont bother a waste of money.

Martin P

Hi

I have used Panasonic Infinium, now replaced by Panasonic EVOLTA, Ni-MH cells with a capacity of about 2100mAh. While I haven't done an objective discharge test on the cells they have lasted well in situations where they have been used. The big benefit with these cells is that they have very low self discharge rates and retain their charge well. It is quoted to be better than 80% retention after a year with the number of charge cycles upped to 1600 for the EVOLTA batteries.

I got them from 7Dayshop, find with norm web search, and have been very pleased with their actual performance. No more picking up a piece of kit to find that the batteries are low or even flat after it has been left awhile. The company suggested offers a good service with what to me seem very competitive prices.

David: If mentioning a direct source here is not acceptable then please delete and anyone interested can PM me for the supplier's name.

Cheers

Martin W

Hi Martin W,

I have the same experience as you with NiMH cells. I use cells that has a low self discharge (Varta) and the last much longer that cheap Ni-MH cells, although that don't have as high a capacity as Neil mentions.

Regards

Thor

Not directly related to the NiMH cells under discussion but:

Recent incidents with Lithium batteries, fire at Durham police HQ and on Boeing 787 aircraft, reinforce the case for not taking risks with batteries, particularly cheap unbranded ones. In both cases it is reported that the batteries were on charge at the time. The Boeing battery was said to be a Lithium ion, not sure about the Durham one.

Having had first hand experience of incidents with Lithium cells, both primary and rechargeable types, I wouldn't say don't use them but do take care. Don't leave Lithium ion on charge unattended and watch for warning signs like overheating. The amount of energy released from even small cells when things go wrong has to be seen to be believed.

Regards

Unfortunately you don't always get what you pay for. I have bought the NiMH cells that are claimed to come precharged and to hold their charge for a year - two different top name brands. They came almost fully discharged and only held charge for one month. The manufactus didn't respond to my emails.

Has anyone found any that really hold their charge?

Russell.

This is for a camera, I'm not really exercised about them holding charge, but my Uniross cells appear to be showing their age (possibly after a hundred or so two cycles over several years).

All NiMH/NiCd cells have exaggerated capacities because of the extremey low discharge used for rating them (including Varta etc.)

The 'Extreme' branded ones appear to have a few good reviews but I wondered if anyone had experience of this partcular brand in particlar?

Neil

Hi Neil,
I have found that some of my cameras seem to consider rechargable batteries are low long before they are fully discharged. I think this is because they are designed for alkaline batteries which give 1.5 volts where NIMh or NICD give about 1.2 volts over most of their discharge cycle. Like Martin I find the 7 Day Shop "Good to Go" batteries work well in my cameras.

Les.

I bought the "precharged" cells to keep in my camera bag for use when the normal ones ( about 1/4 the price) run out. The first ones I bought (Varta) ran flat in a month. The second lot (Sony) seem to be better, although they were discharged when purchased they seem to hold charge better. Hower I just keep alkalines in the bag for emergencies as they hold up for several years.

Good cameras have a setting to change between NiCad/NiMH and alkaline.

Russell.

Edited By Russell Eberhardt on 20/01/2013 09:53:42