Panasonic and Sony AA Batteries

dj1471

There has been a revolution in rechargeable battery technology, which is the Panasonic Eneloop technology referred to above - they don't compare to other rechargeables.

The same technology is available from other brands too, I've been using these for quite a few years:
https://www.7dayshop.com/batteries-power-chargers/7dayshop-good-to-go-aa-hr06-pre-charged-long-life-nimh-rechargeable-batteries-2150mah-4-pack

Quite cheap and very good. I use their aaa's in my bike lights, I charge them once a year, they don't even discharge during the summer period in which I don't use them.

forgotmyname

I bought £70 worth of AA and AAA eneloops a while back, checked some the other day and still well charged.

Stuck some in the WII remote and 2 weeks later its down to 3 bars when powered on. Not charged for months and 2 weeks of use and still 3 bars not bad. Certainly beats the old NiMh, charge them and store for a few weeks and they are dead.

esuhl

Richard53 wrote: »

The only disadvantage I have found with rechargeables is that they tend to die quite quickly. Disposables seem to have a longer 'tail' to their charge life. For example, with a cycle light, a disposable battery will probably get gradually dimmer with enough time to get you home, whereas a rechargeable can seemingly go from full to dead within minutes.

All my bike lights (I have seven) use rechargeable batteries. Three use Li-ion cells but the others all use standard AA or AAA Ni-MH cells. The flashing lights last ages, and degrade gradually over days, with the lights becoming less bright and flashing more slowly.

I haven't noticed any difference in using rechargeables, except that it costs less and I don't need to keep making trips to the shops.

Other than button-cells, I can't imagine myself ever buying disposable batteries ever again. They're no justification for doing so in environmental or cost terms.

A._Badger

esuhl wrote: »

All my bike lights (I have seven) use rechargeable batteries. Three use Li-ion cells but the others all use standard AA or AAA Ni-MH cells. The flashing lights last ages, and degrade gradually over days, with the lights becoming less bright and flashing more slowly.

I haven't noticed any difference in using rechargeables, except that it costs less and I don't need to keep making trips to the shops.

Other than button-cells, I can't imagine myself ever buying disposable batteries ever again. They're no justification for doing so in environmental or cost terms.

You may be right about the environmental impact but I wouldn't be quite so sure. The nickel used in NiMh cells is a problem in waste and I understand that Lithium ion cells are pretty environmentally unfriendly in their manufacture and resource use.
There is also, of course, the acknowledged fire risk associated with them.

Personally, I'd want to see a reliable environmental investigation before I put too much store by manufacturers' claims.

Eneloops (Sanyo invented, BTW - they had to be rescued by Panasonic when they got into trouble) are very good regarding self-discharge, I agree, and I have used them for some years. They do seem to have run up against a capacity barrier at the moment with conventional NiMhs offering greater capacities when these are called for.

esuhl

A._Badger wrote: »

You may be right about the environmental impact but I wouldn't be quite so sure. The nickel used in NiMh cells is a problem in waste and I understand that Lithium ion cells are pretty environmentally unfriendly in their manufacture and resource use.

Oh, sure. But they can't be as bad as single-use disposables, can they...?

At least EU regulations have ensured that shops collect batteries for recycling, but that can't be as efficient as using a rechargeable cell a few hundred times. And how many single-use batteries aren't recycled are end up contaminating our lands and rivers?

Fire risk with Li-ion cells seems very rare when they conform to legal standards and are not misused.

Laptop computers have used lithium cells for decades, with very few problems. And just imagine how many disposable batteries you'd run through, and how much that would cost if laptops weren't rechargeable.

We're getting to the stage where disposable batteries should be phased-out... subject to a full review, of course.