Dreadful modern batteries

[SteveS1]

Enerloops for me, I must have 30 of them in various remotes. They were my goto for camera flash as well, despite their lower voltage

Which charger do you use?

 

[tuga]

* Must ... not ... make... Star... Trek ... reference.

Use the Force.

 

[Craig B]

FWIW some film and TV sound people seem to rate the cheapo Ikea LADDA rechargeables. Rumoured to come from the same factory as Eneloops but who knows!

Edit: YouTube vid claiming LADDA = Eneloop Pro

The GF and I have both been using the LADDA rechargeable batteries in everything from AA Apple KBs, TPs and Mice, to AAA in cordless home phones, and even battery powered toothbrushes. The (now discontinued) HR03/AAA 500mAh last a good long time in the phones and those HR6/AA 2450mAh (pictured above) last for weeks between charges in the daily use Apple peripherals.

One thing to keep in mind is that the higher the mAh the less charging cycles before EOL. With devices that drain batteries very slowly, like remote controls for example, things more or less even out, whereas, with high drain rates and frequent charges, such as with cordless phones, lower mAh are much more cost effective long term. For example, the original AAA rechargeables that came with the GF's Panasonic cordless home phone set were Panasonic HHR-55AAABU Ni-MH min 630mAh. She has had this set of phones since 2008, and the LADDA AAA 500 mAh only replaced the original batteries a few years ago; and this with her leaving the phones on their charging bases 24/7! The slightly dearer LADDA AAA 900mAh (now the only IKEA AAA choice) would have been slightly less cost effective in the phones, yet are perfect in AAA remotes. Regardless, these LADDA are far cheaper than Eneloop to begin with, the most expensive being the AA 2450mAh at $CDN 9.99 a four pack ($CDN 8.99 a four pack for the AAA 900mAh).

Another thing to note is that you want to use what has become known as a 'smart charger', i.e. one that senses charge levels and drops off completely or down into trickle charge mode. Going one further, make sure that the charger either has individual battery charge sensing circuitry, or battery pair sensing (say with a 4-bay charger), otherwise a battery that is going off and taking much longer to charge (or never quite fully charges) can cause other batteries to overcharge, shortening their life. With the 'pair sensing' type always keep the same pairs of batteries together.

 

[paulfromcamden]

Thanks @Craig B - I didn't realise the difference in charging cycles. Good to know.

My charger has separate LCD displays for each battery so I'm assuming it behaves the way you describe. I'll be honest - I've had it for years and never actually read the instructions! I just load it with batteries and plug it in...

It looks pretty similar to this current model: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00N7GHUH0/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21

 

[Tony L]

Going one further, make sure that the charger either has individual battery charge sensing circuitry, or battery pair sensing (say with a 4-bay charger), otherwise a battery that is going off and taking much longer to charge (or never quite fully charges) can cause other batteries to overcharge, shortening their life. With the 'pair sensing' type always keep the same pairs of batteries together.

I have a Panasonic BQ-55, which seems really good and at the time I bought earlier in the year was only about a tenner on top of the included quad of Eneloop Pros, if that. It deals with each battery slot independently finishing each when it is done and actually auto powers-off when all are done, so safe to leave working overnight etc.

Interesting what you say about mAh etc, I was kind of coming to that conclusion. I suspect Pros for the Walkman and really bright cree LED torches, standard for everything else in my case. I’ll be curious to see how long they last between charges in low-draw stuff like remotes, clocks etc.

 

[Craig B]

I have a Panasonic BQ-55, which seems really good and at the time I bought earlier in the year was only about a tenner on top of the included quad of Eneloop Pros, if that. It deals with each battery slot independently finishing each when it is done and actually auto powers-off when all are done, so safe to leave working overnight etc.

Interesting what you say about mAh etc, I was kind of coming to that conclusion. I suspect Pros for the Walkman and really bright cree LED torches, standard for everything else in my case. I’ll be curious to see how long they last between charges in low-draw stuff like remotes, clocks etc.

That's all anyone needs in a charger, really. I've a slightly older Sony equivalent here, BCG-34HLD; independent bays, and it auto shuts off after 7hrs regardless. It was one of the cheapest 4-bay 'smart chargers' on the market for a while, came with 2 1000mAh CycleEnergy cells which are LSD (low self-discharge) and work fine. For a bit more, it could have be had with 4 x 2000mAh LSD or 4 x 2500mAh none-LSD cells, but I was already well into collecting the IKEA cells by then.

GF has two of these IKEA VINNINGE two-cell chargers that are USB powered. IIRC, they were $4.99ea. She keeps one in the kitchen 'charging station' (big power strip with Apple chargers galore), and one in her home office (fully-Monty Apple peripherals). If I ever go back to work, I'll likely pick one up for my travel mouse.

IKEA VINNINGE: Looks stupid, but it's actually quite smart...

 

[mykel]

Have been running Eneloop whites and a Maha MH-C9000 charger for years now.
Canoe-camping required multiple lights and back in the day I invested in several Petzl headlamps each of which ate 3 AAA's + various AA's in other things - so rechargeables were a no brainer. Now the headlamps are dying and being replaced with Zebralights and of course after many years of service the cells are dead or dying and need replacing.
I was looking at both the Whites and Blacks, but the price has gotten ridiculous - over 25.00 Cdn a 4 pack.
I heard about the Ikea's being made by the Eneloop people and was going to give them a try.

This thread has re enforced that belief. Thank-you.

One of the Zebralights is an 18650 torch. (SC600W Mk IV Plus). This will be my first foray into 18650... A couple that have been recommended are Sanyo NCR18650GA and Samsung INR 18550-30Q. Both can deliver the 6-7 amps the light requires at full power with some headroom for aging. Good choice? Alternate?

 

[davidsrsb]

’m also curious as to the mechanism that can make one of a pack of alkaline batteries leak. It seems to me that that leaks tend to occur when multiple batteries are chained to produce a higher voltage, e.g. 3 x AAA to produce 4.5V. I guess if one battery discharges first for whatever reason the other two would effectively attempt to charge it, and maybe that is the point of real failure. I can’t recall ever finding a leaked battery in a device that only uses a single one, e.g. my AT637, little Braun alarm clocks (of which I have several) etc.

The fancy Lenovo mouse that flooded with leak acid has two AA batteries in parallel and a step-up SMPS

 

[chartz]

indeed. I have stopped buying batteries from Amazon Marketplace and Ebay. Had two lots of fake Duracells.

Worst was the fake Nokia phone battery, that started smoldering a few days of insertion, replacement from amazon marketplace swelled up so much the back of the phone popped off.

I can’t understand how some Chinese factories get away with such products.
They employ people, feed families and yet only produce crappy fake products, and use materials that are extracted from mines that also employ people, etc. - for what purpose?
I don’t understand Chinese economy.

 

[Tony L]

I can’t understand how some Chinese factories get away with such products.
They employ people, feed families and yet only produce crappy fake products, and use materials that are extracted from mines that also employ people, etc. - for what purpose?
I don’t understand Chinese economy.

Me neither. China is a “communist” dictatorship so different rules apply and labour is clearly exceptionally cheap, maybe free in some contexts. Even so I don’t understand it as you can buy so much stuff not only for less than the raw materials but actually for less than what the postage would cost, e.g. here’s a basic multimeter for £4.22 shipped (eBay). It costs more than that to ship a box the size of even a small multimeter to China, let alone make even a naff multimeter to stick in the box. There is clearly no conventional profit motive in this transaction. FWIW from an environmental perspective I find this sort of thing remarkably offensive. It is just a total waste of natural resources that will have an exceptionally short life before landfill.

 

[gintonic]

There is clearly no conventional profit motive in this transaction

yes there is. If you had done business in China you'd see that. These things cost pennies to make, might be sold into the local or regional markets for a few pounds. They'll be sold to us at 10x the price, cos we love a bargain, when the OEM will be say 25x the price.

it's our demand for a bargain that creates and sustains these products. Even if say only 80% work as expected, the manufacturer won't take the hit.

 

[Tony L]

Has anyone any good safe non-leaky options for PP3 9V batteries? I can’t recall ever seeing a 9V alkaline battery leak, but I’ve got a few in some very nice kit I’d really not want to have to clean crap out of (Fluke 87V, various sound meters etc). Don’t need to be rechargeable as these things last forever on a battery.

 

[paulfromcamden]

The China postage thing is weird. As I understand it China Mail benefits from a really old Universal Postal Union charging structure where China is listed as a 'developing nation'. This means the postal service of the destination country is only able to charge them a few pence so it works out far cheaper to mail a widget from Shanghai to London than from Reading to London.

 

[Craig B]

Have been running Eneloop whites and a Maha MH-C9000 charger for years now.
Canoe-camping required multiple lights and back in the day I invested in several Petzl headlamps each of which ate 3 AAA's + various AA's in other things - so rechargeables were a no brainer. Now the headlamps are dying and being replaced with Zebralights and of course after many years of service the cells are dead or dying and need replacing.
I was looking at both the Whites and Blacks, but the price has gotten ridiculous - over 25.00 Cdn a 4 pack.
I heard about the Ikea's being made by the Eneloop people and was going to give them a try.

This thread has re enforced that belief. Thank-you.

One of the Zebralights is an 18650 torch. (SC600W Mk IV Plus). This will be my first foray into 18650... A couple that have been recommended are Sanyo NCR18650GA and Samsung INR 18550-30Q. Both can deliver the 6-7 amps the light requires at full power with some headroom for aging. Good choice? Alternate?

Hi Michael,

Just as an FYI, GF and I ended up having to drive down to the Burlington store for the LADDA rechargeable cells (she wanted to go down there regardless), as the local catalogue store only carried the alkaline batteries (and expected one to pay their minimum delivery fee to order in). Naturally, I told them all off, and helped myself to a couple of handfuls of complimentary fasteners from the bins on the way out.

IKEA - Swedish for one fastener short of a full set.

EDIT: I suspect that we weren't the only one's to have bitched off about the IKEA battery situation, as they've since posted this on their Canadian website...

https://www.ikea.com/ca/en/this-is-...n-rechargeable-alkaline-batteries-pub76acafb0​

 

[MartinC]

The China postage thing is weird. As I understand it China Mail benefits from a really old Universal Postal Union charging structure where China is listed as a 'developing nation'. This means the postal service of the destination country is only able to charge them a few pence so it works out far cheaper to mail a widget from Shanghai to London than from Reading to London.

I believe you are correct, not sure about the developing nation bit, but the receiving country covers most if not all of the cost of delivery within their country.

I just shipped a 1 lb small package to the UK from California, it was $24.50 by mail, checked UPS and FEDEX and they wanted $135! As noted I can order a bunch of items from China and postage is pennies - very annoying.

 

[Craig B]

When I bought my 2010 Mac mini used from a local video advertising contractor, it came with nothing but the power cord. Apple wanted $29 for the HDMI to DVI adapter that would have come with, so I decided to have a look on eBay on the off chance first. Found one billed as Genuine Apple and coming from Hong Kong for $5 delivered. It would have cost me that much in gas to drive over to the Apple Store and back. Anyway, item came with a small hairline crack in the DVI end plastic housing; I mentioned this to the seller and was sent a second perfect one FOC. Even looking at these using my loupe, there is no way that they didn't come out of the same factory as supplied Apple. Perhaps QC failures from out the back door, although the second one looks and works fine. Regardless, I remain mildly shocked that one can ship worldwide out of China for less than the cost of a padded envelope from Canada Post over here.

 

[Paul L]

Is it possible that quality of genuine batteries has not gone down and that counterfeiting has spread more than we realise?

 

[Tony L]

Is it possible that quality of genuine batteries has not gone down and that counterfeiting has spread more than we realise?

I’ve been uncomfortable with this for a while, I certainly won’t buy from anything other that very big name stores that one can have some confidence have a direct account with the regional distributor. As an example I’m still in need of some AA size Eneloops to finally purge my remaining alkaline batteries to the bin and Amazon are out of stock, so I’ll just wait it out. No way am I going to Marketplace sellers or eBay, just way too much risk and uncertainty.

 

[Pete MB&D]

I’ve been uncomfortable with this for a while, I certainly won’t buy from anything other that very big name stores that one can have some confidence have a direct account with the regional distributor. As an example I’m still in need of some AA size Eneloops to finally purge my remaining alkaline batteries to the bin and Amazon are out of stock, so I’ll just wait it out. No way am I going to Marketplace sellers or eBay, just way too much risk and uncertainty.

IKEA on line.

Pete

 

[Craig B]

IKEA on line.

Pete

Just tried that over here.

After adding 1 x 4-pack of LADDA HR6 AA, proceeding to checkout and entering my postal code, IKEA are happy to deliver to my door a $9.99 pack of batteries for $14.99 delivery charge, despite there being an IKEA catalogue/pickup store down the road that I could almost drive a golf ball past from where I am sitting.

Should I prefer to collect, I have the option of Burlington, Etobicoke, North York, or Vaughan, the closest of which would be a 3hr round trip; that is, assuming I get a parking spot near to the door, use the employee only shortcuts, and opt out of partaking in the consumption of any claimed to be delicious meatballs that are on offer.

Again, there is an IKEA catalogue/pickup store down the road that I could almost drive a golf ball through the front window of from were I am sitting.

IKEA - Swedish for we haven't a clue!