BCD436HP/BCD536HP: They Don't Seem To Make Rechargeable Batteries As Well Anymore
- Thread starter Scannerfreak6743
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palmerjrusa
Member
My experience with Eneloops has fared much better than the user in the video, in addition the standard Eneloop cells are very rugged.
Concur with the Amazon Basics Brand AAs, they are excellent value for money and accurately rated.
The Ikea AAs are almost certainly rebranded high capacity Eneloops and therefore good value because of the lower price Ikea charges for these cells.
K5MPH
Member
How about rechargeable lithium AA 1.5 volt are these any better.......
palmerjrusa
Member
They're great and have impressive performance specs., able to function over a wide temperature range, are lighter etc.
However, be aware, since rechargeable Li-ion AAs output around 3.7 V they have voltage reduction circuitry (=1.5 V) that emits RF noise. Put them in a AM radio and expect to get signal desensitization and RF noise right across the commercial AM spectrum, as I found out...
You should make yourself aware of all the Li-ion issues in the SDS-100. Plus explosions of this battery type can go from minimal to dramatic.
I use rechargeable batteries in a lot of professional applications. And scanners... There is so much more than absolute claimed capacity.
Your charger is the biggest differentiator, it matters!
Best:
1. Enelope
2. LAADA (enelope / Panasonic)
3. Amazon Gray top
4. Powerx, but I have not tested extensively.
Worst
1. Energizer
2. Most EBL
2. THE REST...in general.
Your charger is the biggest differentiator, it matters!
Best:
1. Enelope
2. LAADA (enelope / Panasonic)
3. Amazon Gray top
4. Powerx, but I have not tested extensively.
Worst
1. Energizer
2. Most EBL
2. THE REST...in general.
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2002
- Messages
- 2,135
General concensus on Slickdeals was that Eneloop and Ikea LADDA batteries are one in the same. Both are the cream of the crop best in my experience. I still have a bunch from when Sanyo made them and work great. They're probably about 10 years old at this point.
I disagree with EBL being one of the worst. I have over a dozen of them and only one failed, the rest I've used for 4 or 5 years. Their capacity is overstated I believe (mine are the 2800mah version) but they last long enough in my scanners to rated maybe a 7 out of 10. They do lose charge noticeably faster while in storage than the Eneloop. Eneloop/LADDA get 10/10.
Well. I made a rather expensive choice to buy 4 Vapcell and 4 Amptorrent AA Li-ion batteries and chargers. I do like the USB ports and octopus cable. Handy to boost them up with a power bank. They do kind of "brick wall" you unlike NiMH which run down until they are dead. Lithium cells and the internal BMS only lets you run them down to a certain voltage and that's that. But they charge fast as heck.
And unlike nickel metal cells they don't care if you top them off. MiMH wants you to drain them before charging to keep from getting the memory effect. Mine are used in a Nikon flash and Maglites.
I have eight 10 year old Duracell NiMH cells I used extensively. 2 have died and the rest are showing their age. I never liked how long it took to charge them and had to remember to drain them down before charging. But once going lithium. Wow!
I trusted the Project Farm dude on 'Tube. Probably could have made a different choice for less money. I'm thinking I did good though.
And unlike nickel metal cells they don't care if you top them off. MiMH wants you to drain them before charging to keep from getting the memory effect. Mine are used in a Nikon flash and Maglites.
I have eight 10 year old Duracell NiMH cells I used extensively. 2 have died and the rest are showing their age. I never liked how long it took to charge them and had to remember to drain them down before charging. But once going lithium. Wow!
I trusted the Project Farm dude on 'Tube. Probably could have made a different choice for less money. I'm thinking I did good though.
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2002
- Messages
- 2,135
I am not sure what happened my comment to the linked video that a sample size of 1 for each battery type is totally worthless.
(I taught college level statistics for 15 years.)
(I taught college level statistics for 15 years.)
NiMH do NOT need to be drained before charging. They are not NiCDs. I have a varied selection of eneloops from about 13 years ago to some I purchased about 2 years ago. I kill them (in use) or top them off and have had no issues. I am mostly using 2000mah. I will say that the 2700mah versions do not have the same life. I've used them in high current situations, and they do get the job done.
Shows that results vary. The set of Duracell's. 8 of them. That I rotated in my Nikon flash have shown a bit of memory. The other 4. I rotate in a 2 cell LED Maglite. All have way less than the 2000 advertised cycles but are several years old.
I top off the flash cells before going for a photo outing. They hardly ever are discharged. Topped off as a precaution.
The flash goes to sleep and that's a good thing. Not very long into using it the low battery warning comes on so I swap them. The spare set. Not a dedicated "set". They always get mixed up but are in my camera bag along with the charger for them. That set will last awhile and then I get a low batt warning again.
The Maglite. Always, usually, I use it until it dims right out. Run to the house for the other set. Pop the dead ones in the charger. And go on with my tasks. I get a long time using the light. I've forgot and left it on for a day and still lit ok when I find it.
Not long ago I measured the charged voltage of all of them. Pretty close, all of them. I have red Sharpie dots on the flash cells.
For giggles used a set of flash calls in the Mag. They didn't last nearly as long as the ones that got drained to oblivion.
Since going lithium, the metal cells go in remote controls and such.
Never say do not. Results vary.
I've found name brand batteries like DuraCell to be living on their name and no longer good quality. You should be using a charger that charges each battery separately. The old Eneloops I am using (about 10 years old) are still charging up to about 1800mah, which I feel is pretty good for their age. Their failure mode is that they become high impedance and won't take a charge when they've reached EOL.
As stated charge each battery separate and you can turn off the display light.
Eneloops are not that great. I've had a number of them discharge completely when sitting in scanners that are on the shelf for a couple of months. And no, the scanners were not on - completely off and around 75% charged.
The LSD claims of Eneloops has a lot to do with what device the batteries are being used in.
The LSD claims of Eneloops has a lot to do with what device the batteries are being used in.
I recently found four of mine that were missing. They were in a drone remote that was used 2 years ago. I stuck 3 of them in my 436 and got about 5 hours and 15 minutes out of them.
