How do you feel about rechargeable batteries?

[Marduke]

Thing is, you have to know EXACTLY what you're looking for to get Duraloops, and it can be tricky to someone who knows nothing about rechargable batteries.

You need to see EVERY item on this check list. if any one of them is not there, you don't have a Duraloop.
1) white top around positive terminal
2) says "Precharged"
2) made in Japan


There are other white top cells of the same capacity that are not low self discharge (precharged). There are precharged white top cells that are made in China, not Japan (Durahybrids). There are other 2000mAh made in Japan cells that are not precharged. None of these are what you want.

[snoboy]

OK, here's a quick and dirty description of why Eneloops (or other high quality NiMH) will make your Apex run longer even though the nominal voltage is lower...

1) The high quality NiMH cells are very good at delivering high currents, which is what high power LEDs need.

2) Now it gets technical... An alkaline cell is rated 1.5V when fresh, however that drops quite quickly, especially under load (see #1), and will soon be under 1.2V... The NiMH starts at 1.2V, but will still be there long after the alkaline cell has dropped below that.



Seek out the Candlepower Forums, go the the battery section, and you will be enlightened. (sorry...)

[commanderzoom]

Thing is, you have to know EXACTLY what you're looking for to get Duraloops, and it can be tricky to someone who knows nothing about rechargable batteries.

You need to see EVERY item on this check list. if any one of them is not there, you don't have a Duraloop.
1) white top around positive terminal
2) says "Precharged"
2) made in Japan


There are other white top cells of the same capacity that are not low self discharge (precharged). There are precharged white top cells that are made in China, not Japan (Durahybrids). There are other 2000mAh made in Japan cells that are not precharged. None of these are what you want.

But if I follow your list I'll be ok, right? Maybe I can find someone in the store to help me out.

I'm also going to visit the candlepower forums. Thanks for that suggestion, snoboy.

[Chads93GT]

Lol dude, you don't need someone in the store to help you out. If you are in walmart, goto the camera section, in the electronic section. Every walmart I have ever been in, sells rechargeable batteries in the camera department. Find the duracell rechargeables.

IF they only have duracell rechargeables that are made in china with a black ring around the top positive terminal, then you are out of luck for that store. Goto Target, ive bought them there as well.

AS stated, its easy to tell if they are the right ones. First they will say PRECHARGED right on the front of the lable in huge letters. If you look at the tops of the batteries and you see a white ring around the positive terminal, and you flip the package over and on the back it says made in JAPAN, then you are good to go.

Ive seen china and japan models, on the same hangar, in walmart and target. Ive seen them at best buy as well.

If you g oto walmart and ask them "Do you carry precharged duracells with the white ring around the top that are made in japan?" they are going to look at you like you are retarded. Of course they wont know that, they don't get paid to know details of products like that. They get paid to tell your echargeable batteries are next tot he camera department ;)

[John Lovaas]

Ah! We need an identification key.

1) Are you in a Walmart store?
Yes- go to #2.
No- go to Walmart.

2) Go to the camera department. Are there Duracell "PRECHARGED" (rechargable) batteries available in the battery section?
Yes- go to #3.
No- Go to another Walmart.

3) Do the Duracell batteries have a white ring around the positive terminal?
Yes- go to #4.
No- Go to another Walmart.

4) Are the batteries labelled "Made in Japan"?
Yes- BUY THEM!
No- Go to another Walmart.

These are the best NiMH rechargables I've found. I imagine they are as good as the Panasonic Eneloop, because I think that's what they are- excess production from the manufacturer, I suppose. They also work well in cameras that are supposed to take rechargable AAs, but are picky about voltage drops at start-up.

[Marduke]

OK, here's a quick and dirty description of why Eneloops (or other high quality NiMH) will make your Apex run longer even though the nominal voltage is lower...
1) The high quality NiMH cells are very good at delivering high currents, which is what high power LEDs need.
2) Now it gets technical... An alkaline cell is rated 1.5V when fresh, however that drops quite quickly, especially under load (see #1), and will soon be under 1.2V... The NiMH starts at 1.2V, but will still be there long after the alkaline cell has dropped below that.

almost. nimh have a HIGHER nominal voltage than alkalines, not lower. they don't START at 1.2v, they usually start at 1.35-1.4v, and will be ABOVE 1.2v for almost all of the discharge.

[snoboy]

almost. nimh have a HIGHER nominal voltage than alkalines, not lower. they don't START at 1.2v, they usually start at 1.35-1.4v, and will be ABOVE 1.2v for almost all of the discharge.

Told you it was a 'dirty' explanation!

My NiMH batteries do say 1.2V on the side though, and my alkalines do say 1.5V. That's what I mean by nominal voltage. I think you may be right about the actual starting voltage being higher.

[Marduke]

almost. nimh have a HIGHER nominal voltage than alkalines, not lower. they don't START at 1.2v, they usually start at 1.35-1.4v, and will be ABOVE 1.2v for almost all of the discharge.

Told you it was a 'dirty' explanation!

My NiMH batteries do say 1.2V on the side though, and my alkalines do say 1.5V. That's what I mean by nominal voltage. I think you may be right about the actual starting voltage being higher.

Primary cells don't list nominal voltage, and nimh are rated for quite a high load. Beyond that, Eneloops have a higher voltage than non-LSD nimh cells due to a slightly different chemistry.

[commanderzoom]

I wrote down the checklist and plan on hitting up the stores probably tomorrow. I hope I don't have any trouble buying the batteries I need because I don't really want to order online. I don't have a credit card (learned my lesson about those) or a bank account so when I order online I have to use one of those prepaid debit cards. It's a pain in the ass because I have to go to Wal-Mart to reload it and there is a usually a line so it takes awhile.

[NZcaver]

Personally I feel all warm and fuzzy about rechargeable batteries, even when the ignorant proclaim "rechargeable lights have no place in caving."

I'm sure the right Duracell pre-charged NiMHs do fine, but I haven't used them personally. For no other reason than I've been happy with the Rayovac LSD NiMHs, and as I recall they are (or were) slightly cheaper.

Incidentally, I stopped by a Wal Mart in Georgia a couple of weeks ago on the way to NCRC training and noticed they now carry new Rayovac "Platinum" rechargeables. $10 for a pack of 4. Not sure how they differ from the old Rayovac "hybrids" I've been using, but the price and 2100 mAH rating is the same. They also stock similar Rayovac "Pre-charged" NiMH batteries which don't appear to show a mAH rating (but I didn't open the packaging). Packs of 8 are about the same price as 4 Platinum batteries.

I bought a pack of the Platinums to use and they seem to be doing fine.

[LukeM]

I'm currently shopping for rechargeable and after searching through the Candlepower (flashlight nerds) forum it seems that there is very little difference in performance between the Rayovac hybrids and Eneloops, with a very slight edge going to the eneloops. Duracell pre-charged, by the way, are believed to be rebadged Eneloops. In conclusion, going with any of these brand's pre-charged cells gets you some great batteries.

[activeshooter]

hi cavegirl nice to hear from you, caving is cool and gear is fun to get
eta hope you have healed well and I'm sure you're ready to get moving again.( i don't speak of the other forum here)

[werewolf]

Yep. Eneloops or any of the Eneloop slow discharge clones. Walmart and Frys were practically giving them away a while back, Rayovacs. I use nothing but, for everything. I'm only surprised that they haven't completely taken over the rechargeable battery market. And I use the MH-C9000 charger which I learned about here.

[Kendalcaver]

commanderzoom wrote » May 19, 2010 8:58 pm

'The Apex is definitely a battery hog. I didn't realize that when I bought them or I might not have, but I do really like them otherwise so I keep using them. Their ability to plow through batteries is the main reason I'm looking at rechargeables.

I don't run mine on high unless I want to spotlight something. I run the side lights on the low setting. I get about 1 hour on the high spotlight setting, closer to 6 hours on the low sidelights. My first Apexes I bought had to be returned because they were only wanting to run for an hour on the low sidelights .

How much does the Fenix HP10 normally run? Do you know of any sales going on right now?

*Edited because I accidently typed 8 hours for the Apex and that's not right.*'

I run a 130 lumen Apex on Duracell 2650 rechargeables, which last about 11 hours on 'Spot/low' – adequate light for most things underground.

[NZcaver]

I don't run mine on high unless I want to spotlight something. I run the side lights on the low setting. I get about 1 hour on the high spotlight setting, closer to 6 hours on the low sidelights. My first Apexes I bought had to be returned because they were only wanting to run for an hour on the low sidelights .

Second that. I usually run mine on the high 4 LED setting, and switch to low 4 LED in crawlways or when stopping for a break, etc. I use the single LED for occasional spotting and for adjusting from daylight to dark in the entrance zone. I generally get 6-8 hours out of a set of Rayovac Hybrid NiMHs.