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New Rechargeable batteries: Eneloop

PostPosted: Nov 3, 2005 8:46 am
by Scott McCrea
No idea how much they cost or if they are even available yet, but they look somewhat interesting. I like that they hold a charge better than normal NiMH batteries. LINK

The rechargeable batteries of the future have arrived
Sanyo has announced their ENELOOP batteries yesterday. These rechargeable AA and AAA Nickel Metal Hybrid batteries have as main characteristics:

1) they are ready to use as they are already charged. Sanyo seems to have solved the "Self-Discharge" problem (a rechargeable battery discharges slowly when it's not being used).

2) the batteries are "eco-friendly" and can be recycled.

3) the battery life is greater than a Dry Cell type of battery. Sanyo did some tests and they say that you can take 4.4 times more pictures with their batteries than with a normal Dry Cell battery. They can be recharged more than 1000 times too before they start losing their initial capacity.

PostPosted: Nov 3, 2005 9:08 am
by Dangerjudy
Nice.
I've been using Sanyo NimH 2300 batteries I got from greenbatteries.com (thanks to the link to that website that was posted on caves.org board, probably from you Scott) and they have been GREAT in my digital camera. They last at least 3 times longer than a set of Duracell AA's and of course they're rechargable.

PostPosted: Nov 5, 2005 9:08 am
by Mark620
NimH batteries have a life of about 3 years from the date of manufacture before recharging will no longer give a good charge.

PostPosted: Nov 5, 2005 3:02 pm
by NZcaver
The life of NiMH batteries varies with how much they are charged and discharged/used, what temperature they are stored and used at, and the manufacturer and quality. I have NiMH batteries that still hold a good charge after more than 3 years, but I have had some other ones die in less than 2 years.

Any way you look at it, there is little reason NOT to use rechargeable batteries these days - especially with new ones like the Eneloop coming out all the time. (Couldn't find any price for those anywhere, but perhaps they're so new they haven't started marketing them yet. :wink: ) When something is reliable, saves money, and helps reduce waste - it has to be good. :kewl:

The only thing I use alkalines for now is emergency gadgets that hardly ever get used. Even then, I don't normally leave them installed. I also have a set of Energizer Lithiums in my caving pack as the last resort for my headlamp. They're not rechargeable, they cost about the same as NiMHs, but they are half the weight and have a shelf life of about 8 years. I've never used them, because when I get in trouble (usually because I forgot to charge my NiMHs between trips), I just swap AAs between my headlamp, camera, flash, and all the other gadgets I own.

PostPosted: Nov 6, 2005 3:40 pm
by David_Campen
The downside to these new Sanyo batteries is that their fully charged capacity is less than the older Sanyo NiMH cells. I couldn't find the capacity of these new cells listed in the link. Elsewhere someone had suggested that they may only hold 2000 mAH when fully charged. This is compared to 2500 mAH for other Sanyo NiMH cells. If so, then using the self-discharge data from the link the new Sanyo cell after 6 months would hold (2000 mAH X 0.9) = 1800 mAH while the older Sanyo cells would hold (2500 mAH X 0.75)= 1875 mAH.

PostPosted: Nov 7, 2005 7:25 am
by Mark620
some good info on NimH:
candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=79302&page=1&pp=30

new batteries - eneloop

PostPosted: Feb 19, 2008 8:59 am
by Dangerjudy

Re: new batteries - eneloop

PostPosted: Feb 19, 2008 9:01 am
by Dangerjudy
And THEN I go look and see there's already a thread about them. Or two. lol :roll: Sorry, folks.

Re: New Rechargeable batteries: Eneloop

PostPosted: Feb 20, 2008 2:41 pm
by nordicjw
Found a location and price for these batteries:



http://thomasdistributing.com/shop/-san ... 7g6qmu5ro0

Oops- didn't check the date on the older posts :tonguecheek: :doh:

Re: New Rechargeable batteries: Eneloop

PostPosted: Feb 20, 2008 2:51 pm
by Caverdale
nordicjw wrote:Found a location and price for these batteries:
http://thomasdistributing.com/shop/-san ... 7g6qmu5ro0


I just bought a 4-pack or Rayovac Hybride 2100 mAh, which are supposed to be the equivalent cell, for $9.95 + tax at my friendly WalMart. Thomas adds about $6.50 shipping for their $8.97 4-pack.

Re: New Rechargeable batteries: Eneloop

PostPosted: Feb 20, 2008 9:19 pm
by karst97
Mark620 wrote:NimH batteries have a life of about 3 years from the date of manufacture before recharging will no longer give a good charge.


As NZ pointed out, lifetime depends on quite a number of factors.

I've been using the same NiMH AA cells in my cameras, GPS units, and headlamps for 4 years now and they seem to not be losing their capacity or charging ability at all. And, these were the very cheap Powerizer batteries from batteryspace.com ($1.25 each 2.3AH, which included shipping!).

Scott

Re: New Rechargeable batteries: Eneloop

PostPosted: Feb 29, 2008 9:44 pm
by werewolf
Caverdale wrote:
nordicjw wrote:Found a location and price for these batteries:
http://thomasdistributing.com/shop/-san ... 7g6qmu5ro0


I just bought a 4-pack or Rayovac Hybride 2100 mAh, which are supposed to be the equivalent cell, for $9.95 + tax at my friendly WalMart. Thomas adds about $6.50 shipping for their $8.97 4-pack.



See this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5717

Walmart was practically giving them away.

I think those hybrid batteries are awesome and blow everything else away. I'm surprised that they still appear fairly hard to find.

Re: New Rechargeable batteries: Eneloop

PostPosted: May 25, 2008 7:06 pm
by werewolf
Instead of getting easier to find, these great batteries seem to be vanishing. What's up with that? Does anybody know where is a good place to get them, either the Rayovac Hybrid or the Eneloop AA's?

Re: New Rechargeable batteries: Eneloop

PostPosted: May 26, 2008 1:12 am
by NZcaver
werewolf wrote:Instead of getting easier to find, these great batteries seem to be vanishing. What's up with that? Does anybody know where is a good place to get them, either the Rayovac Hybrid or the Eneloop AA's?

Not sure about the Eneloops. I've seen them occasionally at Wal Mart, but only a pack or two at a time. They've been reduced in price, but still not cheap compared with Rayovac Hybrids. My Rayovacs were purchased at Wally Mart, but now it seems some stores don't stock them any more. They now stock a new Rayovac rechargeable that is apparently NOT hybrid. Like you said, what's up with that?? Seems like a step backwards to me.

I was in REI a couple of days ago, and they have the Rayovacs packs - some with chargers included. The 4 AA packs are about 30% more expensive than they should be (versus Wally Mart prices), but maybe somewhere else has them at a better price.

Re: New Rechargeable batteries: Eneloop

PostPosted: May 26, 2008 1:37 am
by werewolf
Walmart here no longer carries the Rayovac Hybrids. They do have a pack of four Eneloop AA's but it only comes with a charger and costs ~ $14. the man said they were phasing them out because they didn't sell well. That doesn't even make sense because they were a huge evolutionary step up in battery design. Maybe there is some problem with them that I don't know about. Amazon.com also seems to have discontinued them and no other local store that I tried seems to carry them either. I still see them online, though, like here:

http://thomasdistributing.com/shop/-mah ... fat82uk3d6

I bought a lot of them when Walmart was practically giving them away, but I want more. I use them in everything that takes AA batteries, including all my caving lights and my new digicam.