Batteries and chargers (AA/AAA)

[farlsborough]

Christmas is coming, with lots of toys needing batteries… I know some engineering-minded types on here will have properly experimented to find the best option here!

When I was a child I remember we had a battery charger that held many different sizes of battery, and could charge lots at the same time. It was great, but I’ve never seen similar since! They almost all only have space for 4x AAs or AAAs…

So question 1 is does anyone have a recommendation for a good battery charger?

But - second and related question - has anyone made the jump to lithium ion batteries for their domestic use? They require a different charger and so I’d have to go all in - get rid of NiMH and buy a load of Li-ion - but the performance I get from my Li-ion tools is sorely tempting me!

 

[TheUnicorn]

The problem I always have with rechargeable batteries is that they run at 1.2v rather than 1.5, so as far as most appliances are concerned, you are putting in a battery that is half dead. Obviously a handful of appliances are made to expect a lower voltage, but they are a bad fit for most

 

[Lorenzl]

I didn't know you could get Li-ion AA size batteries and it would be interesting to see if they are 1.5V as advertised or actually 1.2V.
Reading one review they were 1.5V but not as powerful as stated.

Li-ion shouldn't/can't be charged below freezing.

I had a multi charger years ago and tried charging multiple batteries. They were all the same rating but different makes; one exploded and blew the cover off.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

The problem I always have with rechargeable batteries is that they run at 1.2v rather than 1.5, so as far as most appliances are concerned, you are putting in a battery that is half dead. Obviously a handful of appliances are made to expect a lower voltage, but they are a bad fit for most

I don't think that causes any problems for most things (not that I've found, anyway) but it probably would for things that are motor driven.

 

[farlsborough]

I don't think that causes any problems for most things (not that I've found, anyway) but it probably would for things that are motor driven.

Yeah - exactly this! My post was prompted by frustration at charging NiMH AAs overnight for my daughter’s remote controlled car. Kaput. But fine with a new pack of Energisers

 

[Geoff_S]

I’ve been using Panasonic Eneloop Pro for a couple of years now. They don’t last quite as long as a Duracell but then again it’s not that significant and I don’t have a small sack of dead Duracells to get rid of on a regular basis.

 

[Sideways]

Lithium Ion cells are 3.6V average 4.2v fresh off the charger.
That just doesn't give a 1:1 replacement with 1.5V disposable cells.
The idea is a non starter except in devices that allow a removable lithium ion battery pack to be replaced by a "carrier" of the same size and shape that can be fitted with a suitable number of disposable cells. There aren't many gadgets with this built in. It's much more common to find a power jack that lets you power your gadget off a plugtop power supply aka "battery eliminator".

"Lithium" AA and AAA cells that you see down the supermarket ARE 1.5V but a totally different chemistry and are not rechargeable.

The best available option is 1.2V rechargables and get the "low self discharge" version usually sold as "pre-charged" rechargeable cells.
Traditional nicad and nimh batteries go flat due to self discharge in a few weeks. These new ones can keep most of their charge for most of a year.

Maha and Xtar make decent chargers.

 

[Rene Mopper]

Li-ion batteries get stuck when discharged to far, Thats one problem. You can simply kill the battery with a light connected and leave it till the light is off..
And a not carefully used Li-ion battery can burn like hell!

 

[D_W]

Christmas is coming, with lots of toys needing batteries… I know some engineering-minded types on here will have properly experimented to find the best option here!

When I was a child I remember we had a battery charger that held many different sizes of battery, and could charge lots at the same time. It was great, but I’ve never seen similar since! They almost all only have space for 4x AAs or AAAs…

So question 1 is does anyone have a recommendation for a good battery charger?

But - second and related question - has anyone made the jump to lithium ion batteries for their domestic use? They require a different charger and so I’d have to go all in - get rid of NiMH and buy a load of Li-ion - but the performance I get from my Li-ion tools is sorely tempting me!

rayovac used to have a good four hole charger that could do two batteries in each hole, but I'm guessing it tested voltage for the pair so you'd want to match them before loading two.

They replaced it with a four hole charger that may not have the same independent analysis on each hole, at least that's what I've read, but we've had good luck with the replacement. I'd rather have two of those than one cheesy charger.

The mrs bought a digital screen charger at ikea that just does AAs or AAAs, and it does OK with good batteries, but it fails to charge a lot of batteries and refuses to by the indicator on the screen.

It's clear that the eneloop AAAs and AAs are far better than most of the offerings on the market, even other branded stuff made in japan can be hit or miss. House brand (like amazon, etc) made in china we don't have good long term experience with and eventually, the eneloops are cheaper as long as nobody sells accidentally by leaving them in yard sale items.

(I looked up both of our "good" chargers- both are labeled rayovac PS3. Looks like the units are discontinued or sold used for more than they were new).

 

[flying haggis]

I use these
https://www.vapextech.co.uk/I have several AA/AAA batterise and one of there 8 way chargers that does either size

 

[HightonRidley]

If you're feeling brave, @farlsborough, you could build a solar powered charger for 6 NiMH batteries. Maybe not so great at Christmas when the number of daylight hours drops so much but good for the rest of the year. Under fair sunshine it takes 10 hours to charge them - but at least the sun doesn't send you any bills!
It's a great little project: Learn how to build a solar-powered 6 AA NiMH battery charger –

 

[Ollie78]

I converted to rechargeable aa/aaa batteries a couple of years ago.
The kids have loads of stuff that needs them.
I read up loads before I did it to make sure not to waste any money.

I got a Techno line BL700 charger as it was universally recommended. I always charge on the lowest/ longest setting for longevity.

For batteries the Eneloop pro are good but I discovered the Fujitsu ones are exactly the same and cheaper.( made in the same factory apparently).
I have used the ones from Lidl as well and to be honest in practice there is no noticeable difference.
Check the specfication of the battery not its brand name.
I have only encountered one thing that doesn't like the rechargeable aa's but I forget what it was now.

Must have saved 100s of batteries from landfill by this point.
The batteries only cost 3 times more than alkaline ones so once you have used them more than that it's all good.

Ollie

 

[TheUnicorn]

I remember hearing somewhere that the energy you get back from the average alkaline battery is less than 10% of the energy it takes to manifacture.

 

[D_W]

I converted to rechargeable aa/aaa batteries a couple of years ago.
The kids have loads of stuff that needs them.
I read up loads before I did it to make sure not to waste any money.

I got a Techno line BL700 charger as it was universally recommended. I always charge on the lowest/ longest setting for longevity.

For batteries the Eneloop pro are good but I discovered the Fujitsu ones are exactly the same and cheaper.( made in the same factory apparently).
I have used the ones from Lidl as well and to be honest in practice there is no noticeable difference.
Check the specfication of the battery not its brand name.
I have only encountered one thing that doesn't like the rechargeable aa's but I forget what it was now.

Must have saved 100s of batteries from landfill by this point.
The batteries only cost 3 times more than alkaline ones so once you have used them more than that it's all good.

Ollie

Anything that I've encountered that really likes 1.5V doesn't like nimh for long. We have a digital clock that's just got one of those cheap quartz type movements on the back and it will go for a long time on an alkaline battery, but moderate cost nimh and it seems like it's not able to get all the way around fairly soon.

But the kids have gobs of battery powered devices that are fairly high drain, and I remember as a kid with alkalines, you had to be sparing unless you had parents with loose money habits. eneloops are great for that. The lower tier batteries at amazon that are from china and even some of the japan marked ones have been less reliable and eventually become a hassle in the charger and toys as they spoil the whole bunch when they go dead fast and you end up going back to the charger with one near dead battery and several that look like they have 3/4ths of their life left.

The thing that really got us on rechargeables early was two kids in a fairly short period and a battery powered swing. It's not so much the cost, but the waste of buying one pack of D batteries after another. With some kids, those battery powered swings are magic for hours at a time - to have kind of a cycle going with a set of batteries in and another charging was dandy.

 

[furnace]

Maha

+1 for Maha
Mine has 8 individually controlled slots for AAA/AA. Can fast charge, slow charge, and "condition".
I also mostly Eneloops which are good due to the lack of delf-discharge

 

[Pineapple]

Christmas is coming, with lots of toys needing batteries… I know some engineering-minded types on here will have properly experimented to find the best option here!

When I was a child I remember we had a battery charger that held many different sizes of battery, and could charge lots at the same time. It was great, but I’ve never seen similar since! They almost all only have space for 4x AAs or AAAs…

So question 1 is does anyone have a recommendation for a good battery charger?

But - second and related question - has anyone made the jump to lithium ion batteries for their domestic use? They require a different charger and so I’d have to go all in - get rid of NiMH and buy a load of Li-ion - but the performance I get from my Li-ion tools is sorely tempting me!

There are Cheaper UK Suppliers of NITECORE Products; but here is a LINK to their Charger-Advice Page:
https://blog.nitecorestore.com/battery-chargersI find that their "INTELLICHARGE" chargers are quite versatile.

 

[Auldfart2010]

Ditto on Nitecore chargers. This is the best charger I've ever had.
https://www.nitecore.co.uk/products/nitecore-new-i4-intellicharger.html

 

[Jameshow]

The problem I always have with rechargeable batteries is that they run at 1.2v rather than 1.5, so as far as most appliances are concerned, you are putting in a battery that is half dead. Obviously a handful of appliances are made to expect a lower voltage, but they are a bad fit for most

That is and isn't an issue.

Yes they are lower voltage but they discharge at a higher level so that the average voltage is the same.

https://makermax.ca/articles/alkaline-vs-lithium-ion/

 

[Sideways]

https://makermax.ca/articles/alkaline-vs-lithium-ion/

The one glaring error in the referenced webpage is that they introduce Lithium batteries as rechargeable and immediately show a picture of energiser lithium batteries which ARE NOT RECHARGEABLE.
Shame because a lot of the other info isn't bad but after such a major error you can't trust the site.

@Jameshow is dead right. about the 1.2V batteries being good for high drain.
In high power gadgets (with motors, heaters, filament bulbs) the voltage of alkaline cells can sag all the way down towards 1.2V
The rechargeable ones are just as good in these uses,
But not in your remote control which probably lasts an entire year anyway ....

 

[Spectric]

On the subject of Lithium batteries did anyone see the news article this morning about the risk our recycling centres are facing from old equipment being thrown into the rubbish containing lithium batteries, there was one centre that got incinerated and another where a worker almost got injured. If you look into this a bit more there are so many events happening.


https://www.circularonline.co.uk/news/mid-uk-recycling-fire-cause-may-have-been-a-lithium-battery/
https://www.itv.com/news/westcountr...ause-fire-to-breakout-in-bristol-waste-centre
I know these lithium batteries are a real hazzard when handled incorrectly but with so many in circulation I don't think the UK has the ability to recycle this volume and this is before we go mainstream down the EV route, basically with some modifications an EV could become a mobile incendary device.