NIMH AA batteries

[jared herbert]

So I got out my predator call tonight that had not been used since last March and thought I would recharge the batteries. It has 8 AA NiMH batteries in it. They are Energizer 2300 mAh batteries that at the most have been charged a half dozen times and they were new a year ago. Of the 8 batteries, only 2 will take a charge. Does this type of battery have to be periodically charged in order to keep them working? Just wondering what I did wrong. Guess I will just have to buy another set of them. Any insight on how to avoid this in the future would be appreciated. Thanks in advance for your advice Jared

[David Bassett]

Does your predator have a hard off or does it have a "soft" off that leaves a small load on the batteries? The only reason I can think of your batteries would (reasonably) not take a charge is if they'd been serious over-discharged and damaged.

Since you have to replace the batteries I suggest you find Eneloops (from Panasonic, it was Sanyo originally.) CostCo has packs with good chargers on sale periodically. Amazon often has good prices on batteries, but be sure to get a smart charger. (If it requires batteries to be charged in pairs it's not smart enough.)

[roger wiegand]

+1 on Eneloops. Far better performance than the competing products.

[Wade Lippman]

We have solar lights that we take in in the winter. The batteries are the ones that came with them, so I presume they are the cheapest available. Each spring 2 out of 20 won't take a charge; perhaps they weren't much good in the fall either. Don't know why yours did so bad, or if Eneloops are any better than mine.

For all other purposes I have gone to alkaline. They last much longer and are so cheap that it just isn't worth screwing with rechargeables any more.

[Myk Rian]

For all other purposes I have gone to alkaline. They last much longer and are so cheap that it just isn't worth screwing with rechargeables any more.
Same here, years ago. Duracell has given me the best service.
Rechargeables have given me so much trouble, I said the heck with it.
The only rechargeable I have now is a LiPo for my quad copter. Even then I had to buy a smart charger to safely charge it. It also works with NiCad, NiMH, etc.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/111662373018?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fsch%2F i.html%3F_from%3DR40%26_sacat%3D0%26_nkw%3D1116623 73018%26_rdc%3D1

[Brian Elfert]

Most NIMH batteries self discharge rather badly. They should be recharged on a regular basis. I have a set of Motorola Talkabout radios with NI-MH batteries. I had charged them for many months and the first time I charged them I got less than an hour from them. I was afraid the batteries were dead. I charged them up a second time and then they actually worked for about the same time as normal. I don't use them much so I would just switch to regular AAs instead of new rechargeable batteries.

[Curt Harms]

I have a Canon camera that takes AA batteries. I tried Eneloops and other rechargeable and they'd only last a couple dozen pictures. The reason was that the camera really didn't like voltage below 1.5, NiMH rechargeables are 1.2 nominal. Some research found Nickel Zinc so I bought 4 Powergenics AA and charger. Unfortunately one cell got weak and while 3 read 1.6 - 1.65 volts, one would read about .87. I then ordered 4 BPI NiZn cells. So far so good on those. My camera may sit unused for a month or more and the BPI cells don't seem to self-discharge much at all. A complaint about NiZN is that they lose capacity with recharge cycles faster than NiMH but even if I were to get 50 cycles before capacity suffers I'm well ahead of the game $wise compared to either alkaline or NiMH rechargeable. The higher voltage - 1.6 volt nominal, about 1.85 off the charger - hasn't proven a problem I've noticed so far. It might make for bright but short lived LED flashlights that don't have voltage regulation which I presume is most.

[roger wiegand]

For all other purposes I have gone to alkaline. They last much longer and are so cheap that it just isn't worth screwing with rechargeables any more.

Exactly the opposite of my experience. Especially when the kids were younger we'd spend a couple hundred dollars a year on alkalines, with the Eneloops the only batteries I've had to buy in the last several years have been 9v batteries for the smoke detectors. The other difference is that a lot of the Duracell or Energizer alkalines still around have exploded inside whatever device they are in, corroding most of them to uselessness. I just threw away three Mag-Lights and a portable radio that were pretty expensive when new because they'd been ruined by failing alkalines. I've not yet had that happen with a NiMH battery.

I will say that the few Energizer NiMH batteries I bought were crap, and I've thrown them away because they wouldn't take and hold a charge.

[Bruce Wrenn]

A little late into the game, but HF sells four packs of AA, 2200 mah batteries for $5.99, less the usual 20% off coupon. If you have a wall charger with spare batteries in it, at least once a week, unplug it to start recharge, as batteries discharge when sitting.