Is there a better NiMH AA battery than the Sanyo Eneloop?

[CurseTheSky]

Someone got me a Logitech G700 for Christmas. I love it, except that the battery life leaves something to be desired. Luckily, rather than using a proprietary battery pack, it recharges a single AA Sanyo Eneloop.

Is there any such thing as a "better" NiMH AA battery with more capacity? Unfortunately, it has a bunch of warnings stating that Li-ion batteries can't be used.

Thanks.

 

[yhelothar]

Powerex Imedions are a higher capacity version of this slow discharge battery.

 

[Jeff7]

They're already damn awesome.
(My way of reading the title was, "Is there a better NiMH AA battery than the Sanyo Eneloop?" No, no there isn't.)

And I'd trust their mAh ratings over some of the lesser vendors out there. Based on my own testing, a standard 1700mAh Sanyo AA NiMH held more power than a 2250mAh Powerizer AA NiMH.

Both were drained at the same rate while their voltage was monitored. The Powerizers would drop off sooner than the Sanyo.

I don't know if any standards exist for making those mAh claims. You can get a lot more mAh if you drain a cell very slowly. Draining a cell at a high rate will make its terminal voltage dip down a bit, and it will likely fall below the "dead" threshold sooner.

I've been able to use "dead" AA alkaline cells, unable to run something like a motor or camera, and put them in a digital clock and get another year or so out of them. (Though why anyone would use alkalines in a digital camera is beyond me...or else they have not yet experienced the miracle of low-self-discharge NiMH. )

Has the Eneloop cell(s) been cycled a few times? NiMH can take a few charge/discharge cycles before they can reach peak capacity.



Concerning Li-ion, for one thing, the terminal voltage of a Li-ion is around 3.7V, while a NiMH is closer to 1.2V. Also, the charging circuitry for a Li-ion is more sophisticated than for NiMH, as an incorrect charge on Li-ion can be worse than NiMH, and they're more sensitive to charging (and discharging) irregularities.

 

[CurseTheSky]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I came to find out that the G700 has a Sanyo Eneloop, and the battery life is decent but not amazing. On the other hand, my Logitech K800 (Wireless Illuminated Keyboard) is running some other brand of batteries that I'm not familiar with. The battery life on this thing sucks. So, I'll try some Eneloops in this first and see if battery life improves.

 

[lxskllr]

I'm sure it lasts more than a day, right? Can't you hook it up to the charger before you logout for the last time during the day?

 

[LikeLinus]

Wait, your battery is only last a day or two?? My logitech mouse uses two AA batteries and can last for months. Something doesn't sound right.

 

[Lemon law]

If your NIMH battery only lasts a day or two, what are you doing messing around with slow discharge rate rate NIMH batteries in the first place? The advantage tou get with a slow discharge rate battery like an envelope is that it will retain its charge for months without use. But the expense in that is that slow discharge NIMH batteries do not have the charge capacity of conventional NIMH batteries that will lose 3% of their charge per day when sitting unused.

Just have another set of high discharge NIMH batteries sitting in a slow trickle charger, swap em out daily, and recharge your depleted ones. Don't try that trick in a fast charge type charger or you will burn out any type NIMH battery.

 

[mooncancook]

I have so many NiMH batteries went bad that couldn't be charged anymore after a while I think I'll only stick with Eneloop for now. I haven't have to throw away a single Eneloop yet.

 

[yhelothar]

Eneloops kick butt... but imedions just raise the bar a tad. Look up reviews on the 2400mAh imedions.
Maha(powerex) is a top notch company known to consistently underrate their batteries.