rechargeable (NiMH) batteries

[EmperorNero]

I want to buy a set of nickel metal hydride AA batteries for my digital camera so I went to Micro center today and the sales rep strongly recommended JBro batteries. in fact, it's even cheaper ($15 for a 4-pack) than the other brands (energizer and digipower) so I don't think the guy was trying to fool me into buying the most expensive brand. but the package looks rather generic and really cheap (quality-wise). he also said that I should buy the same brand of recharger (ie buy jbro batteries with the jbro recharger)

1) so anyone heard of jbro, how good is it? edit: I got this off the jbro site:

"1. What is the capacity rating of Telepower XL NiMH batteries?
The capacity rating for the AA size is currently 1400 mAh and the capacity rating fo rthe new AAA size is 650 mAh. These capacities are subject to change in the future."

2) should I also buy jbro recharger (a 4-pack battery and recharger was $25) when I already have a Rayovac Renewal charger (gray model)?

3) the manual for my olympus d-460z digi cam says that I HAVE to use olymbus-brand batteries...that's BS right? I can use other brands without any side effects?

 

[JackMDS]

All that you want to know about Rechargeables:


http://www.thomas-distributing.com/batteries.htm

 

[Gustavus]

EmperorNero
I suspect his markup was higher on the JBro batteries.

In answer to your questions, if the charger you have has a NiMH stting, then you have no reason to buy a new charger. I use NexCell batteries in my Nikon 950 and they cost me around $2.50 each. There are two capacities -- 1400 and 1800 mahour as I recall. Digital cameras put quite a drain on batteries so if you are going to do a lot of photography it might be worth getting the higher rating. I don't so the 1400 has been more than satisfactory for me.

And no, you don't need to use Olympus batteries in an Olympus camera, or Kodak batteries in a Kodak camera.

I will look around and see if I can find the URL for the place I buy NexCells, but you should be able to do equally well in a quick search.
Gus Simmons

JackMDS posted while I was typing -- and Thomas-Distributing is the source I use for the NexCells. The rating has increased from 1400 to 1600 since I bought mine -- and the price is still the same. You should have two sets at least so one can be on charge while you are using the other.

 

[Erasmus-X]

I have never heard of the JBro brand, so I couldn't tell you either way, but I would recommend picking up the charger along with it. I believe that the Rayovac Renewal charger is proprietary and only intended to use with Renewal brand batteries. I could be wrong though.

 

[EvilDonnyboy]

Yea, the Renewal is for Alkaline rechargables. If you had a NiCd charger, that would work, tho prolly charge a bit slower than NiMH. They use the same kind of charger, but the NiCad chargers tend to use a lower current to charge. But that only results in a slower charge. No harm is done, just don't leave 'em in too long.

For the 1400mAh NiMH batteries, a charger with a 130mA current should take 14-15hours for a full charge. A charger with a 325mA current would take 5-6 hours for a full charge. The charger's current should be listed somewhere on it. This if for NiCd and NiMH chargers, DON'T use Lithium or Alkaline chargers with them.

 

[EmperorNero]

the renewal charger manual says it will charge nimh and nicd batteries, but it doesn't have one of those conditioning button so I don't it's a full-fledged nimh charger and am probably going to buy a specialized charger for nimh batteries.

I'm probably going to go with the Maha MH-C204F charger. any recommendations for/against it? and which brand of batteries should I get?

 

[jamarno]

We've been using Jbro battery packs for Motorola radios, and they seem to be at least as good as genuine Motorola brand, only half the price.

You can use any charger made for the general type and capacity of battery. IOW a NiMH charger for NiMHs, a nicad charger for nicads, and if the charger doesn't shut off automatically, you want to match the capacity of the cells to the charging rate because some cells have over twice the capacity of others of the same physical dimensions. For example, AA cells range from about 500 mA-H to about 1400 mA-H capacity, and a trickle charger made for the latter can overcharge the smaller capacity cells, but smart chargers tend to automatically adjust since they track voltage or temperature.

NiMHs may be overcharged by a charger designed only for nicads because NiMHs don't get hot until later in the charging cycle, and their voltage doesn't decrease nearly as much when full charge is approached.

 

[NuovoTech]

NiMH & NiCad chargers *are* different electronically! Only interchange them if mfg specifies both are supported...

 

[esung]

I bought a Energizer NiMH charger with batteries, and I used them to charge all my NiMH cells.. I use NexCell, and I have to say they are very cheap and good. bought them long time ago at $20 for 8.. and they are still going, but I have 16 batteries to rotate though (using them on my digital camera and CD player)

I'm not famaliar with D460 camera, but as long as it takes AA batteries, you can use it. but if the camera has a build in charger, you'll need to check the spec on the charger in order to determine whether you can charge it safely or not with other type of rechargable batteries.

 

[Zucchini]

So what is the capacity difference between alkaline and NiHM? Rayovac claims the NiMH lasts twice as long. Anyone have mAh ratings for alks?

 

[jamarno]

mA-H is an indicator of a battery's energy capacity according to how many milliamps it can put out for an hour, although the measurement is usually done over several hours at a lower current to prevent heating, which reduces capacity. For AA cells, nicads range from about 500-1000 mA-H, depending on internal construction, while NiMH cells are usually about 1200 (NiMHs have more capacity because more effort is going into developing them since they don't contain the toxic cadmium found in nicads) and alkalines about 2000-2500. For D size nickel cells, capacities range from 1000-6000 mA-H, the wide range mostly due to many D cells being just C cells placed in D-size containers (the difference between Radio Shack's regular and high-capacity nicad D cells).

Alkalines can't be recharge, at least not the normal way, and alkalines built for recharging require a very low current and have to be charged before they drain much. And despite their limited lifespan, about 10-20 charging cycles, they're still more economical than regular alkalines, even when the cost of the charger is included. Nicads and NiMHs can be recharged hundreds of times and are very cheap, but their charging requirements are different, at least when charged fast. Nicads start to get warm and reach peak voltage well before full charge, while NiMHs start to warm at about the time they're fully charged, and their voltage levels off a bit before that.

 

[Zucchini]

Thanx for the info jamarno

So AA alkalines have 2000-2500 mAh? Why does rayovac claim their NiMH AA's have twice the capacity? Highest NiMH i've seen are 1600

 

[RossMAN]

I have heard great things about Nexcell batteries, are they all that and a bag of chips?

I'm going to need about 8 rechargable AA NiMH batteries for my Fuji Finepix 1400 Digital Camera and Handspring Visor Deluxe PDA.

 

[jamarno]

Yes, alkaline AA cells are about 2000-2500 mA-H, and I don't see how Rayovac can claim a higher capacity for their NiMH AA cells, at least not yet.