Why aren't there any AA NiMH rechargables that are 1.5V?

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: dighn
most people don't care enough to pay for the premium price (compared to cheapies anyway). eneloops are awesome though.

True. I had to convince my dad that the high price of good NiMH D-cells was worth it. High capacity cells might be $10 each.
Just use and charge them a few times and they're paid for.

I wonder if that Eneloop technology will find its way into things like battery systems for hybrid or electric cars.

I'd get Eneloops now, but, well, I bought a few things from Thomasdistributing over the past year and a half, and so much of their stuff comes with free AA's, or else they have good deals on them when you buy $XX.XX worth of other merchandise.

 

[Cerb]

Eneloops can be charged in normal NIMH chargers. You basically trade a little capacity for much slower typical discharge.

For those of us not really into photography, they'd be ideal camera batteries, and should be nice torch batteries for the same kind of usage. Both NIMH and LI/LP generally suffer if not used often enough. I typically use my DAP for a few days a month to drain my AAAs to give them a little workout (it automatically shuts off at 1.0v).

P.S. Sanyo hasn't really marketed them much here, and it seems only camera and light folks found out about them. I might have gotten some if I didn't have 6 extra 2500mAh Sanyos (will be 4 in a couple weeks). OTOH, how many people really use NIMH now, here, and how many of those would take the time to figure out if they had something the Eneloops would be good for? I have seen people using Lithium primaries for their cameras and DAPs...

 

[Staples]

Good question. All the batteries that are 1.2v for rechargeable has 1.5v counterparts.

On some of the devices that take 4 batteris, there is a noticeable difference when using alkaline batteries because of the voltage difference.

And fully charged nimh batteries are usually 1.40-1.45v but after about 5% usage, their charge drops below 1.40 so the whole myth about them being 1.5 at full is misleading. Also, nicd batteries were also 1.2v.

And for anyone buying a charger, by the LaCross BP900. You can have lots of fun with all it's bells and whistles.

Also, I have bought many brands of rechareable batteries. Seems that the highest capacity batteries die the quickest because their discharge rate is super high. I never buy the highest rated ones anymore. The latest batteries I bough have been enveloop AAA. I have only had them two months but they do seem to keep their charge longer than other nimh batteries I have.

 

[randomlinh]

I love my eneloops... I put them in my wii remotes. I found myself going through a lot of batteries playing zelda, and while cheap alkaline's would be.. well.. cheaper, I figured I'd give them a whirl. too early to tell if they were worth it, but it seems likely.

 

[soydios]

It's just how the battery chemistry works. A single alkaline cell makes 1.5V, NiMH makes 1.2V, lead and sulfuric acid makes 2.0V.

And NiMH batteries charge my SB-800 a lot faster than alkaline. Especially with five batteries, I get sub-3-second recycle times from a full power discharge.

 

[Rock Hydra]

Originally posted by: mugs

eneloops at amazon
or here at eneloop.info

-fk

Those can be charged in a regular NiMh charger, right?[/quote]

but they take like 8 months to charge!


(I dont' really know, but i'm sure that'd be the case.

 

[Mday]

I picked up a bunch of sets of 2700 mAH batteries earlier this year. My flash (speedlite 550) seems to behave better with them than the cheapo alks (as opposed to the rip off "energizer e2").

 

[s0ssos]

there are 1.5v rechargeables, it's just that they are hard to find.
back when the minolta 7h was big, my brother's photo teacher bought those 1.5v rechargeables (i think they worked better with the minolta). he got them from england though, i think.
i have no idea what they're called or anything though

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Staples
And fully charged nimh batteries are usually 1.40-1.45v but after about 5% usage, their charge drops below 1.40 so the whole myth about them being 1.5 at full is misleading. Also, nicd batteries were also 1.2v.

It's not misleading, because alkalines drop quickly in the beginning too. The main difference is that after the initial drop NiMhs level off and stay more or less constant until they're nearly drained, while alkalines just change to a more shallow downward slope. Alkalines still spend about half of their life at or below 1.2v.

And for anyone buying a charger, by the LaCross BC900. You can have lots of fun with all it's bells and whistles.

Fixed. I :heart: my BC-900.

 

[MattCo]

Just use 5 1.2v batteries instead of 4.

5x1.2 = 6
4x1.5 = 6

It might look a little funny with an extra battery taped to your device, but you will be good to go.

-MC