mostly i'm using AA, AAA, i hate and avoid customized stuff with special shaped batteries.
rechargeables or fresh manufactered ones?
which are your favorites?
which recharger works best?
i don't care if it is fast or not, i just don't want my batteries destroyed. so far i suspect my recharger is a piece of crap which is destroying the rechargeable batteries i do have.
testing?
i'm doing my reading up now, so am looking around, but will ask here too. :)
the technology changes so quickly sometimes and other times it seems to creep along...
The free ones from Harbor Freight. I currently have a couple dozen of their battery coupons that are No Purchase Required. HF is just a three mile round trip bike ride from me. Now these are not alkaline. So best kept in the freezer.
Now these are no good for high load things like digital cameras. For those I use NiMH.
songbird wrote, on Sat, 20 Dec 2014 12:10:57 -0500:
As with light bulbs, I try to standardize on only basic sizes. AA over AAA, and D over C
Since AAA and AA are roughly the same price, yet AAA has roughly have the juice, I *never* buy AAA items, unless I absolutely must.
Examples where I have AAA, mostly against my will because the wife buys them, are in some of those LED headlamps, and in those above the door shrill warning ringers she has placed on some inside doors.
Examples where I have C, mostly against my will, instead of D, are in those little pretty plastic Halloween-pumpkin-shaped flashlights with the "F switch" (another feature I deplore) she gives to the grandkids every year in their pumpkin basket.
Otherwise, I buy only rechargable phone handsets with AA (never with AAA) batteries, flashlights (maglights) with D cell batteries, and all LED headlamps are AA or I don't buy them.
Costco has both. I have both.
I find the huge size and years-long expiration dates on the Kirkland D and AA batteries just perfect for my use model.
C & D. Lithium or Alkaline.
A key recharger feature is the ability to charge a single battery. Another key feature is intelligence to have a fast and slow charge period, based on the temperature rise of the battery.
Don't forget, a NiCad charger and a Lithium charger are different. Also, many chargers aren't intelligent enough to vary the charge properly. There's a really long thread on what's the best charger out there - but I don't see it in my quick search - but it's there and has *everything* you need to know.
Depends on use. Re chargeable lose their chare over a much shorter time than regular alkaline. They are not so good for the flashlight you keep in a drawer for emergency because they may be dead or nearly so ince you've not use it for a long time.
Smoke detectors, wather station, get regular batteries, but cameras, radios and the like get the rechargeable.
CY: Cheap alkalines, and name brand LSD NiMH. I've had some success wiht NiZn.
CY: I've not tried enough to really have good data. I've got a Sanyo Digital, and an Energizer which do OK. My ReNu has some success with alkalines. Powergenix has its own charger.
CY: I've been known to leave batteries in a flash light, and see how many hours it runs.
CY: Merry Christmas.
Many situations, different answers work best. I'll insert some text inline.
As to my own use, I use LSD NiMH in my most used devices, and NiZn in my computer speakers. I buy alkalines for seldom used lights like flash light in vehicle door pouch. Clocks get alkalines, also smoke detectors. I may buy lithiums for smoke det, some day. Some small devices like wrist watch come with lithium "coin" cells.
More details about NiZn, please. I bought a set of 4 with a charger at BigLots. That suggests those had been on the shelf a while. Only one of them would take a charge and it didn't last long. 1.6V would be nice for those devices that just won't run on the voltage you can get out of half-charged NiMH.
There is a thread going on alt survival, someone else likes NiZn, and posted a link to some place that still makes them.
The ones I got were Powergenix, and got them from Ebay. Yes, some devices like the higher voltage. Powergenix went out of business, I'm told. Not many to be found out there. They need to be charged in a dedicated NiZn charger. Can't use just any old charger.
Back before cameras on cell phones, I consciously picked cameras for the wife and 2 daughters that used AA alkalines. Reason: they're both stone technophobes and would leave rechargeables laying in a drawer for months at a time and then wonder why the batteries were dead when they went to use the camera. In that case even lithium batteries would have gone flat between uses.
For my small tools, I like lithium batteries because of the shelf life between charges - as opposed to NiCads which probably give similar performance for less money for somebody who uses the tools daily. But I'm an infrequent user and like having a full battery when I pick up the tool.
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