Rechargeable batteries are they worth the bother.

[curious]

Have a large collection of AA and AAA batteries and was wondering are they worth the bother in this age of chepo alkaline batteries.

[curious]

Have a large collection of AA and AAA batteries and was wondering are they worth the bother in this age of chepo alkaline batteries.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Assuming you keep them charged ready for use, you ain't going to run out of one at an inconvenient time.

[Andrew Gabriel]

I seem to have a very large number of things which take AA and AAA. Each one has too low a usage rate for rechargables to work. The items where it would have been worthwhile (digital cameras) couldn't handle the lower voltage - after a few pictures, they claim the rechargables are flat.

So I've given up on trying to use rechargable AA and AAA.

[Tim Streater]

But ordinary ones just go flat. The only ones worth keeping charged up in a drawer are eneloop and the like.

We'll be getting a number of those outside lights that charge up during the day. That is a useful place to get rid of old rechargeables (and I spose its possible such units may come with one, so can't even put them there).

Any other similar uses?

[Another Dave]

Eneloop batteries keep their charge for years - they're actually sold already charged. They aren't much more expensive and they do what they claim. Their capacity is a little less but who cares? I'll trade capacity for charge retention any day.

Another Dave

[meow2222]

rechargeables are less bother, not more. Plug em into the charger & theyre soon re-full. No running out of batteries and need to go into town. They're a miniscule fraction of the price per charge.

NT

[Brian Gaff]

Certainly they are. The older sort did have self discharge and or reliability o problems, but the newer ones seem to be fine to me. I hate expendables, they just get eaten. Of course some can be recharged, but you have to make sure they are not discharged very far between charges. Brian

[chris French]

In message , Andrew Gabriel writes

Odd, ours would always complain about alkalines being flat when they weren't really. NiMH worked much better. Now though most of our cameras have Li-ion.

I use them for loads of things. Though a few things don't like them or aren't worth bothering with. I only bother with LSD ones now though, so even in things like remote controls they are fine because they hold on to their charge.

[Dave Liquorice]

Depends on the kit that is using them. Kids bedside light would eat 6 AAA's a week. Wii remotes are happy on NiMH. Cameras are OK on 'em as well (some have a menu setting for battery type).

TV remotes well the supplied alkalines last for years, clocks similar but rechargeables self discharge too fast inc the "low leakage" ones so those things get alkalines.

[news]

For me the biggest bugbear is still sudden death syndrome, where they go from operating to flat in 60 seconds. No biggie if you are at home but running your MP3 player in the gym or powering bike lights, its a pain in the a****e. You either have to carry a spare set or change them often "just in case".

Whether the overall reduction in cost is worth the extra hassle is a matter of personal choice.

[RJH]

Toxic land fill and use of natural resources?

[Mike Lane]

On Feb 23, 2014, [e-mail] wrote (in article ):

It's a personal thing, but I find rechargeables a considerable bother. I have a lap-top, a phone, an iPad, and a camera, all of which require regular charging and need their own charger and lead and connector. The idea of yet another charger and fiddling around plugging and unplugging wretched little AAs does not appeal to me.

I probably spend about a tenner a year on disposable AAs - and that's fine with me.

[Another John]

I agree with your sentiments on the fiddle-factor on rechargeables, but personally I've always gone with the economical advantage ofthem.

I'm interested by your "tenner a year" figure though: what batteries do you buy, for that? Duracell, or those cheap, piled-high ones that you see in (e.g.) Aldi?

Cheers J.

[Martin Brown]

I guess it depends how many of them you would otherwise get through in a year. Imagine having to feed your iPad primary cells on a daily basis!

I do agree that it is infuriating that historically every manufacturer has a different random voltage, current and connector on their charger. It has improved a bit with USB 5v chargers for mobiles and small kit.

I spend about the same on primary cells despite mainly using rechargables myself. These are for essentially throw away use at high current where the more expensive batteries would be prone to being thrown away by well meaning assistants or nicked by the public.

I keep partly spent high current primary cells for powering things at home that need the higher voltage at minimal current (LCD clock etc)).

It was worse when they had high self discharge rates so that you pretty much always needed a set of spare primary cells with you (and the very rapid decline from working OK to completely dead at end of life).

Don't knock the Aldi/Lidl batteries - some of them including their low self discharge Tronic brand have proved remarkably good in practice.

Even Poundshops worst zinc chlorides are fine for driving LED lamps for a few hours at high current provided you don't mind them leaking a bit.