Rechargeable AA Batteries

[bivchad]

Anybody have opinions on using rechargeables in headlamps in cooler weather? How is battery life and are there certain brands/types that are better than others? What inspired this Q was reading a little about this battery that was linked from the Mazama Club website:

 

Amazon

[iluka]

I have used nickel metal hydride rechargeables for several years now in my equipment and they seem to do well even in cooler weather. For 1-2 night trips, they do just fine. I recently switched my camera batteries (AA) to the new Rayovac Hybrid Rechargeable and got well over 400 photos out of them on their initial use out of the package with cold day time temps and the opportunity to store them inside a lodge at night. On my most recent ski tour in the Sierra we had five days with warm day time temps but cold night time temps and I got at least 350 photos out of one set of batteries on their second charge.

[snoboy]

There is a new generation of NiMH rechargables that is very good. The key words are 'Low Self Discharge.' Often they will be marked as 'Hybrid' or 'PreCharged'.

 

The king of the LSD heap are Eneloops by Sanyo. They are also rebranded as Duracell and Sony amongst others. Look for 'Made in Japan' and white end caps around the positive button for the rebranded ones...

 

NiMH is actually better at driving most of the new generation LED lights due to their ability to deliver more current than alkaline technology.

 

Don't be sucked into 'High Capacity' types, usually they will signifigantly self discharge in under a week, not what you want in a headlamp!

 

Go search over a the Candlepower Forums for endless battery discussion... you may also find yourself wanting a nice charger to pair up with your new cells.

 

Thomas Distributing is a good source for batteries and chargers.

[markwebster]

He is right about thomas distributing. I just bought 20 of these new maha batteries and have been pleasantly surprised. I also bought this charger.

http://www.thomas-distributing.com/maha-mh-c9000-battery-charger.php

 

It is not your fathers battery charger. It is very smart, takes a while to figure out as it has many options. And the batteries don't discharge as fast on the shelf. They sell the batteries at "batteries plus" stores in Tacoma, or buy online.

 

I use the batteries in headlamps, calculators and high powered canon external flash units that need lots of juice.

[Off_White]

Thomas Distributing is a good source for batteries and chargers.

 

exactly

[snoboy]

If you go with TD, try gift certificate code GCNE561 for 5% discount... first to use it gets it I guess.

 

I have another for myself...

[AR_Guy]

Also check out All-Battery.com and Batteryspace.com

 

I'll second the candlepower forums. Another good one, specific to bike lighting, is MTBR.com, forums, lighting.

 

One thing to note: NiMH are 1.2 volts per cell. Alkline are 1.5 (nominal voltages). This may or may not matter in your particular application.

[bivchad]

Looks like I posted my question in the right place - Thanks for the info!

[snoboy]

One thing to note: NiMH are 1.2 volts per cell. Alkline are 1.5 (nominal voltages). This may or may not matter in your particular application.

 

Rarely does... the key word being 'nominal.' Alaklines quickly drop to <1.2V in operation (especially higher current devices like LED headlamps) while NiMH are better at holding the voltage, hence they are better performers overall. A few devices are voltage sensitive and will balk at the NiMH. Some devices (my GPS, and my FRS come to mind) have menu settings to tell them what sort of battery you are loading.