Not your father's rechargeables
I've long extolled the virtues of rechargeable batteries. In fact, I am the change I want to be, as I use them quite extensively, especially with a mobile lifestyle and the fact that traveling about in San Francisco (or stuck in economy for an 11 hour flight to Europe), I'm often no where near for a power source for extensive periods of time. I have to take my power with me.
However, I've only been moderately effective in convincing others to join my crusade. As it would seem, not everyone is as exhaustive of a battery user as I am. While I don't blame them, I do realize that rechargeable batteries are not without their shortcomings. Many such shortcomings have been overcome, such as capacity (many NiMH batteries have as much if not more capacity as their alkaline counterparts), environmental concerns (older Ni-Cad batteries had heavy elements that could be environmentally hazardous if not disposed of or recycled properly, although many alkalines have the same problem). But until recently there was a major shortcoming that was a problem even for me. That being the fact that, regardless of their capacity, rechargeable batteries didn't hold their charge for long.
While NiMH batteries were a huge step over NiCad batteries in capacity (great for those 11 hour flights or in digital cameras, although most newer ones use lithium ion batteries), they would still start to dissipate their charge about the second you took them off the charger. They'd have only about 60-80% their charge after a few weeks, and dead or near so within a few months. (It's even worse for AAAs, which my alarm remote uses.) So regardless of how much power you used, if you didn't use it in a certain period of time, you'd still be recharging the batteries after a month or two. Because of this, they were quite a bit more of a pain in devices that didn't have that strong of a draw, but still needed to change every 2-12 months. (I'm thinking like TV remotes here, or the alarm remote for my bike. Or that flashlight in your drawer for when the power goes out.) So while they were great for high drain devices, they were not suitable for what most people used them for.
Behold, the precharged rechargeable. I thought, how on earth do they do that? Rechargeables always come discharged, because who knew how long it was between the factory in China to the store and to when you actually picked them off the shelf and bought them. Apparently with some change in the chemistry, they now hold their ions longer. Much longer. Up to 80-85% of the charge is still intact after one year. So they charge them at the factory, and if you've bought them within a year, they still have at least 80% of their charge intact right off the shelf. As once you charge them again, they'll be good for another year. They can even be charged in most any standard NiMH charger, although of course the manufacturer will recommend you use theirs. So they work great for all those low drain devices that most people use.
You can find them at Radio Shack, Costco, Target, or most electronics stores, and they're now made by Sanyo, Duracell, Energizer and Kodak. Sanyo even has a version that comes with spacers that allows you to "upsize" a AA battery into a C or D "spacer" for use as a C or D battery. Great for that flashlight in your drawer! In addition, Duracell sells them now with their Mobile Charger, which not only charges the batteries from a car or wall outlet, but can use the four charged batteries to power its USB outlet to power or charge any USB device such as an iPod/iPhone or other cell phones with a USB cable.
The flip side is they don't have quite the capacity of traditional NiMH batteries (about 2000-2200 mAh for AAs, as opposed to 2000-3000 mAh for traditional NiMH AAs). But since they don't dissipate as fast as traditional NiMH batteries, they'll actually last longer than traditional NiMH batteries in most applications since they won't dissipate out before you'll actually need to use them. They also sometimes cost slightly more (but sometimes the same), but like traditional rechareables, the savings over using alkalines can still easily pay for itself. And I probably wouldn't use them in devices where the battery lasts over a year, like smoke detectors. Use a lithium primary battery for those. But for most of the applications people use and need alkalines for, they would work just perfectly.
And then I don't have to feel guilty about replacing my alarm remote with an alkaline every three months. Or at least having to recharge the AAA battery every couple weeks.
However, I've only been moderately effective in convincing others to join my crusade. As it would seem, not everyone is as exhaustive of a battery user as I am. While I don't blame them, I do realize that rechargeable batteries are not without their shortcomings. Many such shortcomings have been overcome, such as capacity (many NiMH batteries have as much if not more capacity as their alkaline counterparts), environmental concerns (older Ni-Cad batteries had heavy elements that could be environmentally hazardous if not disposed of or recycled properly, although many alkalines have the same problem). But until recently there was a major shortcoming that was a problem even for me. That being the fact that, regardless of their capacity, rechargeable batteries didn't hold their charge for long.
While NiMH batteries were a huge step over NiCad batteries in capacity (great for those 11 hour flights or in digital cameras, although most newer ones use lithium ion batteries), they would still start to dissipate their charge about the second you took them off the charger. They'd have only about 60-80% their charge after a few weeks, and dead or near so within a few months. (It's even worse for AAAs, which my alarm remote uses.) So regardless of how much power you used, if you didn't use it in a certain period of time, you'd still be recharging the batteries after a month or two. Because of this, they were quite a bit more of a pain in devices that didn't have that strong of a draw, but still needed to change every 2-12 months. (I'm thinking like TV remotes here, or the alarm remote for my bike. Or that flashlight in your drawer for when the power goes out.) So while they were great for high drain devices, they were not suitable for what most people used them for.
Behold, the precharged rechargeable. I thought, how on earth do they do that? Rechargeables always come discharged, because who knew how long it was between the factory in China to the store and to when you actually picked them off the shelf and bought them. Apparently with some change in the chemistry, they now hold their ions longer. Much longer. Up to 80-85% of the charge is still intact after one year. So they charge them at the factory, and if you've bought them within a year, they still have at least 80% of their charge intact right off the shelf. As once you charge them again, they'll be good for another year. They can even be charged in most any standard NiMH charger, although of course the manufacturer will recommend you use theirs. So they work great for all those low drain devices that most people use.
You can find them at Radio Shack, Costco, Target, or most electronics stores, and they're now made by Sanyo, Duracell, Energizer and Kodak. Sanyo even has a version that comes with spacers that allows you to "upsize" a AA battery into a C or D "spacer" for use as a C or D battery. Great for that flashlight in your drawer! In addition, Duracell sells them now with their Mobile Charger, which not only charges the batteries from a car or wall outlet, but can use the four charged batteries to power its USB outlet to power or charge any USB device such as an iPod/iPhone or other cell phones with a USB cable.
The flip side is they don't have quite the capacity of traditional NiMH batteries (about 2000-2200 mAh for AAs, as opposed to 2000-3000 mAh for traditional NiMH AAs). But since they don't dissipate as fast as traditional NiMH batteries, they'll actually last longer than traditional NiMH batteries in most applications since they won't dissipate out before you'll actually need to use them. They also sometimes cost slightly more (but sometimes the same), but like traditional rechareables, the savings over using alkalines can still easily pay for itself. And I probably wouldn't use them in devices where the battery lasts over a year, like smoke detectors. Use a lithium primary battery for those. But for most of the applications people use and need alkalines for, they would work just perfectly.
And then I don't have to feel guilty about replacing my alarm remote with an alkaline every three months. Or at least having to recharge the AAA battery every couple weeks.
posted by Joe Carlin at 5:35 AM
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