Batteries For The Gps

[+Derk286]

I have a Garmin Etrex Venture and was wondering what type of battery is better to use rechargeable of disposable ones?

 

Is the also a particular brand of battery that works better with GPS then others?

 

[+Miragee]

I purchased the Energizer 15-minute recharger with four 2500 rechargeable batteries at Target for about $25.00. I really like getting "fresh" batteries in only 15 minutes.

 

I don't use throw-away batteries for anything anymore. Rechargeables make much more sense economically and environmentally. Plus, they save you all that time you have to spend in line buying more batteries.

 

If you are going to buy rechargeable batteries, make sure you get a good brand. The Wal-Mart off-brand batteries didn't work very well.

[+Team Cotati]

Go here: http://www.thomas-distributing.com/index.htm

 

Your battery worries are now a thing of the past.

[+Groovy Cachin' Dude!]

I've been very happy with the Energizer 2500mAh NiMh batteries (get the highest Ah you can). Buy a four-pack so you always have two fresh and two on the charger. I also carry AA Alkaline batteries in my cache bag as back up; because the NiMh batteries lose power just sitting around. It's not fun being caught out in the woods with dead rechargeable batteries!

[+Team Cotati]

I've been very happy with the Energizer 2500mAh NiMh batteries (get the highest Ah you can). Buy a four-pack so you always have two fresh and two on the charger. I also carry AA Alkaline batteries in my cache bag as back up; because the NiMh batteries lose power just sitting around. It's not fun being caught out in the woods with dead rechargeable batteries!

 

And right now I think that the 'highest' is 2900 and I have a few and trust me they are sweet!!

[+Munin]

I've been using Energizer 2500 mAh AA rechargeables in my Garmin 76CS for almost a year now, and they've been working well. Do remember to charge them up before heading out - NiMH batteries lose 3-5% of their charge each day even when not in use, so topping them off the night before is a good idea. (Or you can get a rapid-charger like Miragee mentioned. Those will "only" boost the batteries to about 85% in 15 minutes - it uses a slower charging rate for the last 15% - but as long as you pick up a rapid-charger that can use the 12V outlet in your cachemobile you can get that 85% charge in the time it takes to drive from one cache to the next.)

 

Like Dude/Sweet, I carry spares with me - a second set of rechargeables, and some Energizer e2 lithiums in case I have a mental lapse and discover that I forgot to top off the rechargeables. (I don't have a rapid-charger, so it can take several hours for me to recharge the batteries if they're very low - unlike Miragee, I can't just pop 'em in for a quickie fix between caches unless I'm driving a looooong way. ) I went with lithiums for backups because I was doing some nighttime winter caching, and lithiums aren't really bothered by sub-freezing temperatures.

 

I also picked up some Duracell 2500 mAh rechargeables a couple of days ago to play with - just running my first GPSr test on them now, but preliminary results look promising (took 5 hours before the GPSr dropped to 75%, and it's still showing 75% 2 hours later).

[+Chuy!]

Stay away from the Powerizers; they are about 400mAh below what they advertise. I would now

'cause I bought 2350's. My then used Lenmar 2100's lasted longer. Plus, the Powerizer's are a fraction larger. They will not fit in tight compartments.

 

I have been using Energizer 2500's from Walmart, and Panasonic's from Costco; both hold up well. I bought a Maha MH-C204W charger from the aforementioned thomas-distributors; it rocks!

Edited June 15, 2006 by Chuy!

[+WalruZ]

GPS's are excellent examples of high-consumption devices. If you use disposable batteries you'll be buying them by the Costco case-load and throwing them away just as fast. Rechargables are the only way to go.

[hammer007911]

I only use the throw aways. When in doubt thow'em out.

 

They are so cheap now it the big packs. Seems I have so many transformers laying around the recharger-able just did not work out for me.

 

John

[+Ratjumper]

I just putting my knowledge in here. I use the Rayovac NiMH 1600 and the Energizer NiMH 2300. I have had good luck with these. I am still using these after 3 years of rechargings. I tried the NiMH 2500 mAh from iPowerUS and these batteries don't fit well in my 76CSX. I am looking to upgrade to the 2900 mAh, I hear that they work wonders. This is my two cents. The chargers I use are the MAHA MH-C401FS- Charges in 100 min inthe car with the adapter and my home charge I use is the LA CROSSE BC-900 Conditioner/Charger. I've been very happy with my decisions. This is my two cents, just take it for what it's worth. (it adds up with rechargables...

[+Poidawg]

I carry both. I recycle my Duracell batteries at my local library. I carry the rechargeable ones for my camera and gps units. I learned the hard way about topping off the rechargeable batteries on a hike not long ago - a great tip. Of course I always carry spares.

[+Yellow ants]

GPS's are excellent examples of high-consumption devices.

 

 

Our Garmin GPS 60 has a battery life of about a day or two of continual use (we've found 84 caches as of today since January 28, and only now switched batteries for the second time) without use of backlighting. We're using Duracell disposable batteries.

 

As for environment - well, the rechargeable ones are actually harder chemically-wise on the environment, unless you dispose your batteries at a suitable collection point, in which case the environmental friendlyness is kind of a moot point. Plus, if you really want to argue environmental advantages, remember to calculate with the energy you spend to recharge them

 

And anyway, all this is probably peanuts compared to the gas we're using driving around looking for Tupperware and film canisters

[+Munin]

FWIW, those rechargeable Duracell 2500 mAh batteries that I was testing in my 76CS the other day ended up running for 26 hours straight before the GPSr shut off. That's with backlight/compass/tracklog off, and using live satellites rather than simulation mode. Looks like these are "keepers".

 

Yellow ants bring up some reasonable points - a cacher who only swaps batteries half a dozen times a year might find disposable alkalines more convenient/practical, especially if the GPSr is the only device they have that uses batteries. Yes, yes - in the long run the rechargeables should be much cheaper, but if you're not switching batteries very often then "the long run" might involve years before even reaching the break-even point because of the higher initial costs of going rechargeable. I paid something like $18 for my Energizer recharger with four 2500 mAh AA batteries. I could walk into Target and buy a 10-pack of Duracell AAs for $6.49. For Yellow ants, it sounds like that 10-pack might easily last them a year, so it'd might take nearly 3 years before they hit the break-even point. Sure, after that point they'd start seeing the savings, but it's a fair bit of time to wait. (And I'd definitely have to agree that batteries are one of the least expensive aspects of caching - heck, I normally spend more on swag than I do on batteries, and as for gas ... well, let's just say I'm trying real hard not to think about gas. )

 

Just so you know, Yellow ants, the cost of recharging NiMH batteries is almost negligable. Rather than tossing around some random number that I might grab from some random website (a typical claim is 1/2 cent per recharge), I'll do some real-world calculations. The AC adapter for my charger says it uses 13W. A typical recharge session for me after I've gone caching is around 2-3 hours. Let's be generous though and assume it'll take 6 hours. That's 13W for 6 hours, or 78 Watt-hours. The power company charges $0.1266 per kiloWatt-hour according to my latest bill, so the total cost of the recharging session is $0.0099 - let's round it up to one penny. (That's actually the cost for recharging four AAs, but of course my 76CS only uses two AAs.) As you can see, recharging my NiMH batteries is a fraction of the cost compared to buying new alkalines. For people who go through batteries on a regular basis (heavy GPSr use, and/or using other battery-powered devices like FRS radios, flashlights, etc), using rechargeables can pay off pretty quickly.

[+scavok]

i use energize 2500s and just as an example, I pulled a couple out of the charger and put them in my 60cs, hooked it up to the computer to put in some new caches before going to bed and then accidentally left it turned on all night long.

 

I just picked it up and went caching the next morning with plenty of juice.