Garmin 60Csx & Rechargeable AAs?

[+markp99]

Easy one,

 

Does anyone have any good advise to offer on rechargeable AA bateries for my new 60Csx?

 

I'm coming from an eXplorist 500 and have never used or bought rechargeables. I want to be sure to get the right stuff. Anything to avoid with this unit?

 

Thanks,

 

Mark

[+hogrod]

Does anyone have any good advise to offer on rechargeable AA bateries for my new 60Csx?

 

I was using older rechargables that I had laying around the house in my 60cx, but finally upgraded to some newer ones a few weeks back.

 

I bought a energizer charger and 4 batterys at walmart for $17, this is the one....

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4291460

 

after a few charges and tests I am really impressed....

 

60cx full backlight 8.5hrs

60cx no backlight 20.5hrs

 

legendC full backlight 11.5hrs

legendC no backlight 30.5hrs

 

my old ones were only 1800mah, these new ones are 2500mah.... the old ones didn't last half the time, though that could be because they were old or a different brand.

Edited September 18, 2006 by hogrod

[+VE6NS]

I use 2500mAh Ni-MH rechargables with great results. Any place like a Walmart should carry them and the charger.

[+hogrod]

also remember that rechargables loose upto 1% of their charge every day they sit, so you really want to give them a fresh charge before using them.

[+Jim W]

I use RAYOVAC 15 minute batteries, they recharge in 15 minutes, and they work great, they cost a little more, but when you need to recharge your batteries you don't have to wait 6 to 8 hours

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...;category=50511

[+Red90]

The recharge speed has to do with the charger and not the batteries.

[andman]

Costco has 36 Duracel batteries for $11. At that price it wasn't worth the time and hassle to recharge batteries. Home Depot has similar sales.

 

However, I only used the unit for 10-15 hours per week, if you use yours a lot more then rechargeables make sense.

[+appytr]

I have the 15 min rechargeables, hey it gives you 15 min to figure out were your going to cache. They last as long as alkalines

[+hogrod]

Costco has 36 Duracel batteries for $11. At that price it wasn't worth the time and hassle to recharge batteries. Home Depot has similar sales.

 

However, I only used the unit for 10-15 hours per week, if you use yours a lot more then rechargeables make sense.

 

I used to have the same thought process as you when it came to batterys, then one day while out caching I came to the conclusion that for every day I was out enjoying hiking with my gps I was also filling a landfill somewhere.

that's not so say I don't use regular batterys, I just try not to If I can help it. I actually get better battery life with the 2500mAh rechargables than I do with alkalines(in my 60cx). 10-15hrs a week is about all I use my gpsr, but that only leaves a few hours for the next time I need it.

Edited September 18, 2006 by hogrod

[+JanniCash]

The recharge speed has to do with the charger and not the batteries.

 

How fast the charging is done depends on the charger. If it is a good idea to do it has to do with the batteries. The temperature spike at the end of the charge, when the battery gets full, comes from hydrogen+oxygen recombination. 1 hour and 15 minute chargers usually recognize that with temperature sensors, but the "damage" has already been done. It now depends on the battery if it can handle the amount of overcharge or if it has to let go of the gases through the safety valve. The latter case means permanent loss of capacity. So if the battery can't handle this charging method, it'll soon be ready for recycling.

 

Jan

Edited September 18, 2006 by JanniCash

[+Sputnik 57]

also remember that rechargables loose upto 1% of their charge every day they sit, so you really want to give them a fresh charge before using them.

Charged my RayoVac rechargables in Houston (at 80 degrees F) on Friday, stuck them into my 60C the following Friday near Mt Harvard, CO (at 35 degrees F). They VERY quickly went from four bars to one!! Hung the GPSr on my belt (with my Gilsson antenna on the shoulder of my pack) and body heat warmed them up. The battery indicator went right up to 3 bars. Next time I'm hiking in the snow six miles from my car, I'll throw in a couple of Lithiums, just in case.

[+Jim W]

The recharge speed has to do with the charger and not the batteries.

 

Red90, I have to disagree with you on the charger speed, it says right on the back of the charger "Charges regular NiMH or NiCd batteries overnight"

 

[+Red90]

Sorry, but everyone makes 15 minute NiMH chargers.

 

Erergizer 15 minute charger

[+Prime Suspect]

I'd recommend a 1-hour charger. You don't need the special batteries (with their "special" price) that the 15 minute chargers require, and you don't have to wait overnight for a charge. Unless they're really depleted, my 1-hour Ray-o-vac charger usually finishes charging batteries in under 30 minutes. It also switches to trickle mode, so they're always topped off and ready to go.

[+hogrod]

The recharge speed has to do with the charger and not the batteries.

 

Red90, I have to disagree with you on the charger speed, it says right on the back of the charger "Charges regular NiMH or NiCd batteries overnight"

 

Actually red90 is right, I'm not sure how your charger can tell the diference betwen which batterys to charge in 15minutes & which to charge overnight.

I could have bought(for $27) the energizer rechargables with the 15minute charger.... those only came with 2300mAh batterys. after getting the 8hr charger and 2500mAh batterys I read that these 2500's take 20minutes to charge in the 15minute charger. I have read more than once that most 15min or one hour chargers cook the batterys and ruin them, so I stayed away from the 15minute charger.

 

The 8hr charger that came in my pack must be pretty good, the batterys stay cool the entire time they are charging.... I can't say the same for my old batterys & charger.

[+Jim W]

Sorry, but everyone makes 15 minute NiMH chargers.

 

Erergizer 15 minute charger

 

Red90, you may be right, but I've tried regular NiMH batteries in this charger and it took overnight to charge them, it somehow knows if it's charging 15 minute batteries or not

[+Jim W]

The recharge speed has to do with the charger and not the batteries.

 

Red90, I have to disagree with you on the charger speed, it says right on the back of the charger "Charges regular NiMH or NiCd batteries overnight"

 

Actually red90 is right, I'm not sure how your charger can tell the diference betwen which batterys to charge in 15minutes & which to charge overnight.

I could have bought(for $27) the energizer rechargables with the 15minute charger.... those only came with 2300mAh batterys. after getting the 8hr charger and 2500mAh batterys I read that these 2500's take 20minutes to charge in the 15minute charger. I have read more than once that most 15min or one hour chargers cook the batterys and ruin them, so I stayed away from the 15minute charger.

 

The 8hr charger that came in my pack must be pretty good, the batterys stay cool the entire time they are charging.... I can't say the same for my old batterys & charger.

 

I do a lot of photography work and carrie 3 cameras each with it's own flash, each flash uses 4 AA batteries, and I carry a backup set of batteries for each flash, that's a total of 24 batteries, all 15 minute batteries, so if they only last 6 months they have more than paid for themselfs, and I've had some of them for over a year, and they're still going strong

[+Hynr]

I use rechargable AAs in my Garmin GPSrs. I find that if I use some old 1800 mAh, they take me through most of a day of caching. Even if I use some newer 2100 mAh ones, I have no guarantee that I can make it through and entire day. So what I basically do is put new fresh charged batteries into the GPSr and carry a set of spares. Even if I had a high-speed charger, it would not change this use pattern because it is much easier to carry a set of spares than to recharge the ones out of the GPSr during the day.

 

With this pattern of use I find that, while it is wonderful having the latest, greatest batteries, any rechargable, fully functional rechargable AAs do the job.

 

I do occaisionally use regular, high-quality, allkaline AAs. These easily make it through the entire day. But not a second day. So carrying spares is the norm. I geocache a lot; buying rechargables has saved me a lot of money.

[tacitus59]

I have been told a couple of caveats about nimh batteries -

 

Its better not to or minimize the use of 15 minute speed charging and its best not to overcharge the batteries. Alledgedly battery life will be reduced with overchargind and speed charging. I really have no personal experience athough I did buy a fancy maha trickle charger.

 

Also, that brand new nimh batteries alledgedly take 3-4 cycles to learn how to charge to their full capacity. This I can believe, I recently bought some Duracell high capacity 2300+ batteries and they did not last in my 60CSX as expected on the first charge - like 4 hours. Unfortunately, I have not had a chance to go through the 3-4 cycles yet. I will be very disappointed if the batteries do not live up to my older 1800 batteries.

 

BTW of all of the rechargeable batteries I have ever used and I have used nicads and renewals, as well. NIMH are the best. I have even used them in non-standard applications like remotes and even flashlights. Yes, alkalines are better in flashlights but these aren't bad.

[+BigLarry]

There was another thread saying that if you don't want battery bounce - power off from momentary loss of contact with vibration - you need to use a quality battery with proper size. Also they currently make NiMH with the same charge as Alkaline, around 2700 mAh. (milliAmpere-hour)

 

Good batteries are Maha/PowerEx, Sony, Duracell, and other name brands.

 

Maha is often considered the best batteries and chargers. My Maha charger can switch between overnight and 2 hour charge, it also reconditions batteries and charges in a way to preserve life and maximize charge with a "negative pulse" algorithm. Each battery has it's own sensor circuit.

 

Sony's charger is almost as good and half the price of the Maha, it has LCD indicators that show the battery status better than the simple LED on Maha/PowerEx. It also has good battery reconditioning, and separate circuits for each battery. Ii just doesn't have two charge speeeds, only an intermediate speed.

Edited September 18, 2006 by BigLarry

[+Prime Suspect]

Also, that brand new nimh batteries alledgedly take 3-4 cycles to learn how to charge to their full capacity.

It more like 10 discharge/recharge cycles before they reach full capacity.

[+mlk3454]

I use 2500mAh Ni-MH rechargables with great results. Any place like a Walmart should carry them and the charger.

 

+1

[+steve_c]

Not exactly on topic, but: at work they have a small bin where people throw their old alkalines for recycling. If find that if I fish a few pairs off the top, there are almost always some that have two or even three pips of power left in them, enough for quite a few hrs, lunchtime caching, etc. Beat that for avoiding landfill

[+Fhantazm]

Actually Jim is right on this one. The Rayovac ic3 system actually use "smart" batteries that have the charging circuit built right into the batteries, in leu of the charger. Energizer/duracell 15min chargers use "dumb" batteries and can charge pretty much any NiMh batts within 15-20 mins. So in his case he has to use the ic3 branded batteries to get the stated 15min charge time. I have both the ic3 and the energizer 15 min charger and find them to be about the same, with the exception of the ic3's not getting quite as hot.

 

"Rayovac’s patent-pending I-C3 technology (In-Cell Charge Control) puts the control of recharging into the battery, instead of the charger."

 

 

The recharge speed has to do with the charger and not the batteries.

 

Red90, I have to disagree with you on the charger speed, it says right on the back of the charger "Charges regular NiMH or NiCd batteries overnight"

 

Actually red90 is right, I'm not sure how your charger can tell the diference betwen which batterys to charge in 15minutes & which to charge overnight.

I could have bought(for $27) the energizer rechargables with the 15minute charger.... those only came with 2300mAh batterys. after getting the 8hr charger and 2500mAh batterys I read that these 2500's take 20minutes to charge in the 15minute charger. I have read more than once that most 15min or one hour chargers cook the batterys and ruin them, so I stayed away from the 15minute charger.

 

The 8hr charger that came in my pack must be pretty good, the batterys stay cool the entire time they are charging.... I can't say the same for my old batterys & charger.

Edited September 19, 2006 by Fhantazm

[+Fhantazm]

Double Post

Edited September 19, 2006 by Fhantazm

[+cammanron]

I have been using the Energizer 2500 MA and I find they are great... The only thing I have noticed is that they will show very strong for quite a while, and then they will quickly go to about half strength (on the display) and then slowly decrease in strength.

 

Still, though, no problem-very long usage time and alot cheaper in the long run.