Batteries for GPSr and Digital Camera

[+curious4cache]

We are currently using lithium batteries. A 12 pack from SAM's is affordable, but we're going thru them pretty quick and I hate dumping them in the landfill. Someone mentioned Rayovac hybrid rechargeables.

 

What have you guys had success with?

 

TIA!

C4C

[+StarBrand]

We are currently using lithium batteries. A 12 pack from SAM's is affordable, but we're going thru them pretty quick and I hate dumping them in the landfill. Someone mentioned Rayovac hybrid rechargeables.

 

What have you guys had success with?

 

TIA!

C4C

I like the RayOVac Hybrids. They hold a charge while sitting around and last as long as a fresh set of energizer Alkaline.

[+Barefoot One & Wench]

I have had very good results from Duracell AA Rechargeable NIMH 2650 mAh battery's in my 60CSx. I buy them at Wally World, they are around $11-12 for 4 battery's. On a full charge I get many, many hours of use out of a pair. My recommendation is to use a good quality battery charger that slow charges rather than a fast 15 minute quickie charger.

Good luck,

Barefoot One & Wench

[SporkSports]

I'm personally a big fan of the Sanyo and Powerex 2700's since I usually want longest life in my GPS & other high drain digital power devices. I have a bunch of Sanyo Eneloops too, but those are for the low-drain devices like remote controls, clocks, wireless mice, and so on. Those low-drain devices are the ones where you want the extremely low self-discharge.

 

I wouldn't bother with the low discharge batteries in a high drain devices like a GPSr or especially digicam. You want high capacity for those and just make sure to charge up at least in the last couple weeks before you use the devices for the best runtime.

[+DonB]

I'm personally a big fan of the Sanyo and Powerex 2700's since I usually want longest life in my GPS & other high drain digital power devices. I have a bunch of Sanyo Eneloops too, but those are for the low-drain devices like remote controls, clocks, wireless mice, and so on. Those low-drain devices are the ones where you want the extremely low self-discharge.

 

I wouldn't bother with the low discharge batteries in a high drain devices like a GPSr or especially digicam. You want high capacity for those and just make sure to charge up at least in the last couple weeks before you use the devices for the best runtime.

That's funny, I use the Sanyo hybrids in my hand held and a couple of digital cameras and they last as long as any other rechargeables I have used, including the standard rechargeables that are rated at a higher mAh. In fact they last longer then some 2500 mAh batteries in the one digital.

[+waterwitch2]

I recently started using Sanyo Eneloops and they seem to last about 50% longer than regular alkalines in my Legend Cx.

[+bobkeenan]

I'm personally a big fan of the Sanyo and Powerex 2700's since I usually want longest life in my GPS & other high drain digital power devices. I have a bunch of Sanyo Eneloops too, but those are for the low-drain devices like remote controls, clocks, wireless mice, and so on. Those low-drain devices are the ones where you want the extremely low self-discharge.

 

I wouldn't bother with the low discharge batteries in a high drain devices like a GPSr or especially digicam. You want high capacity for those and just make sure to charge up at least in the last couple weeks before you use the devices for the best runtime.

That's funny, I use the Sanyo hybrids in my hand held and a couple of digital cameras and they last as long as any other rechargeables I have used, including the standard rechargeables that are rated at a higher mAh. In fact they last longer then some 2500 mAh batteries in the one digital.

 

I have been using Powerex 2700's also. I get them at http://www.thomasdistributing.com/. I did a lot of research a couple years ago when I got a new digital camera. They were rated really well by customers for digital cameras. There is also a really good Maha charger that comes with car and ac adapter and is good for 110 and 220V. The prices are reasonable too. So I use them for everything. Then a year ago I got a 60Scx and it worked forever on that. I do have some medion hybrid maha batteries that I thought would be good for a camera and gps. The good news is that they do hold their charge for a long time when NOT used. But now that I have a Colorado. It drains them noticeably faster than the normal NiMh batteries. So I would go with the max maH batteries that you can get and I think the Powerex's are good.

[+EScout]

Adding to DWBur's comments, the hybrids work very well in most devices. One review I read talked about the higher voltage curve compared to regular NiMH. This means that during use they may last longer.

I will never go back to the standard batteries. I have been using the Rayovac and Kodak hybrids. The Kodak 4 pack of AAs seems to be the best deal, at WalMart under US$8.

 

This is the list of hybrids that I have found so far:

Rayovac Hybrid

Sanyo Eneloop

Sony Cycle Energy

Uniross Hybrio

Kodak Digital Camera, Ultra Low Discharge

Maha Imedion

Nexcell EnergyOn

Accupower Acculoop

Ansman Max-E

GP ReCyko

[+fjones15]

Whatever battery's you chose don't fry them with a quick charger. Thomas Distributing have La Crosse BC-900 for $35.00. Best charger out there.

[+julianh]

I wouldn't bother with the low discharge batteries in a high drain devices like a GPSr or especially digicam. You want high capacity for those and just make sure to charge up at least in the last couple weeks before you use the devices for the best runtime.

Is a typical GPSr a high-drain device?

 

I agree with your comments for true high-drain devices like digicams (which have motors and flashes to power), but most GPSrs would be categorised as low to medium drain, I would have thought. Anything that can run for 15 to 24 hours continuous use on a pair if AAs doesn't sound "high drain" to me. Contrast that to a typical digicam, which can flatten a set of batteries in a hundred or so shots - which might be just a couple of hours of "continuous" use. (The Garmin Colorados might also be "high drain", based on user experience on these forums. Most users seem to be struggling to get more than about 4 to 6 hours of typical use.)

 

I have had excellent performance using hybrid NiMHs in all my GPSrs, and I love the long shelf-life - I can always be sure that my spare pair will have a good charge when I need them. With conventional NiMHs, you need to be sure to top up your spare batteries every so often. The only problem with hybrid NiMHs as the primary power source for a digicam is that you won't get quite as much life out of them as higher-capacity conventional NiMHs. However, as an emergency back-up, they will do fine. If you want a single battery type for both uses, and you are a heavy user of your digicam, conventional NiMHs might be the best bet - but make sure your spares are always topped up. Alternatively, you could just pack an extra pair of or two of hybrid NiMHs.

 

Hope this helps!

Edited March 7, 2008 by julianh

[+Dryphter]

I use all Energizer NiMH rechargeables. Only issue I have with them is they drain fairly quickly not being used. They give me plenty of time when used in the GPS, but I have to remember to charge 4 of them before I go caching for a day. I can't tell you how many times I have switched to 'new' batteries that were in my bag and find out that they had been in there for a few weeks are are dead.

 

The newer hybrids seem to solve that problem - longer shelf life when not being used.

 

Some day I'll buy those, but for now I just keep recharging the Energizers.

[+Red90]

Some day I'll buy those, but for now I just keep recharging the Energizers.

 

I've never seen a problem with Energizers self draining. Sometimes they will sit for a month and they still have close enough to a full charge.

[+LifeOnEdge!]

Regardless of the batteries you choose, you're going to need a quality charger that works in your vehicle. You don't want or need a fast charge unit. This causes too much heat in the battery during charging (too high of current = increased internal resistance = more energy wasted and converted to heat.)

 

I have the Energizer Car Charger, but am looking for a better device for the truck.

____________________________________________________________________

 

Edit for additional (newly learned) information

 

In doing some research, I just learned what I previously did not know. Yes, heat is the destroyer of a good battery, but its not necessarily due to a high charge rate. From technical information available, the problem comes when batteries are left to trickle charge OR when they are fully discharged. Luckily, our GPS units detect low voltage states in the batteries and shut down automatically. This prevents the batteries from coming to a complete discharge and reversiing polarity. When these batteries are then paired with undamaged batteries, they are pushed in the opposite way (having been polarity reversed) when then destroys the battery.

 

So, fast chargers are not necessarily the cause of damamge to batteries, but the heat associated when a fully charged battery is continued to charge is. If you use a timer AND have a charger that shuts off, this should prevent the problem. There are chargers out there that monitor battery temperatures and shut down the charging cycle to prevent damamge. Since trickle-charging is bad for NiMH batteries, there are chargers out there that have a pulse cycle where high currents are used for short periods of time, thus preventing damage to the batteries.

 

Here is what I use for backups to my regular rechargeable: http://www.duracell.com/precharged/?displayPaneNumber=10

 

I also have a USB powered charger for my NiMHs that I use from my laptop.

Edited March 7, 2008 by LifeOnEdge!

[+dougtape]

I love my eneloops. Especially as someone who is rather sporadic about using my camera and my gps, they are always ready to go. Also I use the case as a way to tell what is charged. I write charges at the hinge and point the little nub there if charges and towards the opening if not....

[+qlenfg]

I love my eneloops. Especially as someone who is rather sporadic about using my camera and my gps, they are always ready to go. Also I use the case as a way to tell what is charged. I write charges at the hinge and point the little nub there if charges and towards the opening if not....

 

Same thing I do. Battery facing up -- charged, battery facing down -- need to charge.

 

I've got some of the 2100 mAh Acculoop batteries for my camera, and they work well because they don't self-discharge much while the camera is idle. Tried them in the Colorado -- they work, but the run time is not fantastic.

 

Got some older 2700 mAh NiMH batteries that have a questionable history, and they seem to run a bit longer. Should get even better life out of a new set of good batteries. Ditto on Thomas Distributing. Fast service and good product.

 

Ditto on the charger. Crappy ones cook batteries. If you want the best life out of a set of batteries, don't charge them at over 1/10C -- ie charging rate is 1/10th of the capacity. Takes most of a day to charge, but the batteries will continue to deliver long life over their lifetime.

[+Dryphter]

Some day I'll buy those, but for now I just keep recharging the Energizers.

 

I've never seen a problem with Energizers self draining. Sometimes they will sit for a month and they still have close enough to a full charge.

Seriously? I've got 10 or 12 of them (2500mAH version) and they all have the same issue. I posted in the forums about it last year and it was a common issue with several people. But others didn't have it - maybe a different 'version' of the battery , or newer ones, or something.

 

It's not a huge deal as I still don't have to buy alkalines.

[+RRLover]

Whatever battery's you chose don't fry them with a quick charger. Thomas Distributing have La Crosse BC-900 for $35.00. Best charger out there.

 

Just curious, was there any specific reasons for choosing the La Crosse over the Maha?

 

http://www.thomas-distributing.com/la_cros...ery_charger.php

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

 

Norm

[+qlenfg]

Whatever battery's you chose don't fry them with a quick charger. Thomas Distributing have La Crosse BC-900 for $35.00. Best charger out there.

 

Just curious, was there any specific reasons for choosing the La Crosse over the Maha?

 

http://www.thomas-distributing.com/la_cros...ery_charger.php

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

 

 

I have the Maha and have been very pleased with it. I was able to revive several sets of batteries I thought were beyond help after using a crappy charger. Also was able to revive the batteries out of the wife's scanner after they refused to charge in the scanner. Pricey -- yup. Well-made -- yup, yup. Might as well order some batteries while you are at it.

[+qlenfg]

Whatever battery's you chose don't fry them with a quick charger. Thomas Distributing have La Crosse BC-900 for $35.00. Best charger out there.

 

Just curious, was there any specific reasons for choosing the La Crosse over the Maha?

 

http://www.thomas-distributing.com/la_cros...ery_charger.php

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

 

 

I have the Maha and have been very pleased with it. I was able to revive several sets of batteries I thought were beyond help after using a crappy charger. Also was able to revive the batteries out of the wife's scanner after they refused to charge in the scanner. Pricey -- yup. Well-made -- yup, yup. Might as well order some batteries while you are at it.

[gallet]

Top quality info here http://www.users.on.net/~mhains/Reviews.html

[+fjones15]

Whatever battery's you chose don't fry them with a quick charger. Thomas Distributing have La Crosse BC-900 for $35.00. Best charger out there.

 

Just curious, was there any specific reasons for choosing the La Crosse over the Maha?

 

http://www.thomas-distributing.com/la_cros...ery_charger.php

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

 

Norm

They are basically the same unit . The La Crosse is $25.00 easier on the wallet.

[+kayyak]

Wow, these look like very versatile chargers. How do you decide what setting to use for charge mode and how fast does it charge batteries? I mean, like at the 200 mA rate vs the 1800 mA rate (and all those inbetween), there could be quite a different charge time. Can you give any examples? Lots of variables to consider, i know.

[+fjones15]

The first thing to do is to test your batteries to see if they are up to capacity. If not run refresh cycle. When I purchased this unit I had about thirty batteries in use. My old charger charged 4 at once, not 4 as individuals, and gave no indication of one battery in set being bad. This caused the set to have a short cycle time. After removing 4 bad batteries run times increased. This took a couple of days. As far charge rates I see no reason to stress them by using any thing over 200mA. I now have lo-discharge batteries in cameras and radios and use regular NIMH in GPS. Having extra sets of batteries so that you are not tempted to quick charge would pay for themselves.

[+Miragee]

We are currently using lithium batteries. A 12 pack from SAM's is affordable, but we're going thru them pretty quick and I hate dumping them in the landfill. Someone mentioned Rayovac hybrid rechargeables.

 

What have you guys had success with?

 

TIA!

C4C

I like the RayOVac Hybrids. They hold a charge while sitting around and last as long as a fresh set of energizer Alkaline.

I also like the RayOVac Hybrids. They sell for less than $10.00 at Target, and you can even get two AAs and two AAAs, with a charger, for less than $10.00 at Target.

 

I used the Energizer batteries, that came with a 15-minute charger, for two years, but those batteries apparently got fried in that charger, because they don't hold a charge for more than a day in my pack now . . .

[+TheSurfcaster]

With the MH-C9000(Maha) charger they have a general Battery education section in their manual. Under the right charging rate they state "charging at a rate below 0.33C & above 1.0C is not recommended. Charging too slow may prevent the charger from terminating correctly & charging too fast may damage the battery.

 

"C" stands for the battery capacity and the number in front of it is the fraction of the battery capacity. For example, 0.1c means 0.1 times the capacity of the battery. For a 2700mAh battery, 0.1C would be 0.1 times 2700mAh which equal 270mA.

[+hogrod]

This is the list of hybrids that I have found so far:

Rayovac Hybrid

Sanyo Eneloop

Sony Cycle Energy

Uniross Hybrio

Kodak Digital Camera, Ultra Low Discharge

Maha Imedion

Nexcell EnergyOn

Accupower Acculoop

Ansman Max-E

GP ReCyko

 

I've also had great luck with the Rayovac hybrid batteries. I see Duracell now also has some hybrid rechargables, I picked up a 4 pack of AA's at Walmart for under $10. The only indication on the package that they were hybrid was the claim that they hold a charge for a year when not in use.

http://www.duracell.com/precharged/

[+Snake & Rooster]

I've tried Powerizer 2700 mah with mixed results. They haven't done well in high drain electronics for me, but have been great in my 60CSx. In the Colorado, I've had the best results with Duracell 2650 NiMH. I've been using the La Crosse BC-900 to recharge all of them and really like it.

[+Snake & Rooster]

With the MH-C9000(Maha) charger they have a general Battery education section in their manual. Under the right charging rate they state "charging at a rate below 0.33C & above 1.0C is not recommended. Charging too slow may prevent the charger from terminating correctly & charging too fast may damage the battery.

 

"C" stands for the battery capacity and the number in front of it is the fraction of the battery capacity. For example, 0.1c means 0.1 times the capacity of the battery. For a 2700mAh battery, 0.1C would be 0.1 times 2700mAh which equal 270mA.

 

I've noticed that some batteries may overcharge when charged too slow--specifically 2650 and 2700s when charged at 200 ma. This explains it. Thanks.

[+Dryphter]

Do any brick and mortar stores sell the LaCrosse charger? or just online?

[+Paul_Aris]

I've tried Powerizer 2700 mah with mixed results. They haven't done well in high drain electronics for me, but have been great in my 60CSx. In the Colorado, I've had the best results with Duracell 2650 NiMH. I've been using the La Crosse BC-900 to recharge all of them and really like it.

 

I run Powerizer in all my GPS and digital cameras. Currently have some 2600 and am having real good results in the colorado. If you get a pair that don't seem to last long after a while. Reset them but taking them out of the charger and sticking them right back in after they have been charged. Or unplug the charger and replug it in. That usually corrects them.

[+Knight2000]

Thank you for the recommendations. I just bought a La Crosse tonight. I am looking forward to rehabbing my batteries. =D

 

It says the batts with the La-Crosse for $35 are 1.2 V. What is up with that?

 

I also use The Rayovac hybrids. They were very reasonably priced with charger at walmart. Our local walmart seems to have stopped selling them though. The last few times i went in there i saw no sign of anything in the Rayovac hybrid line.

[+TrailGators]

Remember to change your GPS battery settings when you use rechargeables!

[+RRLover]

[quote name='knight2000' date='Mar 8 2008, 08:00 PM' post='3359519'

It says the batts with the La-Crosse for $35 are 1.2 V. What is up with that?

Pretty much every rechargeable in the 'AA' & 'AAA' class is a 1.2 voltage, there are some specialty lithiums

that are in the 3.2 volt range (using those would fry anything not designed w/them in mind). Alkalines

tend to run around 1.54-1.59 when fresh off the press. The disposable lithium AAs are around 1.7+

and can cause some peculiar behavior if not toned down in a flashlight or something (briefly) before use in

certain devices.

 

Norm

Edited March 9, 2008 by RRLover

[+EScout]

Regarding chargers, I have the Powerex (Maha) MH-C9000, and like it very much. The La Crosse looks very nice and a great value. These appear to be the smartest of the smart chargers.

 

I have updated a list of hybrid type AA batteries for sale in stores and online order, here in the USA. In no particular order:

 

Rayovac Hybrid

Sanyo Eneloop

Sony Cycle Energy

Uniross Hybrio

Ultralast Hybrio

Kodak Digital Camera, Ultra Low Discharge

Maha Imedion

Nexcell EnergyOn

Accupower Acculoop

Ansman Max-E

GP ReCyko

Duracell Pre-charged

Pro Power Hybrid

[+albsch]

I have been thinking about replacing my old battery charger with a newer one that would discharge and condition batteries as well. After reading some of the posts here I called Thomas Distributing to discuss with them the differences between a Maha unit and the LaCross discussed earlier. They were the most helpful folks I could ever want to talk to. We talked about the units and I made the decision to go with the La Cross BC 900. I wanted to order it while on the phone but was told if I did it on line it would qualify for discounted shipping. Well I ordered yesterday just before noon and has been sitting on my desk since 11:35 conditioning my batteries. I did not opt for the express shipping. I will definitely use this company again. I could not ask for better service!

 

http://thomasdistributing.com/index.htm

[+ROOKIE49]

Whatever battery's you chose don't fry them with a quick charger. Thomas Distributing have La Crosse BC-900 for $35.00. Best charger out there.

 

Just curious, was there any specific reasons for choosing the La Crosse over the Maha?

 

http://www.thomas-distributing.com/la_cros...ery_charger.php

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

 

Norm

They are basically the same unit . The La Crosse is $25.00 easier on the wallet.

 

Thanks for all the help I just ordered the CROSS charger from AMAZON with free shipping!!

[+Dryphter]

I ordered the LaCrosse charger and what a difference. I have about 10 of the Energizer rechargeable AA's and was going to trash a lot of them as they just didn't hold a charge.

 

I've got my first set of 4 in the charger now on the 'Refresh' cycle and it has been running for about a day and a half. One of the batteries was showing only 40mAH when I first put it in and that was after a full charge. Now it's showing 2.62 AH (2600 mAH) - woohoo! it's useful again. So out of 4 batteries that were all under 1400mAH when I started this, only 1 is below 2.52 AH and it's at 2.39.

 

I did find that using the 350 mA discharge setting keeps the unit cooler than jacking it up to the 500 mA setting.

 

Well worth the 40 bucks (amazon.com)

[+Thrak]

I have to wonder about all the reports of defective La Cross BC 900 units. It seems that a number of them have melted down - literally. They destroyed the batteries and the unit go so hot that it melted. Has this problem been addressed?

[+Dryphter]

Apparently they are shipping a version 33 that has corrected this. Version 32 seems to have all the internet horror stories of melt downs.

 

Although look hard enough and I'm sure you'll hear about issues with this version as well. As with any product, people are typically more vocal when it is defective than when it works as advertised.

[+ROOKIE49]

Apparently they are shipping a version 33 that has corrected this. Version 32 seems to have all the internet horror stories of melt downs.

 

Although look hard enough and I'm sure you'll hear about issues with this version as well. As with any product, people are typically more vocal when it is defective than when it works as advertised.

 

I just recieved my La Cross from AMAZON, how do I check for the version?

[Ferreter5]

We are currently using lithium batteries. A 12 pack from SAM's is affordable, but we're going thru them pretty quick and I hate dumping them in the landfill. Someone mentioned Rayovac hybrid rechargeables.

 

What have you guys had success with?

Low self discharge NiHM rechargable AA batteries such as Maha Imedion or Sanyo Eneloop, and a good charger by Maha or LaCrosse.

 

I have a slightly older version of this Maha charger and it has worked well for me for charging AA and AAA batteries.

 

I almost never quick charge my batteries and almost always slow charge them and have had no life-length problems with my batteries. About once a year I run my batteries through a recondition cycle.

Edited March 20, 2008 by Ferreter5

[+Dryphter]

When you first plug it in, there are numbers that are shown on the LCD's. The number on the far right is the version. I believe the other two on the left are the current readings of the 2 temperature sensors in the unit.

[bigbill25]

Just saw a good post on rechargeables:

 

http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/001078.html

 

--Bill