batteries

[+kissguy&frannyfru]

What are some good rechargable batteries and charger that wont break the bank to use with an oregon 450t?

Also,can you charge these with a car charger while still in the unit?

[+Entropy512]

What are some good rechargable batteries and charger that wont break the bank to use with an oregon 450t?

Also,can you charge these with a car charger while still in the unit?

1) Any Ultra-Low Self Discharge (aka precharged aka hybrid) NiMH. Make sure the listed capacity is 2000 mAh or 2100 mAh - although so far unlike non-ULSD cells, there aren't "cheapo" ULSDs with pitiful capacity on the market yet

2) MaHa MH-C9000 is great, but LaCrosse BC-700 is more than enough for nearly anyone and $20 cheaper ($30 for the LaCrosse, $50 for the MaHa

 

3) No, car power supply will stop battery discharge, but will not recharge batteries.

[+kissguy&frannyfru]

What are some good rechargable batteries and charger that wont break the bank to use with an oregon 450t?

Also,can you charge these with a car charger while still in the unit?

1) Any Ultra-Low Self Discharge (aka precharged aka hybrid) NiMH. Make sure the listed capacity is 2000 mAh or 2100 mAh - although so far unlike non-ULSD cells, there aren't "cheapo" ULSDs with pitiful capacity on the market yet

2) MaHa MH-C9000 is great, but LaCrosse BC-700 is more than enough for nearly anyone and $20 cheaper ($30 for the LaCrosse, $50 for the MaHa

 

3) No, car power supply will stop battery discharge, but will not recharge batteries.

 

Thanks alot,i found some that are 2500 mah,will they work ok?

[+Chrysalides]

Thanks alot,i found some that are 2500 mah,will they work ok?

2500mAH NiMH will work just fine, but they're not low self discharge (those don't seem to come in capacities higher than 2100 mAH).

 

As long as you're using them within the first week or two of being recharged, they'll still hold a significant percentage of charge.

[bigbad401]

They are not the low-self discharge batteries. Best to get the low-self discharge batteries with the 2100 mAh.

[+hdarpini]

2) MaHa MH-C9000 is great, but LaCrosse BC-700 is more than enough for nearly anyone and $20 cheaper ($30 for the LaCrosse, $50 for the MaHa

Ditto on the La Crosse BC-700. It'll help you to maximize battery capacity and life. It may seem confusing to operate at first, but if you go through the instructions carefully, you'll get the hang of it in no time.

[+Redwoods Mtn Biker]

I know there are plenty of folks who swear by the advanced chargers, but I'm still using Eneloop low-discharge batteries and their standard charger. Its drop-dead easy and gives me everything I need.

[bigbad401]

I used to use the standard "dumb" chargers for a long time also. But since I got my LaCrosse BC-700 "smart" charger my batteries are lasting longer in the devices that I use them in. For $30 it can't be beat. It will extend the life of the batteries and charge them to their full potential.

[+StarBrand]

I used to use the standard "dumb" chargers for a long time also. But since I got my LaCrosse BC-700 "smart" charger my batteries are lasting longer in the devices that I use them in. For $30 it can't be beat. It will extend the life of the batteries and charge them to their full potential.

Agreed - my wife thought I had wasted money on the fancy LaCrosse charger.

 

However - suddenly the batteries last longer, some old batteries that I thought were no good got easily refreshed, They don't get hot while charging. I am very satisfied.

[+Entropy512]

I used to use the standard "dumb" chargers for a long time also. But since I got my LaCrosse BC-700 "smart" charger my batteries are lasting longer in the devices that I use them in. For $30 it can't be beat. It will extend the life of the batteries and charge them to their full potential.

Agreed - my wife thought I had wasted money on the fancy LaCrosse charger.

 

However - suddenly the batteries last longer, some old batteries that I thought were no good got easily refreshed, They don't get hot while charging. I am very satisfied.

One of the big flaws with cheaper chargers that don't have independent charge channels is that if one battery in the set is slightly weaker than the others, it will frequently not get fully charged because the other cells will trigger charge termination. The battery's charge level will get farther and farther from the rest, resulting to potential cell reversal when the battery fully discharges before the other cells are close to being discharged.

 

Cell reversal = BAD - the cell will be pretty much shot at this point.

 

A charger with independent circuits for each cell will top off each cell independently, eliminating the slow buildup of charge level deltas across the pack.

[+ecanderson]

Figured I would cross-post this over here:

 

QUOTE(Entropy512 @ May 20 2010, 11:25 AM) *

 

What's this about no more compass cal? Is the compass known to go un-cal with NiMHs? That might explain the one big frustration I have with my unit (compass loses cal frequently.)

--------------------------------

Yup. Looked at the discharge profile Powergenix was claiming for their NiZn cells and decided to give them a try. They start "hot" (about like a lithium cell) and the voltage is very flat during use until they just sort of drop off a cliff when they're discharged. Good to have a spare set handy since there's really no warning.

 

Since the electronic compass chips in these Garmin units (both 2D and 3D versions) appear to be quite voltage sensitive, they tend to whack out as the voltage drops on your cells with use, and whack out again if you have recalibrated at the low voltage and toss another freshly charged set in. The discharge profile on the NiZn cells is so flat that once calibrated with them, I haven't had need to recal my Dakota 20 once since then.

 

Ran an entire caching day today from about 10:00am to 8:20pm on one freshly charged pair. I doubt they had much gas left at that point, but they do hold up well during the course of a day. Time will tell if I get the number of charge cycles I'd like to see (aka "life"). Have had them in use for about 75 caching days and that many recharges.

 

The only gotcha is that due to the chemistry, you can't approach them as you would a NiMH, so my Lacrosse charger can't be used. They come with their own charger. It's a decent unit -- treats each cell individually as a good charger should.

 

This is the 4 cell / charger combo I picked up: http://www.amazon.com/PowerGenix-ZR-PGX1HR...0939&sr=8-1

 

Extra cells run about $2.38 each, same source.

 

What I'm really looking forward to trying is the cold temperature operation with these cells. NiMH voltages drop into the bucket at cold temperatures. These NiZn cells start high enough that the cold temperature drop may not be nearly so noticeable. We'll find out when the weather changes in the fall.

Edited May 21, 2010 by ecanderson

[+hdarpini]

One of the big flaws with cheaper chargers that don't have independent charge channels is that if one battery in the set is slightly weaker than the others, it will frequently not get fully charged because the other cells will trigger charge termination.

The "dumb" chargers aren't totally useless if you own a BC-700 or similar charger that won't recognize a battery if its charge falls too low. When that happens, I jump-start the battery in the "dumb" charger just enough so the BC-700 will recognize it and charge it.