+TheLoneGrangers Posted December 8, 2011 Posted December 8, 2011 Another great woot deal for 3 20pack of aa or aaa batteries for 5.99. Not sure about the brand, but for 10 bucks (with shipping) its worth it. I am not affiliated with Woot at all, just thought I would share with the community that uses alot of batteries! lol Quote
+TheLoneGrangers Posted December 8, 2011 Author Posted December 8, 2011 nevermind these aren't alkaline batteries. Not a good deal. Quote
+Frank Broughton Posted December 8, 2011 Posted December 8, 2011 They are not good batteries, they are heavy duty batteries not alkaline. http://www.ehow.com/info_7871725_alkaline-vs-heavy-duty-batteries.html Quote
+Team Dennis Posted December 8, 2011 Posted December 8, 2011 I've been very happy with the Duracell rechargable batteries that I bought 2 years ago. I got a 4 pack along with a charger as a "Black Friday" special for roughly $10.00 and I'm pretty sure they have paid for themsleves at least 10 times over. Quote
+Walts Hunting Posted December 8, 2011 Posted December 8, 2011 Actually the more you pay the cheaper they are. Those will probably far exceed other types in long term cost. If you aren't going with rechargeable (by far the cheapest long term) then you should spring for lithium. They are twice as much as alkaline but (at least for me) lasted 4-5 times longer. Although since I got my Montana I have only had to put in batteries one time and that was when I was out on the trail for about 7 hours. Quote
+jellis Posted December 9, 2011 Posted December 9, 2011 I sometimes pick mine up for free our local events, which a cacher brings after only being used for a short time. Quote
+TerraViators Posted December 9, 2011 Posted December 9, 2011 Go with rechargebles...it's better for the landfills, anyway. Besides, you can see a pile of 1,000,000,000 disposable batteries from space. Quote
+power69 Posted December 9, 2011 Posted December 9, 2011 Another great woot deal for 3 20pack of aa or aaa batteries for 5.99. Not sure about the brand, but for 10 bucks (with shipping) its worth it. I am not affiliated with Woot at all, just thought I would share with the community that uses alot of batteries! lol i'll only bite if they're E squareds as thats all i feed my gps. Quote
+The_Incredibles_ Posted December 13, 2011 Posted December 13, 2011 I"m all for rechargable batteries. With my Garmin even with cheap disposables I"d have to take out a 2nd mortgage just to pay for batteries. Quote
GOF and Bacall Posted December 13, 2011 Posted December 13, 2011 Rechargeables are the way to go. Just don't go with the elcheapos. Also, I recommend an inverter for your car. Not only do we charge our GPS batteries we also charge our laptop, cameras, cell phones, and whatever else we have that eats electrons. Heck, we even made margaritas while camping. Quote
johnlvs2run Posted December 17, 2011 Posted December 17, 2011 If you aren't going with rechargeable (by far the cheapest long term) then you should spring for lithium. They are twice as much as alkaline but (at least for me) lasted 4-5 times longer. I got 4x AA energizer lithium for 4.96 from ebay, my first time to try them. Quote
+GrateBear Posted December 17, 2011 Posted December 17, 2011 I used Kirkland batteries for years, and finally made the move to Eneloops a few months ago. If you look around, you can get a good deal on them. I now have the two in the GPSr, and 4 in a case they came in, plus another 8 in reserve. Quote
+Mitragorz Posted December 17, 2011 Posted December 17, 2011 I used Kirkland batteries for years, and finally made the move to Eneloops a few months ago. If you look around, you can get a good deal on them. I now have the two in the GPSr, and 4 in a case they came in, plus another 8 in reserve. I just bought a bunch of Eneloops. I hear great things about them! Quote
+BlueDeuce Posted December 17, 2011 Posted December 17, 2011 Non-rechargeable Energizer AA 36 pack - $13.55 Home Depot Quote
+DonB Posted December 17, 2011 Posted December 17, 2011 I used Kirkland batteries for years, and finally made the move to Eneloops a few months ago. If you look around, you can get a good deal on them. I now have the two in the GPSr, and 4 in a case they came in, plus another 8 in reserve. I just bought a bunch of Eneloops. I hear great things about them! When you buy Eneloops make sure you get the latest version. Good for 1500 recharges and hold 75% of their charge for three years. Makes them good for things like flashlights that are only used occasionally. Quote
+power69 Posted December 17, 2011 Posted December 17, 2011 I used Kirkland batteries for years, and finally made the move to Eneloops a few months ago. If you look around, you can get a good deal on them. I now have the two in the GPSr, and 4 in a case they came in, plus another 8 in reserve. Eneloop is the gold standard in rechargables. wouldn't recommend rechargables for high drain devices tho. Quote
+snowfreak37 Posted December 17, 2011 Posted December 17, 2011 Has anyone tried the "new" high capacity eneloops? The ones that are wrapped in black rather than white. I find that the eneloops mAh rating is one of the most accurate out there. Quote
+snowfreak37 Posted December 17, 2011 Posted December 17, 2011 I used Kirkland batteries for years, and finally made the move to Eneloops a few months ago. If you look around, you can get a good deal on them. I now have the two in the GPSr, and 4 in a case they came in, plus another 8 in reserve. Eneloop is the gold standard in rechargables. wouldn't recommend rechargables for high drain devices tho. Just curious why? I find that the only battery a quality rechargable will not beat is the lithiums. Quote
+JesandTodd Posted December 17, 2011 Posted December 17, 2011 I seem to remember my garmin saying to not use rechargables... Do people still use them? Quote
GOF and Bacall Posted December 17, 2011 Posted December 17, 2011 I seem to remember my garmin saying to not use rechargables... Do people still use them? My Garmin has settings for Alkaline, NiMH, or Lithium. Quote
+Viajero Perdido Posted December 17, 2011 Posted December 17, 2011 (edited) It's lithiums that Garmin didn't recommend for a while. Rechargeable NiMh have always been okay. My Garmins even have an NiMh setting (vs Alkaline) so they can give an accurate number of bars of battery life. Eneloops (hard to find in Canada), "duraloops" (Duracell-branded Eneloops) and the like are the best because they have very slow self-discharge. That's ideal in an emergency flashlight, but doesn't count for much in a GPSr owned by a hard-core cacher who's recharging batteries twice a week. PS: The low-self-discharge rechargeables - Eneloops et al - also have low internal resistance, which makes them ideal for high-drain applications, like powerful flashlights. Many GPS units (like my trusty 60CSx) are actually low-drain units; I can get two long days of caching from a single tired set of NiMh rechargeables. Edited December 17, 2011 by Viajero Perdido Quote
+Mitragorz Posted December 17, 2011 Posted December 17, 2011 Has anyone tried the "new" high capacity eneloops? The ones that are wrapped in black rather than white. I find that the eneloops mAh rating is one of the most accurate out there. I bought a 4-pack recently. Depending on how well they do, I'll be using them in my GPSr and my noise-canceling aviation headset, which eats a pair of AAs a week. I'll probably pick up another four. Quote
+baloo&bd Posted December 17, 2011 Posted December 17, 2011 Has anyone tried the "new" high capacity eneloops? The ones that are wrapped in black rather than white. I find that the eneloops mAh rating is one of the most accurate out there. I bought a 4-pack recently. Depending on how well they do, I'll be using them in my GPSr and my noise-canceling aviation headset, which eats a pair of AAs a week. I'll probably pick up another four. I started to get them. However if you look at the life expectancy, the high capacity ones are good for 500 recharge cycles, the 2000's are good for 1500. Since the 2000's go 8 to 10 hours in both the CO and MT, I think I'll stick with them. They have them now at Costco 10 for $14.95. Quote
+snowfreak37 Posted December 17, 2011 Posted December 17, 2011 Has anyone tried the "new" high capacity eneloops? The ones that are wrapped in black rather than white. I find that the eneloops mAh rating is one of the most accurate out there. I bought a 4-pack recently. Depending on how well they do, I'll be using them in my GPSr and my noise-canceling aviation headset, which eats a pair of AAs a week. I'll probably pick up another four. I bought what I though was a high quality high capacity 4 pack of rechargable AA batteries and after 20 full charge/discharge cycles the mAh was under 2500mAh. They are currently below that after about 100 charges. They were advertised at 2850. They also are not the LSD (low self discharge) type which means I need to recharge both sets before heading out. On the flip side ALL of my eneloops have tested within +/- 50 mAh of 2000 mAh. I'll take the plunge soon enough, just hoping they will increase the current total recharge cycles well past the current 500 mark. I also hope they come out with a "true" 3000 mAh AA battery. On a long day of caching my 2850's give out the last few hours. It would be nice not to have to change them out for the day. Quote
+BAMBOOZLE Posted December 18, 2011 Posted December 18, 2011 Has anyone tried the "new" high capacity eneloops? The ones that are wrapped in black rather than white. I find that the eneloops mAh rating is one of the most accurate out there. I bought a 4-pack recently. Depending on how well they do, I'll be using them in my GPSr and my noise-canceling aviation headset, which eats a pair of AAs a week. I'll probably pick up another four. I'm a battery / charger nut. I got the Sony Eneloop 2500 ( black ) and they are GREAT ! The Oregon 450 goes about 12 hours of constant use as does the 62S .....my older Magellan could go for days. I also almost never have to calibrate my compass ( 3 tri axis compass units )after changing batteries. These have to be the best option out there. I was using MAHA PowerX 2500 which were good but nothing like the Eneloop. Quote
+Cliff's Notes Posted December 18, 2011 Posted December 18, 2011 Recently made the switch to rechargeables buying a Duracell charger and some rechargeables from Duracell as well. If I bought the Eneloop batteries can I use the Duracell charger with it, or will I rip a tear in the space time continuum? Quote
+snowfreak37 Posted December 18, 2011 Posted December 18, 2011 Recently made the switch to rechargeables buying a Duracell charger and some rechargeables from Duracell as well. If I bought the Eneloop batteries can I use the Duracell charger with it, or will I rip a tear in the space time continuum? I'm not sure why but the rip a tear in the space time continuum struck a major funny bone over here!! Star Trek?? You will be fine with your duracell charger on the Eneloops. For what its worth I have both the duracells and the eneloops and the duracells have performed on par with the Eneloops. I will add that most chargers you purchase are fully automatic. Great for tossing them in and forgetting about them but not so great for the longevity of the battery. Most of the automatic chargers are focused on the speed in which they charge the battery. The faster they charge the warmer/hotter the battery becomes which is not good for the rechargable. There are a few chargers out there that will let you manually select the charge/discharge rate to get the maximum life out of your rechargables. Either way the space time continum will be just fine unless your recharging the lithium crystals! Quote
+luvvinbird Posted December 18, 2011 Posted December 18, 2011 Thanks to contributors to this forum, I'm a lot more battery savvy than I once was. Although not ideal, an affordable and easily available solution for me was to go with the Duracell rechargeable's. These are the "copper top" batteries with the "white" caps at the positive end. They're the competition to the Sanyo Eneloops and boast a shelf life of 80% capacity after one year. Staples recently had them on sale at $11.99 for a package of four. I'm presently using a basic two-battery charger that may or may not charge both batteries equally but it's been working out for me. Needless to say, I always carry a spare set just in case. Quote
+Chrysalides Posted December 18, 2011 Posted December 18, 2011 Eneloop is the gold standard in rechargables. wouldn't recommend rechargables for high drain devices tho. NiMH batteries are fantastic in high drain devices. Their low internal resistance (compared to alkaline) means that they can supply a much higher current. My external flash, for example, lasts much longer and cycles much faster with NiMH than with alkalines. Even the relatively low capacity Eneloops. Quote
+power69 Posted December 18, 2011 Posted December 18, 2011 I used Kirkland batteries for years, and finally made the move to Eneloops a few months ago. If you look around, you can get a good deal on them. I now have the two in the GPSr, and 4 in a case they came in, plus another 8 in reserve. Eneloop is the gold standard in rechargables. wouldn't recommend rechargables for high drain devices tho. Just curious why? I find that the only battery a quality rechargable will not beat is the lithiums. they report lower voltage to device which could cause low batt issues Quote
+snowfreak37 Posted December 18, 2011 Posted December 18, 2011 I used Kirkland batteries for years, and finally made the move to Eneloops a few months ago. If you look around, you can get a good deal on them. I now have the two in the GPSr, and 4 in a case they came in, plus another 8 in reserve. Eneloop is the gold standard in rechargables. wouldn't recommend rechargables for high drain devices tho. Just curious why? I find that the only battery a quality rechargable will not beat is the lithiums. they report lower voltage to device which could cause low batt issues I have read in some publications that the low voltage from NiMh can cause some electronic devices to not work. I have not experienced this in any of my equipment. The low voltage associated with NiMh rechargables is consistent until the battery is almost depleted. One of the major benefits of these "new" lsd (low self discharge) batteries is the low internal resistance. Meaning they actually work very well in high drain devices. Not as well as the throw away lithium's but a major step up from even the best of alkaline battery brands. Quote
AZcachemeister Posted December 18, 2011 Posted December 18, 2011 The only issue I've ever had with rechargeables is the steep voltage drop-off at the end of the service cycle. In the GPSr this means there is only a minute (or less) between the LOW BATTERY warning and low battery shutdown. I have four of the new(er) NiZn batteries and they still produce the same results despite their 1.6V rating. Quote
+Chrysalides Posted December 18, 2011 Posted December 18, 2011 I used Kirkland batteries for years, and finally made the move to Eneloops a few months ago. If you look around, you can get a good deal on them. I now have the two in the GPSr, and 4 in a case they came in, plus another 8 in reserve. Eneloop is the gold standard in rechargables. wouldn't recommend rechargables for high drain devices tho. Just curious why? I find that the only battery a quality rechargable will not beat is the lithiums. they report lower voltage to device which could cause low batt issues When you use alkaline batteries on high drain devices, the high current draw actually causes a drop in voltage. Even normal draw will cause a drop in voltage. Straight out of wikipedia's article on alkaline batteries : "the average voltage under load depends on discharge and varies from 1.1 to 1.3 V". There are certainly devices that should not use NiMH. Clocks, for example. And remote controls. I have used Eneloops in my wireless mouse with success - they don't last as long as alkalines, but I figured 4 - 5 months is very good. I've not had any problems with digital cameras all the way back to 1999, and I haven't had any problems with all 3 of my Garmins. Quote
+Frank Broughton Posted January 5, 2012 Posted January 5, 2012 I have used this place for years when buying my rechargeable batteries: http://www.thomasdistributing.com/Sanyo-Eneloop_c_1020.html They have a good FAQ on batteries and chargers: http://www.thomasdistributing.com/Battery-and-Charger-FAQ_ep_46-1.html Quote
+BAMBOOZLE Posted January 5, 2012 Posted January 5, 2012 I have used this place for years when buying my rechargeable batteries: http://www.thomasdistributing.com/Sanyo-Eneloop_c_1020.html They have a good FAQ on batteries and chargers: http://www.thomasdistributing.com/Battery-and-Charger-FAQ_ep_46-1.html This is where I've bought all my batteries and chargers. Quote
+baloo&bd Posted January 5, 2012 Posted January 5, 2012 I have used this place for years when buying my rechargeable batteries: http://www.thomasdistributing.com/Sanyo-Eneloop_c_1020.html They have a good FAQ on batteries and chargers: http://www.thomasdistributing.com/Battery-and-Charger-FAQ_ep_46-1.html This is where I've bought all my batteries and chargers. They are great sites but stay away from the deals with batteries packaged unless they truly are included for free. They are usually Powerex or some other cheap rechargeable. I started off with Powerex when I got my charger. After sixteen or so and having the charger checked out to see if it was working properly because the batteries would not hold charges very long, I tried the Eneloop 2000 mAh and have not looked back. In addition to Thomas, if you have a Batteries Plus franchise near you they carry the MAHA chargers as well. (support the local economy) I have the MH-C9000 charger, which is great. Conditions as well as charges. Quote
+beelady2 Posted January 5, 2012 Posted January 5, 2012 Wow...who knew there were so many choices! I switched to an Eveready charger/batteries about a year ago...It is fast, charges in 20 minutes or less and came with a car jack..so I can always have spares ready to go, charging as I drive to a location. They last soooo much longer the disposables that I have stopped using them all together and use these for my camera as well. Quote
diggingest_dogg616 Posted January 6, 2012 Posted January 6, 2012 My head is like, swimming with battery information now! Next time I'm out to spend some money, I'm going to try and some good rechargable batteries and a charger. It seems like I have to change out batteries in my Garmin more ofter than I'd like, but as long as I have plenty of extras then whatever Actually, I might get some for my little mp3 player speakers too, because they'll eat batteries like crazy! The GPS has higher priorty though, hehe Quote
+the4dirtydogs Posted January 6, 2012 Posted January 6, 2012 We use the Garmin Rino 530Hcx, this unit runs on a lithium-ion battery pack. The charge is around 14 hours or so, then plug the unit back in and you're ready to go. Never had a problem yet. So we don't buy batteries for our GPSr. Quote
+ras_oscar Posted January 6, 2012 Posted January 6, 2012 I have been using Enloops with a duracel 2 cell charger for 2 years. I wonder when it's going to be time to replace these batteries. I have 4 pair that rotate through my storage system. 2 sets freshly charged in the caching bag, 1 set in the GPSr in whatever is their current discharge state, and 1 set in the charger ready to swap for an exhausted set. The charger came with a pair of duracell rechargables, and I bought another pair of " high capacity" duracel cells. The high cap was a disappointment, since they actually discarged themselves in the bag and were "Dead on arrival" when I needed them. That was the only time I came close to running out of batteries on the trail. Both duracells have long since been retired, the first enloops are still in service. Quote
+baloo&bd Posted January 6, 2012 Posted January 6, 2012 The biggest thing you can do for the life of ANY rechargeble is to get a quality charger. Fast chargers, the ones that work in 15 to 30 mins, reduce the fife of the battery because when they charge that fast they overheat the battery. Just like good BBQ, slow and low is best. Quote
+Scorpio49 Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 Oregon 450 says nimh above 2500 recommended. Will the eneloop 2000 work in 450 ? Quote
+Chrysalides Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 Oregon 450 says nimh above 2500 recommended. Will the eneloop 2000 work in 450 ? Works just fine on mine. Quote
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