+jkingscott Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Hi I'm finding my 450 is constantly eating batteries. Normal alkaline ones don't seem to last very long, I've never had much joy from rechargeable ones - maybe the ones I have are too old? What's the best solution? Lithium? Lithium rechargeables? John UK Quote Link to comment
+Olddffart Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Hi I'm finding my 450 is constantly eating batteries. Normal alkaline ones don't seem to last very long, I've never had much joy from rechargeable ones - maybe the ones I have are too old? What's the best solution? Lithium? Lithium rechargeables? John UK With my Oregon 450, I get as little as 6-8 hrs on Lithium rechargeables IF the backlight is turned up high. However, I can get 12-16 hrs from the same batteries if I turn the backlight down to as low as is comfortable to see. The backlight seems to use a lot of battery power!! Quote Link to comment
+PokerLuck Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 I use the Eneloops, the ones with the black labels and 2500 mAh capacity. I get about 6 or 8 hours out of a set, and I don't turn down the screen brightness. I have a Maha MH-C9000 charger that does a great job of keeping the batteries in good condition. The fast chargers that plug into an outlet destroy rechargeables. I don't use more than two sets a day, so it's not a problem. I just keep an extra set in my backpack, which I always take with me. If you don't like rechargeables, use lithium. They last a couple of days in my 450. Quote Link to comment
MtnHermit Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 Another vote for Eneloops, been able to do a 3-day backpack on a pair. Only on while hiking. Also, a quality Lacrosse or Maha charger is a must, the little fast chargers will destroy any battery in a few cycles. Basically if it doesn't have an LCD charge indicator for each cell, you've wasted your money. I typically use the default 200 ma charge rate. Quote Link to comment
+BAMBOOZLE Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 I use the Eneloops, the ones with the black labels and 2500 mAh capacity. I get about 6 or 8 hours out of a set, and I don't turn down the screen brightness. I have a Maha MH-C9000 charger that does a great job of keeping the batteries in good condition. The fast chargers that plug into an outlet destroy rechargeables. I don't use more than two sets a day, so it's not a problem. I just keep an extra set in my backpack, which I always take with me. If you don't like rechargeables, use lithium. They last a couple of days in my 450. Agree with all.....its what I use. I got 24 hr on my 62S the other day. Quote Link to comment
+jkingscott Posted April 10, 2013 Author Share Posted April 10, 2013 Thanks all, I'll check them out. Quote Link to comment
+DragonsWest Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 NiMH cells. Eneloops and Duracells have done very well for me. I get about a day and a half, with a little use of backlight or enable track recording (which seems to consume a little extra power) I carry a few charged sets for the GPSr and anything else which runs on them. My advice on NiZn cells, stay away from them. They were dead and wouldn't hold a charge within a couple months. Quote Link to comment
MtnHermit Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 My advice on NiZn cells, stay away from them. They were dead and wouldn't hold a charge within a couple months. NiZn work a lot better in cold (below freezing) weather, than NiMH. That cheap charger they came with is suspect. I'll know a lot more next year if they still work. Quote Link to comment
+BlackRose67 Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 What's the best solution? Lithium? Lithium rechargeables? I see you've already got an answer, but I am assuming you meant NiMh rechargeables and not lithium rechargeables. AA sized lithium rechargeables do exist, but they are 4.2 volts each at full charge. A pair of those (8.4 volts) will toast your GPS. Quote Link to comment
+kwcahart Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 Another vote for enloops. My 450 will go all day++ with the enloops or the powerex 2700 AA. I had some NiZn and I threw them away. They just didn't work very well at all. Quote Link to comment
+Kolenka Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 With my Oregon 450, I get as little as 6-8 hrs on Lithium rechargeables IF the backlight is turned up high. However, I can get 12-16 hrs from the same batteries if I turn the backlight down to as low as is comfortable to see. The backlight seems to use a lot of battery power!! Out of curiosity, are you leaving the backlight on all the time, or letting it time out? I can get about 12 hours of "on" time with alkaline batteries, or over 16 hours with a pair of Eneloop XXs. That is: - Power Saver: Turned off - Display Timeout: 15 seconds - Track Logging: Auto / Normal Alkalines: Backlight set to 40-60% Eneloops: Backlight set to 100% So I'm able to actually get ~17 hours of runtime with the backlight at 100% assuming I'm letting it time out, and that isn't with the screen turning off entirely. It sounds like a bunch of folks may be leaving the backlight on longer than I do, which is a big drain, as you say. Quote Link to comment
+rockgurl1965 Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 Hi I'm finding my 450 is constantly eating batteries. Normal alkaline ones don't seem to last very long, I've never had much joy from rechargeable ones - maybe the ones I have are too old? What's the best solution? Lithium? Lithium rechargeables? John UK Try the Lithium, they last longer than alakline, We went through alkaline in less than two days, the Lithium have been at full charge for two weeks. It is worth the extra money. Quote Link to comment
+Foothills Drifter Posted April 12, 2013 Share Posted April 12, 2013 Hi I'm finding my 450 is constantly eating batteries. Normal alkaline ones don't seem to last very long, I've never had much joy from rechargeable ones - maybe the ones I have are too old? What's the best solution? Lithium? Lithium rechargeables? John UK Try the Lithium, they last longer than alakline, We went through alkaline in less than two days, the Lithium have been at full charge for two weeks. It is worth the extra money. Howdy...... My Lithium's lasted about two days. Not very good. I ain't gonna use em no more.... Vern / Foothills Drifter... Quote Link to comment
+ClimbGuy Posted April 12, 2013 Share Posted April 12, 2013 I know the unit provides the option in setup to tell the unit which type of battery you are using. Does anyone know if this plays a roll in battery life? If so, perhaps this would help? Quote Link to comment
+Viajero Perdido Posted April 12, 2013 Share Posted April 12, 2013 It doesn't. Selecting the battery type merely makes the battery gauge work properly - because different battery types have different voltages. Quote Link to comment
+facade66 Posted April 12, 2013 Share Posted April 12, 2013 Is it actually turning off, or simply claiming the batteries are low? Since I "upgraded" the firmware on my 550, the battery gauge shoots down, and the "low battery" appeared after 2 hours, but the unit stayed on for a total of 8 1/2 hours, 6 1/2 of them with a single red bar indicated. I've set the battery type back to alkaline and powered down, then powered up and reset it to NiMH, but I didn't try a drain test since. I use 2700mAH NiMH cells, and the backlight is permanently on at about 90%. Quote Link to comment
+Lieblweb Posted April 12, 2013 Share Posted April 12, 2013 (edited) We also use eneloops and make sure the backlight is off. Edited April 12, 2013 by Lieblweb Quote Link to comment
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