What type of batteries do you use?

[Guest Pat in Louisiana]

With so many types out there I was wondering what you find works best.

Alkaline, NiCad, Photo grade,.....

 

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Pat in Louisiana

 

"I just want to live happily ever after every now and then"

Jimmy Buffet

[Guest peter]

quote:

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Originally posted by Pat in Louisiana:

With so many types out there I was wondering what you find works best.

Alkaline, NiCad, Photo grade ...

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If you're going to be using your GPS quite a bit (or have other devices that also need AA cells), then it's worth getting some high capacity NiMH cells and a decent charger. The best deal is usually to get cells that have just a little less capacity than the highest currently available - right now the 1600 mA-hr cells look best to me since they're significantly cheaper than the 1700-1800 cells and last almost as long per charge. [NiCds will work too, but they only last about half as long per charge and have greater environmental concerns with their disposal.]

In a typical GPSR the NiMH cells will last about as long on a single charge as disposable alkalines, but you can recharge the NiMHs hundreds of times so the overall cost is much less.

The charger should be designed for NiMH cells and it's preferable that it sense the slight voltage dip when the cells are fully charged and reduce the charging current to 'trickle' level at that point. I use the Maha C204F model and it seems to work well.

http://www.thomasdistributing.com is one source, but there are several others that are equally good.

[Guest Gliderguy]

I concur, good Nimh batteries and a charger are the way to go. They dont develop "battery memory" like the older Nicads and as the previous poster said they have a good usable life. I agree that right now the 1600 mAh batteries are probably the best bargain. I am still using some older 1200 and 1300 mAh batteries that get me between 8 and 10 hours of runtime on my Garmin III+. I wouldnt buy anything rated less than 1200 mAh especially now that the 1600's are getting pretty common. Even Wal-Mart carries at least two brands. One of those is rated at 1600 mAh, and the other was 1300. (just look on the side of the battery. it is listed right beside the voltage (1.25 volts for Nimh) I would NOT buy any rechargable batteries that didnt state its milliamp hour rating right on the battery or somewhere in the packaging.

 

One point: once you buy a certain kind and capacity, I recommend sticking with that brand and milliamp hour rating. mixing different capacity / brands of batteries in a charger all but guarantees you will under charge the higher capacity cells.

 

Most chargers made now have a switch on them that allows you to charge either Nimh or Nicad batteries.

[Guest mcb]

good non rechargable alkaline. I have used them for over two years and have alway been happy with them.

 

One other thing. If you are going to be using you GPS is really cold weather then you might want to look for some AA lithium batteries. Many other battery types have current delivery problems at low temperatures. That or you can keep you GPS inside you coat on only get it out to figure out where you are.

 

mcb

[Guest peter]

quote:

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Originally posted by mcb:

The big advantage {of rechargable alkalines} is that the are alkaline and thus are a 1.5 V cells instead of the 1.25 V of NiMH or 1.2 V of the NiCd. Their major draw back in that you only get 10-25 recharges before they die.

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Agreed that the limited recharge cycles is the major drawback. The higher voltage would only be an advantage if the GPSR were not designed to operate just as well on a lower voltage, but in fact, the GPSRs I've used are designed to operate properly on cell voltages as low as 0.9 V and gain no advantage from a higher voltage. Also note that an alkaline cell will only put out 1.5 V when new (or newly charged). As it is used, the voltage drops steadily and won't be much higher than the NiMH or NiCd cell for much of its useful life.

I did do some experiments with pairs of cells to see if there was any effect on GPSR performance due to the voltage of the cells on the Garmin 12 and eMap. I was unable to find any such effect - the sensitivity, number of satellites tracked, screen refresh rate, and serial interface performance were all unaffected whether I had loaded 1.5 V cells or nearly exhausted 1.0 V cells. I also noted that the serial port pulses were +/- 6 V on the eMap despite only having 2 cells of 1 VDC each.

If your GPSR is used relatively infrequently, then the rechargeable alkalines can make sense - they're certainly much better than the throw-away kind. But my eMap is in use quite a few hours per day (geocaching is a very small portion of this use) and I need to charge the cells at least once every other day. This would require the purchase of a pair of rechargeable alkalines once a month. OTOH, the NiMH cells are already over a year old and should last for several more.

 

I agree on the use of lithium single-use cells in very cold conditions or for expedition use where weight considerations are critical. Otherwise they are prohibitively expensive in the long run.

[Guest k2dave]

I use 1600mAH Nimh cells. They will last 11 hours in my iii+. Regular alks will last about 19hrs. I have never tried rechargable alks.

[Guest k2dave]

one other note. Photo grade or 'ultra' batts are designed for high drain devices. They will not give you much additional performance in your gps and might actually give you less time.

 

If you need really long run times go for lithium.

[Guest Gliderguy]

I went through the renewal rechargable alkalines for a while. I noticed that each charge the runtime seemed to be less and less. Eventually when the useful life isnt really useful anymore you just chunk them. on the flip side in their favor is that they dont self discharge. If you dont go more than maybe 10 trips a year the Renewals might be worth a look, but if you go a lot the NiMH will be a better long term value. Until something like rechargable lithium ion batteries come out I think NiMH are the most practical.

[Guest Bob Bowter]

I use NiMH most of the time, alkaline when backpacking and lithium when it gets really cold out.

[Guest SecretSpy]

Wal-mart

Nimh 1600mah

[Guest hfmcan34]

If your worried about battery life, wait about 6-8 weeks and the new 1800 mAh NMh batteries will be out. If your worried about cost, visit the internet sites as some have already started to clear out lesser capacity AA's. If you never want to run out of juice, plug into one of the rechargable portable Power Centers used to jump start your car. Unfortunately, they weigh about 20lbs but, hey, a few miles with one of these and you can skip your next visit to the gym.

[Guest SteveL]

I have a bunch of NiMH AA's from Thomas distributing that I use with my Nikon CoolPix 950 digital camera, and I think they are the best thing since sliced bread. In a high drain device, they easily last 2-3 times longer than an alkaline, in a low drain device my experience is that an alkaline lasts longer. I use a pair in my GPS, and carry a spare pair with me - I can run all day just fine. If you use your GPS frequently, it's the only way to go, if not, stick with alkaline. BTW, the "memory effect" is WAY overblown, practically a myth. NiMH do not suffer at all from it, early NiCADs when discharged and charged repeatedly to within 1-2% of a specific point on the discharge curve (i.e., under lab conditions, not real world) would show this "effect". This was engineered out YEARS ago...

 

SteveL

[Guest Geoffrey]

chargeable alkalines. I have tried recharging the Rechargable alalines, after using them in a flashlight, and they overheat and leak in the charger.

 

IF you used rechargeable alkalines, dont run them down. The amount that they are run down, limit the number of times that you can recharge them. That limits the amount of recharges you can do to them. The Garmin 3plus has a battery timer, so you could keep track of how long the batteries have been used. Use the rechargeable alkalines to about half charge, then recharge them.

 

It is a royal pain to change batteries in the vista, because they are so tight. The Garmin 3plus batts, just drop out when you open the battery cover. If you get 11 hours on the 3plus, use the rechargeable alkalines for no longer than 6 hours of use. Throw in another set of batts, and recharge the others.

 

I think that a cigarette lighter adaptor is needed, whether you are in a boat, plane, or car.

 

[This message has been edited by Geoffrey (edited 16 August 2001).]

[Guest k2dave]

Geoffrey I have tried the buddy L batt charger on non-rechargable alks. I keep close tabs on the batt timer and found non-rechargable alks are not worth the trouble of recharging. This is what I found:

alks = 19hrs

NiCd (old set) = 4-5 hrs

Nhmh (1550&1600 mAh) = 11 h

alks recharged w/ the buddy l = 22h

 

For the extra 3 hours it isn't worth it to me to have to recharge them every 4-6 hrs - plus all the extra wear on the battery door.

 

I have never used rechargable alks mainly because the buddy L turned me off to that idea. I was tempted because they are much cheeper then Nimh.

 

Actually I would like to know what is the total run time you have gotten w/ rechargeable alks and how much you get with non-rechargable alks (not including attempts to recharge them).

 

I have a suspision that rechargable alks are a scam and would guess they may last 2x the total run time of standard alks when you total all the run time together.

[Guest Geoffrey]

I use Lithium batteries, Regular alkalines, and External Batteries.

 

I have used Rechargable alks lot, but that was before my GPS days. I remember it saying on the Rayovac Renewal Battery packaging, that thay can last longer if not depleted.

 

I would like to comeup with a battery holder that can clip onto my Etrex Vista or the 3plus, that can hold an extenal battery pack. Also the Vehicle Power adaptor cable can come in handy. I bought from Radio Shack, a cable that clips onto any 12 battery, and on the end of the Vehicle power adaptor cable. Just need a pocket to carry the battery in.

 

One way i could do it, without voiding the warrenty on the Etrex Vista is to order a replacement battery door, and modify it to allow recarging of the internal batts. Would be nice if i could trickle charge the batts, without removing them from the GPS. One advantage of the low voltage Etrex Vista, is that somebody could come out with a 200 milliamp 3volt SolarCell that can clip onto the Vista.

 

I do have the 3plus, a Vehicle power cable, a 12volt battery, and a cable to go between. Works pretty good, except one problem, if there is a break in the connection, the GPS will shutoff in 30 seconds.

 

[This message has been edited by Geoffrey (edited 17 August 2001).]

[Guest k2dave]

quote:

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I would like to comeup with a battery holder that can clip onto my Etrex Vista or the 3plus, that can hold D-Cells. Also the Vehicle Power adaptor cable can come in handy. I bought from Radio Shack, a cable that clips onto any 12 battery, and on the end of the Vehicle power adaptor cable. Just need a pocket to carry the battery in.

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I don't know about the vista but the iii+ can use an external bat. pack through the external port. IIRC you can supply it with anywhere from 6-24vdc. It won't trickle charge though but will run on external power.