Eneloop Batteries

[revolver]

<p>I have seen eneloops mentioned many times as the rechargeable battery of choice among many of you. I am about to pick up a few but have a question.</p>

<p>the ones I saw all have 2000 mAh. seems kind of low compared to the 2750mAh duracell rechargeables I currently have.</p>

<p>do they make a higher mAh eneloop or does it matter?</p>

<p>do I have to use their Charger or will any wall wart work?</p>

<p>thanks</p>

[garry_young1]

<p>Christopher, I am about to be fairly redundant in that I'm not sure I can help with any of your questions lol, but I must emphasise the better performance I get in my flashes and in my little K100 with eneloops over other rechargeable batteries, and I use a different brand charger on my eneloops - no problem.</p>

<p>I have a colleague who can only get his K-x to work with eneloops - nothing else can get the camera to work. So there is my (possibly unhelpful) advice lol!</p>

[howard_m]

<p>dont worry about the difference between 2000 & 2750. the 2750's are generally loser cells due to charging sensitivity and high output resistance. Get yourself a set of each if you want and prove it to yourself. Esp. when you want to pull out a strobe that you havent charged in a while and use it immediately.</p>

<p>Get a decent charger like the Maha</p>

[mike_earussi1]

<p>Eneloops, and other low self discharge battery brands--of which there are many, all have lower mAh ratings than regular rechargables. But they are by far the preferred way to go for rechargables as thay can always be relied upon to have a usuable charge when you need them, even months after you charged them.</p>

<p>Having initially owned Duracell and other brands of rechargables I soon got tired of having to recharge them all right before a shoot just to make sure they would actually contain enough of a charge to work correctly. With the low self discharge rechargables (or "pre-charged" as they are usually labled on their packages) that is no longer a problem.</p>

<p>As for high capacity regular rechargables, what good are they if, as some I've owned (2900 mAh Energizers), are completely drained within a few days of their initial charge due to very high self-dischargeing?</p>

<p>After much experimenting and using of rechargables over the last 10 years I've found that I much prefer reliability over high capacity and so have since replaced all of my regular rechargables with Eneloops and other precharged brands.</p>

[revolver]

<p>Gary, no answer is unhelpful but I will say its funny how you call your K100D "little"<br /> when I say I am going to take a picture I will say I am using the "big" one when using my K100...lol</p>

<p>Howard, Mike</p>

<p>thanks, I have noticed the quick drain of the Duracell and "power 2000" batteries I have been using. I was just curious about the lower mAh than the others because that was the topic of a lot of discussions when I first got into digital a few years ago.<br>

as for a test, I think I have already got the proof as like Mike said, they drain real fast. I have charged the duracells and sometimes see half charge just after a few shots and sometimes they seem to last forever....<br>

<br /> I am going to get a starter kit which come with the charger, 8 AA 2 AAA's and also have the C and D adapter and see how they fair in the mag light we use when walking the dog at night</p>

<p>thanks again for the replies</p>

[tomadakis]

<p>You are doing the right thing, they work great!</p>

[frank_skomial]

<p>SANYO ! please listen!</p>

<p>Make also eneloop "C" and "D" batteries of the same eneloop technology as the AA and AAA batteries that you make.</p>

<p>Adapters for C and D batteries to insert the AA battery, do not provide increased power that C or D sizes would provide.</p>

[john_narsuitus]

<p>I use 2000 mAh Eneloop batteries, 2750 mAh rechargeable batteries, and disposable alkaline batteries.</p>

<p>When I know in advance that I will need battery power for my flash units, I charge my 2750 batteries just before the shoot. I use the 2750 batteries first, the Eneloops second, and the alkaline last.</p>

<p>When I do not have time to charge my batteries before a shoot, I leave the 2750 batteries and their short shelf life behind and only take Eneloops and alkaline batteries. I use the Eneloops in my flash units and hold the alkaline in reserve as backup. However, the long shelf life of the Eneloops has never failed me.</p>

<p>I use the same generic charger for my Eneloops and my 2750 batteries and have never had a problem.</p>

<p>I have not seen mAh Eneloop batteries higher than 2000 mAh but have seen lower. The AAA Eneloops are 800 mAh.<br>

.</p>

[john_shriver]

<p>The race towards higher "mAh" rechargeable batteries has been a race to the sewer. The cost of higher capacity is high internal resistance, and high self-discharge. But it's is really easy for a Harvard MBA to market a higher "mAh" rating battery as inherently better, since it has a bigger number. The American consumer has been trained to assume bigger numbers are better. (Same thing applies with Megapixels!)<br>

When I was trying to use an Olympus D100 with NiMH batteries, I had to find the lowest capacity ones I could find, since it's peak current draw was so high that the high internal resistance of high-capacity cells meant the camera decided they were dead after the first shot. I finally found some low-capacity (1100 mAh?) Olympus branded ones on the clearance table at Calumet that worked.<br>

The Eneloops are a breath of sanity in the NiMH battery marketplace. It's horrible that they are so hard to find, but the MBA genuises deciding what to stock at the big box stores like Best Buy think that "bigger is better", and only stock the 2750 mAh ones, not the 2000 mAh Eneloops. The Eneloops are a great product, Sanyo deserve to smash the competition. (Of course, Sanyo probably is making a lot of other brands batteries anyways.)</p>

[joseph_wisniewski]

<blockquote>

<p>John - When I know in advance that I will need battery power for my flash units, I charge my 2750 batteries just before the shoot. I use the 2750 batteries first, the Eneloops second, and the alkaline last.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Try counting the number of flashes you get from the eneloops and the 2750mA-h cells. I did, and I got rid of all my Sanyo 2700mA-H cells. You'd expect fresh 2700mA-H Sanyos to beat fresh 2000mA-H eneloops something like 200 to 150 full power flashes. But even using a good charger like a Lacrosse BC-900, in real life, the 2700mA-H cells beat the eneloops 170 to 160. The 2700mA-H, in a high current device like a flash, turn those extra 700mA-H into heat, not power.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Frank - Make also eneloop "C" and "D" batteries of the same eneloop technology as the AA and AAA batteries that you make.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>They used to, but they discontinued them about 18 months ago. Sorry.</p>

 

[michael_elenko]

<p>Christopher,<br>

Any charger will work.<br>

The Imedion brand AAs are 2100mAh. Work as well as the Eneloops that I have. Imedion is a highly regarded brand.<br>

That Costco kit is OK, but if you already have a charger and don't need AAAs (not that two AAAs are going to be that useful) then consider ordering more AAs from Amazon or Thomas Distributing. The "C" and "D" falsies that come with the kit we've never used very much.</p>

<p>ME</p>

[mountainvisions]

<blockquote>

<p>The American consumer has been trained to assume bigger numbers are better. (Same thing applies with Megapixels!)</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>Yep, and price too.</p>

<p>Give an average american the choice between two equal products, but make one more expensive by a significant amount. They will inevitably gravitate towards the higher priced product. Personally, I'm the complete opposite, always looking for the best product at the lowest price or if not the lowest price the one that gives me more per dollar.Suffice to say, this is why I shoot Pentax!</p>

<p>American's love marketing and trendiness, and despite the fairly rebel/anti authority nature of the nation as a whole, when it comes to consumer purchases they tend to gravitate towards what is popular in consumer buying decisions. </p>

<p>BTW, what (mainstream) devices still take C and D cells?</p>

[michael_elenko]

<blockquote>BTW, what (mainstream) devices still take C and D cells?</blockquote>

<p>Exactly.<br>

Some kids' toys do, but even that specification is moving towards the AA size. Just purchased a remote controlled helicopter (actually two of 'em) for my son's birthday. Each of the remote controllers requires 6 AAs! This is starting to remind me of printing ink carts.</p>

<p>ME</p>

[frank_skomial]

<blockquote><em>BTW, what (mainstream) devices still take C and D cells?</em></blockquote>

<p>Nikon's one of the most powerful high voltage external flash power adapter.<br>

Sunpak some handle mount flashes.<br>

Top of the line boomboxes for iPod/iTouch, including latest from Altec Lansing, and others.</p>

 

[michael_kuhne]

<p>From what I have read, avoid a fast charger in favor of a normal speed charger.</p>

[r.t. dowling]

<p>Some chargers have fast and normal/slow settings. I always use mine on the slow setting. I put the batteries in before I go to bed, so it's no big deal.</p>

[steve_t.1]

<p>Eneloops, yep, they're great.</p>

<p>Chargers- fast chargers cause the generation of excessive heat in the battery. This shortens the overall life of the battery. No free lunch here, use the fast charger if you need fast results, but you'll get less service life. A slow charge charger, and most importantly one that charges the cells individually rather than as a group (i.e. smart chargers), will be best. Chargers that only charge as a set of two or four batteries (can't load just a single battery for charging) will charge to the strongest cell, meaning if one cell is weaker it won't receive a full charge. The meter in the charger will shut everything down when the strongest cell reaches maximum charge. Each time you charge that set, the weaker cell gets a lower and lower recharge, until the point that you think your cells are no good anymore, long before their expected service life should be up. "Smart" chargers will generally have charging indicator lights on each cell that can be loaded, and you'll see the cells reaching full charge at different times. And if I recall, proper slow charging equates to one hour of charge time for each 500ma of battery capacity. So, to fully recharge a "dead" Eneloop (at 2000mah capacity), you'll need up to 4 hours of time to reach full charge, more or less. I've used a smart charger to bring back to life batteries that didn't recharge at equal rates that I thought were junk.</p>

[personalphotos]

<p>I would avoid the fast chargers. The Sanyo charger that's provided can take up to 3 hours to charge a set of 4 AA's when completely dead. But they claim it keeps the cells from dying a premature death. The heat from a fast charger is very hard on any battery. I've used Eneloops for several years now and would not use anything else in my flashes. That's after literally 10's of thousands of flash photos.</p>

[hjoseph7]

<p>I found that while the Eneloops hold a charge longer than any other rechargeable battery on the market, they take longer to charge, than other brands. Also when you compare them to Power-X rechargeables, they don't produce as many pops on a single charge.</p>

[phyliss_crowe]

<p>Rechargeables beat me down months ago. Now I use only non-rechargeable lithiums. I no longer worry that I'll run off somewhere for the day forgetting that a charger with batteries in it is still plugged in with no one to attend to it, no more lugging around a pouch full of batteries never sure which ones are charged, when they were charged, how old are they, etc.; and I get about 800 shots on one set of Energizer 8x Ultimate Lithiums. The CFLs of batterydom.</p>

<p>Heaven...</p>

[john_narsuitus]

<p>“The CFLs of batterydom.”</p>

<p>Phylis,</p>

<p>Please explain your comparison to the Canadian Football League.<br>

.</p>

[MattB.Net]

<p>Yesterday I went on a backcountry ski tour with a group of friends. I wanted to take some photos, but decided to travel light with just the K-x and da40 in the big front pocket of my jacket. I took a few shots along the initial climb and then put the camera back in my pocket. A little later I went to take another shot at the top of the climb and the camera wouldn't turn on. It was at this point I noticed it seemed light too. Then I saw the battery door hanging open. D'oh! Apparently when I had it out earlier somehow the battery door came open and dropped my white Eneloops into the snow (which is about 6' deep). So I'm not sure if different colored batteries could have been found but with the white eneloops and not knowing exactly where they fell, it was impossible to find them. Hopefully it won't cause too much ecological mayhem!</p>

[thebs]

<p>The current-time (mAh) rating is a total rating of power over time. It is <strong>not</strong> a real-time current rating.<strong> </strong>Most current-time is evaluated over a simple, typical Alkaline load, such as only 100mA. So a 2700mAh battery should last up to 27 hours with a 100mA load.<strong> Real-time</strong> current (mA) is what is required for the K100D, K200D, K-x, etc..., and typically in excess of 1000mA -- an order of magnitude greater than other, consumer electronics.<br /> Real-time current is what can cause a battery to seem to be depleted, when it is actually not. If the batteries cannot provide sufficient current, even just one of the batteries in a series, then potential (voltage) drops. When potential drops, it may reach a cut-off voltage at the regulator (which prevents damage to the sensitive CMOS logic), and doesn't work. But you can take out the batteries and put them in a remote and they will still work for weeks.<br /> Only actual tests or accurate manufacturer graphs can show how much real-time current can be delivered over time. Many 1.2V NiMH batteries actually provide 1.3V+ up to half of their life, and then they drop under 1.2V and eventually hit the cut-off voltage, even when still half-full. Cheap NiMH batteries sometimes struggle to even provide 1A, and drop under 1.2V immediately.<br /> I personally stopped dealing with Nickel-based rechargeables (e.g., NiMH) years ago, and just went to Energizer e2 Lithium (LiFe). It's good for a solid 2.6A at a full 1.5V until the batteries are nearly depleted. They "just work" and have very long standby periods, whereas NiMH leaks and never reaches 1.5V.</p>

[revolver]

<p>that sucks Matt. maybe if you marked the spot you could go back in spring and find them....lol</p>

[Tim_Lookingbill]

<p>I'll add my 2¢ on the Eneloops.</p>

<p>It snowed here in central Texas yesterday. A rare occasion. I hadn't shot any images with my Pentax K100D for a couple of months but did manage to recharge my Eneloops about a month ago, so the camera hadn't been used for that long with the charged batteries installed.</p>

<p>I filled up an entire 1GB card with 93 Raws in 24 degree weather shooting my first snow scenes with my Pentax. I was out there for about two hours without the battery indicator showing any signs of depleting. I even pushed it by constantly reviewing the LCD previews and deleting shots I didn't want to make room for more. The battery indicator showed full. My 2700mAh Energizers NEVER held up like this after sitting around for a month after a full charge.</p>

<p>I have the Pentax sitting next to me after 24 hours and the battery indicator still shows full.</p>