Rechargeable Batteries and Chargers

Talk to me about them, educate me please. Tips and any good battery selling websites welcome too.

Getting sick of buying batteries and want to take the plunge. I've had some cheap rechargeable AA batteries before but they never seem to hold much charge so have ended up going back to disposable.

I know NiMH are better than NiCd due to having less memory issues and more consistent voltage other than that I'm clueless. I know there are li-on batteries but that seems way too expensive for a man from Woolwich.

Batteries

The price seems to go up linearly depending on how many mA hours, which makes sense. Is that the only real difference between say the one at the bottom of this page (£2.95 each) the one at the top of the page (£19.95 for a pair)? 3.4 times the price for 4.5 time the mAh so really not that bad if you want a long lasting torch / whatever.

Recharges

These too seem to vary in price a lot. Apart from quick charge and dodgey battery detection (I can tell when a battery is dodgey) I don't get what it better about this one (£79.95) compared to this one (£13.95) or this one (£16.73) from tescos.

2500mAh is good to go for. I got some for £6 for 4 a few years ago.

I use these bought off ebay for £6 for 8. I bought a charger from Maplins that works okay. Don't bother with Maplins rechargeable batteries as they are crap.

there was a recent thread with links to a decent supply of AA NiMh and chargers... and Paul-Michel seemed ot have some good links.
read Page 2 of this thread:
https://www.londonfgss.com/post472487-66.html

I use these bought off ebay for £6 for 8. I bought a charger from Maplins that works okay. Don't bother with Maplins rechargeable batteries as they are crap.

They're the ones I bought 2800mAh not 2500mAh.

calumet (the pro camera shop) do big packs of (10-12?) their own brand 2500ah AA's for a good price. they do a decent fast charger too.

chargers in Lidl...9 quid takes all main battery sizes including 9v blocks, electronically controlled, just testing mine now...seems good.

Guys don't buy standard NiMh batteries.

Get yourself some Uniross Hybrio ones, far far superior.

Or alternatively get the Sony Eneloop ones, same technology as the Hybrio but not quite as good as they put out a very slightly lower voltage.

https://www.londonfgss.com/post472178-57.html
muchos battery detail here.

Eneloop are Sanyo, not Sony, in case anyone's searches were getting confusing.

7dayshop.com do good prices on charger + batteries in one happy package.

If im using rechargables

I use Nicads for bike lights/flashlights. They hold charge for a very long time. Where a fully charged Nimh can be totally empty if you leave it a week. I only use them if its for a single session of riding.

But I mostly use disposable batteries now for convenience, they last long enough for me and are working out pretty cheap to run. Im also experimenting with button cell lights.

Thanks for the links.

If im using rechargables

I use Nicads for bike lights/flashlights. They hold charge for a very long time. Where a fully charged Nimh can be totally empty if you leave it a week. I only use them if its for a single session of riding.

well this time of year, i will still be using them twice a day.

I've got Lidl ones. AA and AAA and a Lidl charger. Been going strong for the last couple of years. Not too bad. Get about six bright rides from a full charge and then gets a bit dimmer.

I'm sure there's only one 'l' in dildo.

I'm sure there's only one 'l' in dildo.

You're right there. For confirmation check the box it came in...

I'm sure there's only one 'l' in dildo.

Not on mine, I stick an extra one in there for a tighter fit.

+1 on the uniross hybrios. Found them to be top rated on lots of different review sites. They are fully charged out of the box, don't run down when they're not being used like others do and they're good for a thousand charges plus. Got 8 aa on ebay for around 13 euro including postage to dublin.

hmm this looks like a minefield

Maplin haters gonna hate but they do their own version of uniross hybrios. The generic name is hybrid. I'd been using Vapex AAs before for their super high capacity, but thinking about swapping to hybrids.

Don't know how their price compares?

Edit: Actually just had a look and 2100Mah Hybrios from play.com are slightly cheaper.