Best brand for rechargeable AAs?

[92saturnsl2]

If a device has trouble with 1.2v cells, it has some design problems. Even an alkaline battery spends ~50% of the time under 1.2v if you discharge it fully. It's only 1.5v very briefly, the voltage falls quite rapidly under use. So if a device won't take a 1.2v cell, realize that when you use alkalines, you're throwing the cells away with 50% of the capacity remaining. Time to find a better engineered device! The notable things the substitution of 1.2v cells can affect: battery level indicators won't be as accurate and max speed / brightness for things like flashlights, RC cars, most things that are motor driven. I've never run across anything that's had trouble with my rechargeables.

 

[Vikas]

Costco used to have Sanyo/Panasonic rechargeable kit but recently they switched to Energizer. My prior experience with Energizer was not that great. If you can get Made in Japan Sanyo, that would be the best one.

 

[nthach]

I wonder why don't insulin pumps use a high-quality 18650/14500 Li-Ion rechargeable like some vape rigs do? But then again, fake Samsung SDI/Panasonic/Sony Energy/LG Chem cells or low-quality Chinese ones are rampant.

 

[Wolf359]

Probably because 18650's aren't that common. You can't just go to the local drug store or for that matter any store and pick up a set like you can with AA. They are great though, finally got a good set of 18650's, flashlights with them are super bright. Also the NiMH charge up to 1.45 volts or so and aren't too far off from regular alkaline. The regular alkaline are more like 1.60-1.65 volts when fresh. Only thing I don't like about NiMH is that they can drop off a cliff in terms of voltage. I use them in my camera flash and one second the flash is fine, and then they're pretty much dead, you only get one or two shots where it takes a while to recycle and then the flash just doesn't recycle.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted by 92saturnsl2

If a device has trouble with 1.2v cells, it has some design problems. Even an alkaline battery spends ~50% of the time under 1.2v if you discharge it fully. It's only 1.5v very briefly, the voltage falls quite rapidly under use. So if a device won't take a 1.2v cell, realize that when you use alkalines, you're throwing the cells away with 50% of the capacity remaining. Time to find a better engineered device!

And if you do own devices that have trouble with typical 1.2V NiMH AA cells, this is a solution: https://www.amazon.com/TENAVOLTS-Rechargeable-Batteries-rechargeable-electrical/dp/B07HQ7QV7W The regular price is nuts, but they often go on sale for under $12. This includes 4 rechargeable cells and a charger. This is basically a 3.7V li-ion cell with a buck regulator that delivers constant 1.5V output from beginning to end. The downside is that there is no way to tell how much capacity is left since it'll always show the same voltage on a DMM, regardless if the cell is 100% charged or 1% charged. And you need to use the supplied charger.

 

[92saturnsl2]

Originally Posted by Vikas

Costco used to have Sanyo/Panasonic rechargeable kit but recently they switched to Energizer. My prior experience with Energizer was not that great. If you can get Made in Japan Sanyo, that would be the best one.

That Eneloop kit that Costco sold was an absolute steal. 8 of each AA / AAA and a 4-bay charger that is actually decent for about $30. They also came with C & D adapters for upsizing AA to a larger cell. I bought a few of these kits and I sold the chargers for $10 on Ebay, so the 16 pack of batteries essentially cost $20 each plus a buck or two in Ebay fees. If that deal was still around, I'd never bother with other brands of Nimh cells.