recharging eneloop batteries

soccerjoe5 · 05-19-2009, 11:07 PM

Ansmann, Powerex/Maha and LaCrosse have the most advanced charger units on the planet. A google will help lots.

Strobist: Ubercharger Lacks Only Diamond-Encrustedness

Maha MH-C801D: Introduction

Maha MH-C800S: The Affordable Multi-Battery Charger

The 8-cell Powerex/Maha charger I use is one of the best purchases I've made. Keeps my batteries in top shape.

GerryL · 05-20-2009, 01:54 PM

You can charge any rechargeable battery without ill effects so long as the battery doesn't get overcharged or cooked (with fast/rapid charge).
It is best if your chosen charger has an auto-shutoff.
It detects that the battery has been charged fully and would cut off its regular charging and switch to trickle charge.
This is how the original eneloop chargers are, so you can leave the batteries in the charger and forget about it.
If you don't have the one with the auto-shut off, then I suggest timing the charging of the batteries.
It is like 8hrs for a regular charging. It would all depend on the output of your charger.
You can also get a cheap light timer switch (the ones that switch your house lights on and off to make it look like there is somebody at the house when you go on vacation).
You can attach your charger here so it automatically shuts it off after a given time you have set (e.g. 8hours).

wll · 05-29-2009, 08:21 AM

I got rid of all my regular rechargeables and now use Rayovac Hybrids #LD715-4 exclusively.

Very good batteries. After charging Energizer standard NiMH's a few weeks ago and having them go dead very quickly, I vowed to use Hybrids only.

wll

dosdan · 05-29-2009, 02:02 PM

La Crosse BC-900 & Eneloops. The link below is where I got mine. The price seems good but the "sale" price has been the same for at least the last 18 months when I bought it:

BC-900 Battery Charger Sale $38.97 La Crosse - LaCrosse BC900

Overcharging is bad. Once the battery is full, continuing to charge it just causes the heat to rise more, which affects the electrolyte & maybe the electrode. This means it reduces the capacity of the battery. So the more you abuse batteries, the more their capacity drops.

Now say you have two batteries, 1 half-charged, the other quarter-charged. You put them in a simple timer-based charger. One gets ½ overcharged, the other ¼ overcharged.

With a more sophisticated "smart" charger, checks are made for the delta-V (change in voltage) & temp. The charger stops if it detects a negative delta-V (apparently when a Ni-Mh is fully charged, its voltage, instead of continuing to increase, then drops slightly) or a rapid increase in temp. So if the charger misses the slight negative delta-V, it picks up the temp change. On the better chargers, these changes are monitored separately for each cell/battery, so no cell gets abused i.e. one cell stops being charged, while others continue until they too are fully charged.

I've opened the case of the BC-900. There are two temperature sensors for the bank of 4 cells. The bodies of 1 or 2 cells are thermally
coupled to the sensor by a "uu" shaped metal bracket that comes into contact with the battery cases.

Slower chargers produces less heat whilst charging. A fast 15 min charge means that the batteries are going to have a shorter lifespan, even if charged correctly.

Generally I charge 2000-2700mAH AAs at 500mA, if not in a hurry, or 700mA (about .3C) if in a hurry. A leisurely 200mA charge can used if you have plenty of time. I could charge at 1000mA for 4AAs or 1500mA for 2AAs but I don't like abusing the batteries.

800mAH AAAs I charge at 200mA.

Dan.

Last edited by dosdan; 05-29-2009 at 10:29 PM.

madbrain · 05-29-2009, 06:56 PM

Originally posted by Tyama

Will,

If you're a Costco member they have a Sanyo Eneloop package with 8 AA, 2 AAA, and a charger for ~ $20 $29 minus $10 off instant savings. I saw this on Sunday here.

Terry

Indeed. I have bought 3 sets of eneloops from Costco. It was about $28. They never had the coupon on it unfortunately at my warehouse in Santa Clara.

I wouldn't use those chargers that came with it, though. They charge cells in pairs rather than individually. The charger will not turn on it you put a single cell. However, they are compact. And they are 110-220V compatible if you travel.

I have 3 of those Sanyo chargers that I don't need. They are sitting on a shelf. PM me with a reasonable offer if you want them.

My main charger is a MAHA C-9000 . Very nice, individual charging, does charge / discharge, can be slow or fast. This is the one I travel with. Not small, though, nor cheap.

I have a few other battery chargers I still use too .

One is a Tenergy charger for 9V batteries (does 2 at a time). Not very good, and it will never stop on its own

Another is an Eveready charger that does 8 AA or AAA cells. Nice thing is that it is compatible with NiCD, NiMH, and rechargeable alkalines. It also works with C and D batteries. It is however a slow charger, overnight basically. And if you put 8 AA/AAA, they will be charged in pairs. But you can still just put 4 at a time and have them charged individually.

I also have a Lenmar very fast battery charger (30 mins). It works quite randomly. Sometimes it recognizes batteries, sometimes not ... Sometimes you have to unplug it from the wall to get it to recognize batteries. Definitely avoid this brand for chargers. It is much worse than their batteries which are actually OK. I expect this charger will die soon and I won't miss it much.

Using the above 4 chargers, I just recharged all my unused rechargeables over a period of a couple of days. That's probably about 60 batteries, of various sizes, capacities, and technologies.

The last battery charger I use is in my car, an energizer "15 mins" charger. It does AA and AAA, NiMH only. Very useful if you are leaving in a hurry without your batteries fully charged. It doesn't really work in 15 mins if your batteries are completely depleted and 2500+ maH, though.

OregonJim · 06-03-2009, 08:52 PM

Originally posted by dosdan

La Crosse BC-900 & Eneloops. The link below is where I got mine. The price seems good but the "sale" price has been the same for at least the last 18 months when I bought it:

Thanks for the link - I ordered a BC-900 last week just because several people have recommended it. It never hurts to take good care of your batteries.

Having said that, I wouldn't worry too much about using a not-so-smart charger - the ones that charge 2 cells per circuit. As long as they have temp cutoff (and all but the cheapest ones do), they will do the job. Typically, you will charge and use sets of batteries as a unit, meaning that all the cells will be (relatively) at the same discharge level when you next charge them. If that's not your usage pattern, then by all means invest in a smart charger.

I'm not too worried about shortening my battery life by occasionally giving them a slight overcharge, though - hey, if the batteries last me only 6 months to a year, they've still paid for themselves several times over. That's why I have a 15-minute quick charger in the car for 'emergencies'...

GeneV · 06-05-2009, 08:30 AM

Originally posted by Tyama

Will,

If you're a Costco member they have a Sanyo Eneloop package with 8 AA, 2 AAA, and a charger for ~ $20 $29 minus $10 off instant savings. I saw this on Sunday here.

Terry

Also included in the package I got from Costco was a set of odd C and D battery converters which essentially use the AAA batteries for power. The AA Eneloops have worked very well in the AF540 though, as mentioned earlier, charging is slow.

WheresWaldo · 06-05-2009, 11:07 AM

I have the LaCrosse BC-900 and two Maha chargers, the C-801, which does C and D cells too, and the C-9000. Of the three chargers the C-9000 is by far the most versatile and seems to be the best with regard to cell care. Although the BC-900 has more features than the C-801 I rank them both the same because the Maha can accomodate larger batteries.

If you are looking for a good honest distributor in the US, try Thomas Distributing for your battery needs. You can get various manufacturer brands of low-discharge NiMh batteries. You don't have to buy only eneloop's.

res3567 · 06-08-2009, 01:18 AM

Originally posted by WheresWaldo

I have the LaCrosse BC-900 and two Maha chargers, the C-801, which does C and D cells too, and the C-9000. Of the three chargers the C-9000 is by far the most versatile and seems to be the best with regard to cell care. Although the BC-900 has more features than the C-801 I rank them both the same because the Maha can accomodate larger batteries.

If you are looking for a good honest distributor in the US, try Thomas Distributing for your battery needs. You can get various manufacturer brands of low-discharge NiMh batteries. You don't have to buy only eneloop's.

What is the big draw towards Eneloops?

WheresWaldo · 06-08-2009, 11:47 AM

Originally posted by res3567

What is the big draw towards Eneloops?

Low self-discharge. Charge them today and a month from now you still have over 90% capacity, six months from now you still have over 80% capacity.

Even though eneloops are fairly conservative in power output, they seem to be able to deliver the power at nominal voltage longer than high output NiMh cells. What that means is that in voltage sensitive applications you will actually get longer life out of eneloops than most 2700-2800mAh AA's.

eneloops aren't the only low self-discharge batteries on the market. Maha, Uniross, Kodak among others have what they might call instant on or no charge batteries. I have used Uniross and Duracell (relabeled eneloop) and they both perform as well as genuine eneloops. Others have had success with Maha/Powerex IMEDION cells.

res3567 · 06-08-2009, 08:51 PM

Originally posted by WheresWaldo

Low self-discharge. Charge them today and a month from now you still have over 90% capacity, six months from now you still have over 80% capacity.

Even though eneloops are fairly conservative in power output, they seem to be able to deliver the power at nominal voltage longer than high output NiMh cells. What that means is that in voltage sensitive applications you will actually get longer life out of eneloops than most 2700-2800mAh AA's.

eneloops aren't the only low self-discharge batteries on the market. Maha, Uniross, Kodak among others have what they might call instant on or no charge batteries. I have used Uniross and Duracell (relabeled eneloop) and they both perform as well as genuine eneloops. Others have had success with Maha/Powerex IMEDION cells.

What about Energizers? That is what I have been using for years.

Now sir, you seem to be a battery expert. Beceause of you (and Diego) I oredered the Sanyo 2700, and the Ansmann 2850 to power my Vivitar 285HV.

What do you think about my choice selection?

My Energizers do an excellent job, but I wanted more power for Strobist uses. I just recieved my third Vivitar ( One stays on my Stroboframe and the other two are going to be my portable studio strobes).

Will these batteries do me WAY BETTER than my Energizers, without having to go to a more powerfull power supply such as an externall pack or 110 houshold plug? I want to be very portable and WIRELESS. (My CTR 301 is at the post office waiting to be picked up. I will submit a review later).

WheresWaldo · 06-08-2009, 09:15 PM

Originally posted by res3567

What about Energizers? That is what I have been using for years.

Now sir, you seem to be a battery expert. Beceause of you (and Diego) I oredered the Sanyo 2700, and the Ansmann 2850 to power my Vivitar 285HV.

What do you think about my choice selection?

My Energizers do an excellent job, but I wanted more power for Strobist uses. I just recieved my third Vivitar ( One stays on my Stroboframe and the other two are going to be my portable studio strobes).

Will these batteries do me WAY BETTER than my Energizers, without having to go to a more powerfull power supply such as an externall pack or 110 houshold plug? I want to be very portable and WIRELESS. (My CTR 301 is at the post office waiting to be picked up. I will submit a review later).

res, Sanyo 2700 and Ansmann are quality made high capacity NiMh batteries. In a flash, especially where you will be using it a lot at any one given time, you should see slightly faster recycle times, maybe not noticeable from a single shot to the next but over the course of 10 or 100 you will see a difference. Flashes are not voltage sensitive as much as cameras are. They depend on mAh, the more you have available the more flashes and faster recycles.

Where you will run into problems is if you let them sit for a month and then expect them to be fully charged. Also if abused they can suffer more than eneloops. Drop them a few times and you will likely end up with an under performing cell. Also try to keep them in the same batch, I use colored sharpies and mark the month/year of purchase and the number, so for instance the last Uniross Hybro's i purchased in November 2008 and bought 8 of them so they are labeled 11-08 1/8 through 11-08 8/8. That way I can keep the set together and monitor their use.

I am not a big fan of Energizer NiMh as they tend to turn into bad cells in just about a years time, you will be much happier with the Sanyo and Ansmann batteries.

Remember to top them off the day before your big shoots so that you will have full power for your 285's.

res3567 · 06-08-2009, 09:27 PM

Originally posted by WheresWaldo

res, Sanyo 2700 and Ansmann are quality made high capacity NiMh batteries. In a flash, especially where you will be using it a lot at any one given time, you should see slightly faster recycle times, maybe not noticeable from a single shot to the next but over the course of 10 or 100 you will see a difference. Flashes are not voltage sensitive as much as cameras are. They depend on mAh, the more you have available the more flashes and faster recycles.

Where you will run into problems is if you let them sit for a month and then expect them to be fully charged. Also if abused they can suffer more than eneloops. Drop them a few times and you will likely end up with an under performing cell. Also try to keep them in the same batch, I use colored sharpies and mark the month/year of purchase and the number, so for instance the last Uniross Hybro's i purchased in November 2008 and bought 8 of them so they are labeled 11-08 1/8 through 11-08 8/8. That way I can keep the set together and monitor their use.

I am not a big fan of Energizer NiMh as they tend to turn into bad cells in just about a years time, you will be much happier with the Sanyo and Ansmann batteries.

Remember to top them off the day before your big shoots so that you will have full power for your 285's.

Waldo, you are a class act!

Ok.

Eneloops for my camera and the high capacity mAH batts. for my flash.
I can keep the Eneloops fully charged over a period of time and they are more durable than the Energizers.

Got it!

Is that the top of the line in both settings? I want the very best!

Thank you sir!

WheresWaldo · 06-08-2009, 10:15 PM

Originally posted by res3567

Waldo, you are a class act!

Ok.

Eneloops for my camera and the high capacity mAH batts. for my flash.
I can keep the Eneloops fully charged over a period of time and they are more durable than the Energizers.

Got it!

Is that the top of the line in both settings? I want the very best!

Thank you sir!

Res, I really can't answer that for you. What I can say is that I do not take 100's of images at any one time so my battery needs are different than yours. I do use low self-discharge AA NiMh batteries for both my flashes (Sigma EF-500 Super, Sigma EF-530ST) and the camera I gave my daughter the Samsung GX-1S (Pentax DS2 clone). The eneloops and Uniross are the only cells that did not prematurely die in the camera, just two weekends ago my daughter shot over 500 images with just one set of batteries at the MS Challenge Walk, the battery indicator still shows full. I don't think you can go wrong with eneloops in your camera.

The flash is another matter, I use my flash sparingly, maybe 5 images out of every 100 shots. So I was always dealing with reduced power because the high capacity cells I was using would self-discharge before I used them again. I had to go with eneloops or I was always having to charge them every time I wanted to use my flash.

Just one datapoint, every Energizer NiMh I have purchased has long ago ended up in the local landfill. I was not very happy with those cells. The Uniross and Sanyo cells I use now are much better quality and are standing up to the use I put them through

res3567 · 06-08-2009, 10:38 PM

Originally posted by WheresWaldo

Just one datapoint, every Energizer NiMh I have purchased has long ago ended up in the local landfill. I was not very happy with those cells. The Uniross and Sanyo cells I use now are much better quality and are standing up to the use I put them through

That is the answer i was looking for!

I have shot small weddings on one set of Energizers and they did me well.

The newer ones are rated lower.

It went like this:

1850mAH
2100mAH
2500mAH
and now
2450mAH
over a ten year span.

I knew there were better ones out there and you pointed me in the right direction.

You are right; some of mine died in less than a year.

Your thoughts on a charger?

05-29-2009, 08:21 AM	#18
wll Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Mission Hills, CA Posts: 773	Speaking about Chargers - What Brand Hybrids I got rid of all my regular rechargeables and now use Rayovac Hybrids #LD715-4 exclusively. Very good batteries. After charging Energizer standard NiMH's a few weeks ago and having them go dead very quickly, I vowed to use Hybrids only. wll

06-03-2009, 08:52 PM	#21
OregonJim Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Willamette Valley, Oregon Posts: 1,327	Originally posted by dosdan La Crosse BC-900 & Eneloops. The link below is where I got mine. The price seems good but the "sale" price has been the same for at least the last 18 months when I bought it: Thanks for the link - I ordered a BC-900 last week just because several people have recommended it. It never hurts to take good care of your batteries. Having said that, I wouldn't worry too much about using a not-so-smart charger - the ones that charge 2 cells per circuit. As long as they have temp cutoff (and all but the cheapest ones do), they will do the job. Typically, you will charge and use sets of batteries as a unit, meaning that all the cells will be (relatively) at the same discharge level when you next charge them. If that's not your usage pattern, then by all means invest in a smart charger. I'm not too worried about shortening my battery life by occasionally giving them a slight overcharge, though - hey, if the batteries last me only 6 months to a year, they've still paid for themselves several times over. That's why I have a 15-minute quick charger in the car for 'emergencies'... Last edited by OregonJim; 06-03-2009 at 08:59 PM.

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05-19-2009, 11:07 PM	#16
soccerjoe5 Veteran Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Philippines Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,343	Ansmann, Powerex/Maha and LaCrosse have the most advanced charger units on the planet. A google will help lots. Strobist: Ubercharger Lacks Only Diamond-Encrustedness Maha MH-C801D: Introduction Maha MH-C800S: The Affordable Multi-Battery Charger The 8-cell Powerex/Maha charger I use is one of the best purchases I've made. Keeps my batteries in top shape.

05-20-2009, 01:54 PM	#17
GerryL Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: CA Posts: 2,731	You can charge any rechargeable battery without ill effects so long as the battery doesn't get overcharged or cooked (with fast/rapid charge). It is best if your chosen charger has an auto-shutoff. It detects that the battery has been charged fully and would cut off its regular charging and switch to trickle charge. This is how the original eneloop chargers are, so you can leave the batteries in the charger and forget about it. If you don't have the one with the auto-shut off, then I suggest timing the charging of the batteries. It is like 8hrs for a regular charging. It would all depend on the output of your charger. You can also get a cheap light timer switch (the ones that switch your house lights on and off to make it look like there is somebody at the house when you go on vacation). You can attach your charger here so it automatically shuts it off after a given time you have set (e.g. 8hours).

05-29-2009, 02:02 PM	#19
dosdan Pentaxian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Brisbane, Australia Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,741	La Crosse BC-900 & Eneloops. The link below is where I got mine. The price seems good but the "sale" price has been the same for at least the last 18 months when I bought it: BC-900 Battery Charger Sale $38.97 La Crosse - LaCrosse BC900 Overcharging is bad. Once the battery is full, continuing to charge it just causes the heat to rise more, which affects the electrolyte & maybe the electrode. This means it reduces the capacity of the battery. So the more you abuse batteries, the more their capacity drops. Now say you have two batteries, 1 half-charged, the other quarter-charged. You put them in a simple timer-based charger. One gets ½ overcharged, the other ¼ overcharged. With a more sophisticated "smart" charger, checks are made for the delta-V (change in voltage) & temp. The charger stops if it detects a negative delta-V (apparently when a Ni-Mh is fully charged, its voltage, instead of continuing to increase, then drops slightly) or a rapid increase in temp. So if the charger misses the slight negative delta-V, it picks up the temp change. On the better chargers, these changes are monitored separately for each cell/battery, so no cell gets abused i.e. one cell stops being charged, while others continue until they too are fully charged. I've opened the case of the BC-900. There are two temperature sensors for the bank of 4 cells. The bodies of 1 or 2 cells are thermally coupled to the sensor by a "uu" shaped metal bracket that comes into contact with the battery cases. Slower chargers produces less heat whilst charging. A fast 15 min charge means that the batteries are going to have a shorter lifespan, even if charged correctly. Generally I charge 2000-2700mAH AAs at 500mA, if not in a hurry, or 700mA (about .3C) if in a hurry. A leisurely 200mA charge can used if you have plenty of time. I could charge at 1000mA for 4AAs or 1500mA for 2AAs but I don't like abusing the batteries. 800mAH AAAs I charge at 200mA. Dan. Last edited by dosdan; 05-29-2009 at 10:29 PM.

05-29-2009, 06:56 PM	#20
madbrain Veteran Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 1,341	Originally posted by Tyama Will, If you're a Costco member they have a Sanyo Eneloop package with 8 AA, 2 AAA, and a charger for ~ $20 $29 minus $10 off instant savings. I saw this on Sunday here. Terry Indeed. I have bought 3 sets of eneloops from Costco. It was about $28. They never had the coupon on it unfortunately at my warehouse in Santa Clara. I wouldn't use those chargers that came with it, though. They charge cells in pairs rather than individually. The charger will not turn on it you put a single cell. However, they are compact. And they are 110-220V compatible if you travel. I have 3 of those Sanyo chargers that I don't need. They are sitting on a shelf. PM me with a reasonable offer if you want them. My main charger is a MAHA C-9000 . Very nice, individual charging, does charge / discharge, can be slow or fast. This is the one I travel with. Not small, though, nor cheap. I have a few other battery chargers I still use too . One is a Tenergy charger for 9V batteries (does 2 at a time). Not very good, and it will never stop on its own Another is an Eveready charger that does 8 AA or AAA cells. Nice thing is that it is compatible with NiCD, NiMH, and rechargeable alkalines. It also works with C and D batteries. It is however a slow charger, overnight basically. And if you put 8 AA/AAA, they will be charged in pairs. But you can still just put 4 at a time and have them charged individually. I also have a Lenmar very fast battery charger (30 mins). It works quite randomly. Sometimes it recognizes batteries, sometimes not ... Sometimes you have to unplug it from the wall to get it to recognize batteries. Definitely avoid this brand for chargers. It is much worse than their batteries which are actually OK. I expect this charger will die soon and I won't miss it much. Using the above 4 chargers, I just recharged all my unused rechargeables over a period of a couple of days. That's probably about 60 batteries, of various sizes, capacities, and technologies. The last battery charger I use is in my car, an energizer "15 mins" charger. It does AA and AAA, NiMH only. Very useful if you are leaving in a hurry without your batteries fully charged. It doesn't really work in 15 mins if your batteries are completely depleted and 2500+ maH, though.

06-05-2009, 08:30 AM	#22
GeneV Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Albuquerque NM Photos: Albums Posts: 9,830	Originally posted by Tyama Will, If you're a Costco member they have a Sanyo Eneloop package with 8 AA, 2 AAA, and a charger for ~ $20 $29 minus $10 off instant savings. I saw this on Sunday here. Terry Also included in the package I got from Costco was a set of odd C and D battery converters which essentially use the AAA batteries for power. The AA Eneloops have worked very well in the AF540 though, as mentioned earlier, charging is slow.

06-05-2009, 11:07 AM	#23
WheresWaldo Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: North Carolina Photos: Gallery Posts: 498	I have the LaCrosse BC-900 and two Maha chargers, the C-801, which does C and D cells too, and the C-9000. Of the three chargers the C-9000 is by far the most versatile and seems to be the best with regard to cell care. Although the BC-900 has more features than the C-801 I rank them both the same because the Maha can accomodate larger batteries. If you are looking for a good honest distributor in the US, try Thomas Distributing for your battery needs. You can get various manufacturer brands of low-discharge NiMh batteries. You don't have to buy only eneloop's.

06-08-2009, 01:18 AM	#24
res3567 Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Houston Tx. Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,876	Originally posted by WheresWaldo I have the LaCrosse BC-900 and two Maha chargers, the C-801, which does C and D cells too, and the C-9000. Of the three chargers the C-9000 is by far the most versatile and seems to be the best with regard to cell care. Although the BC-900 has more features than the C-801 I rank them both the same because the Maha can accomodate larger batteries. If you are looking for a good honest distributor in the US, try Thomas Distributing for your battery needs. You can get various manufacturer brands of low-discharge NiMh batteries. You don't have to buy only eneloop's. What is the big draw towards Eneloops?

06-08-2009, 11:47 AM	#25
WheresWaldo Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: North Carolina Photos: Gallery Posts: 498	Originally posted by res3567 What is the big draw towards Eneloops? Low self-discharge. Charge them today and a month from now you still have over 90% capacity, six months from now you still have over 80% capacity. Even though eneloops are fairly conservative in power output, they seem to be able to deliver the power at nominal voltage longer than high output NiMh cells. What that means is that in voltage sensitive applications you will actually get longer life out of eneloops than most 2700-2800mAh AA's. eneloops aren't the only low self-discharge batteries on the market. Maha, Uniross, Kodak among others have what they might call instant on or no charge batteries. I have used Uniross and Duracell (relabeled eneloop) and they both perform as well as genuine eneloops. Others have had success with Maha/Powerex IMEDION cells.

06-08-2009, 08:51 PM	#26
res3567 Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Houston Tx. Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,876	Originally posted by WheresWaldo Low self-discharge. Charge them today and a month from now you still have over 90% capacity, six months from now you still have over 80% capacity. Even though eneloops are fairly conservative in power output, they seem to be able to deliver the power at nominal voltage longer than high output NiMh cells. What that means is that in voltage sensitive applications you will actually get longer life out of eneloops than most 2700-2800mAh AA's. eneloops aren't the only low self-discharge batteries on the market. Maha, Uniross, Kodak among others have what they might call instant on or no charge batteries. I have used Uniross and Duracell (relabeled eneloop) and they both perform as well as genuine eneloops. Others have had success with Maha/Powerex IMEDION cells. What about Energizers? That is what I have been using for years. Now sir, you seem to be a battery expert. Beceause of you (and Diego) I oredered the Sanyo 2700, and the Ansmann 2850 to power my Vivitar 285HV. What do you think about my choice selection? My Energizers do an excellent job, but I wanted more power for Strobist uses. I just recieved my third Vivitar ( One stays on my Stroboframe and the other two are going to be my portable studio strobes). Will these batteries do me WAY BETTER than my Energizers, without having to go to a more powerfull power supply such as an externall pack or 110 houshold plug? I want to be very portable and WIRELESS. (My CTR 301 is at the post office waiting to be picked up. I will submit a review later).

06-08-2009, 09:15 PM	#27
WheresWaldo Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: North Carolina Photos: Gallery Posts: 498	Originally posted by res3567 What about Energizers? That is what I have been using for years. Now sir, you seem to be a battery expert. Beceause of you (and Diego) I oredered the Sanyo 2700, and the Ansmann 2850 to power my Vivitar 285HV. What do you think about my choice selection? My Energizers do an excellent job, but I wanted more power for Strobist uses. I just recieved my third Vivitar ( One stays on my Stroboframe and the other two are going to be my portable studio strobes). Will these batteries do me WAY BETTER than my Energizers, without having to go to a more powerfull power supply such as an externall pack or 110 houshold plug? I want to be very portable and WIRELESS. (My CTR 301 is at the post office waiting to be picked up. I will submit a review later). res, Sanyo 2700 and Ansmann are quality made high capacity NiMh batteries. In a flash, especially where you will be using it a lot at any one given time, you should see slightly faster recycle times, maybe not noticeable from a single shot to the next but over the course of 10 or 100 you will see a difference. Flashes are not voltage sensitive as much as cameras are. They depend on mAh, the more you have available the more flashes and faster recycles. Where you will run into problems is if you let them sit for a month and then expect them to be fully charged. Also if abused they can suffer more than eneloops. Drop them a few times and you will likely end up with an under performing cell. Also try to keep them in the same batch, I use colored sharpies and mark the month/year of purchase and the number, so for instance the last Uniross Hybro's i purchased in November 2008 and bought 8 of them so they are labeled 11-08 1/8 through 11-08 8/8. That way I can keep the set together and monitor their use. I am not a big fan of Energizer NiMh as they tend to turn into bad cells in just about a years time, you will be much happier with the Sanyo and Ansmann batteries. Remember to top them off the day before your big shoots so that you will have full power for your 285's.

06-08-2009, 09:27 PM	#28
res3567 Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Houston Tx. Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,876	Originally posted by WheresWaldo res, Sanyo 2700 and Ansmann are quality made high capacity NiMh batteries. In a flash, especially where you will be using it a lot at any one given time, you should see slightly faster recycle times, maybe not noticeable from a single shot to the next but over the course of 10 or 100 you will see a difference. Flashes are not voltage sensitive as much as cameras are. They depend on mAh, the more you have available the more flashes and faster recycles. Where you will run into problems is if you let them sit for a month and then expect them to be fully charged. Also if abused they can suffer more than eneloops. Drop them a few times and you will likely end up with an under performing cell. Also try to keep them in the same batch, I use colored sharpies and mark the month/year of purchase and the number, so for instance the last Uniross Hybro's i purchased in November 2008 and bought 8 of them so they are labeled 11-08 1/8 through 11-08 8/8. That way I can keep the set together and monitor their use. I am not a big fan of Energizer NiMh as they tend to turn into bad cells in just about a years time, you will be much happier with the Sanyo and Ansmann batteries. Remember to top them off the day before your big shoots so that you will have full power for your 285's. Waldo, you are a class act! Ok. Eneloops for my camera and the high capacity mAH batts. for my flash. I can keep the Eneloops fully charged over a period of time and they are more durable than the Energizers. Got it! Is that the top of the line in both settings? I want the very best! Thank you sir!

06-08-2009, 10:15 PM	#29
WheresWaldo Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: North Carolina Photos: Gallery Posts: 498	Originally posted by res3567 Waldo, you are a class act! Ok. Eneloops for my camera and the high capacity mAH batts. for my flash. I can keep the Eneloops fully charged over a period of time and they are more durable than the Energizers. Got it! Is that the top of the line in both settings? I want the very best! Thank you sir! Res, I really can't answer that for you. What I can say is that I do not take 100's of images at any one time so my battery needs are different than yours. I do use low self-discharge AA NiMh batteries for both my flashes (Sigma EF-500 Super, Sigma EF-530ST) and the camera I gave my daughter the Samsung GX-1S (Pentax DS2 clone). The eneloops and Uniross are the only cells that did not prematurely die in the camera, just two weekends ago my daughter shot over 500 images with just one set of batteries at the MS Challenge Walk, the battery indicator still shows full. I don't think you can go wrong with eneloops in your camera. The flash is another matter, I use my flash sparingly, maybe 5 images out of every 100 shots. So I was always dealing with reduced power because the high capacity cells I was using would self-discharge before I used them again. I had to go with eneloops or I was always having to charge them every time I wanted to use my flash. Just one datapoint, every Energizer NiMh I have purchased has long ago ended up in the local landfill. I was not very happy with those cells. The Uniross and Sanyo cells I use now are much better quality and are standing up to the use I put them through

06-08-2009, 10:38 PM	#30
res3567 Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Houston Tx. Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,876	Originally posted by WheresWaldo Just one datapoint, every Energizer NiMh I have purchased has long ago ended up in the local landfill. I was not very happy with those cells. The Uniross and Sanyo cells I use now are much better quality and are standing up to the use I put them through That is the answer i was looking for! I have shot small weddings on one set of Energizers and they did me well. The newer ones are rated lower. It went like this: 1850mAH 2100mAH 2500mAH and now 2450mAH over a ten year span. I knew there were better ones out there and you pointed me in the right direction. You are right; some of mine died in less than a year. Your thoughts on a charger?