Best AAA Batteries & Charger


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I am looking to get new AAA batteries for a few devices, and need a new charger for them as well.

 

It's been along time, and the ones I have seem to be dying, not the mention I don't trust the charger anymore.


What is the good ones out there these days, where can I get them (I'm in Canada)...? What should I know about them etc.

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I didn't think there was such a thing, but hey...

 

I've always used Panasonic aaa's as my dect phone came with them, about 3 or 4 years ago, they became useless, so I replaced them with Panasonic hhr-4mre <nickel metal hydroxide> and they're still going strong, as for a charger, I would think any decent electronics store would not sell you a crap one

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Wow, didn't know they were expensive.

At least, when searching on Amazon.ca instead of US.

 

http://www.amazon.ca/AmazonBasics-NiMH-Precharged-Rechargeable-Batteries/dp/B007B9NV8Q/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1401508299&sr=8-2&keywords=amazonbasics+batteries seems quite a bit, not sure though.

 

And I said AAA, but I was supposed to say AA.


Hard to pay that much for "better" batteries when you find this? lol http://www.futureshop.ca/en-ca/product/dynex-dynex-100-pack-alkaline-batteries-dx-ab100aa-dx-ab100aa/10156700.aspx?path=a141d5f91ca0a490790fd1bdda070b4fen02

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Wow, didn't know they were expensive.

At least, when searching on Amazon.ca instead of US.

 

http://www.amazon.ca/AmazonBasics-NiMH-Precharged-Rechargeable-Batteries/dp/B007B9NV8Q/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1401508299&sr=8-2&keywords=amazonbasics+batteries seems quite a bit, not sure though.

 

And I said AAA, but I was supposed to say AA.

Hard to pay that much for "better" batteries when you find this? lol http://www.futureshop.ca/en-ca/product/dynex-dynex-100-pack-alkaline-batteries-dx-ab100aa-dx-ab100aa/10156700.aspx?path=a141d5f91ca0a490790fd1bdda070b4fen02

 

I may have misunderstood, I thought you were looking for rechargeable batteries and a charger.  And the Dynex brand are low cost, low value products.

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You are correct. I was just pointing out I didn't know they were that expensive, and then pointed to those lower cost ones.

 

Making me wonder if it's worth it to get the chargers.

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You are correct. I was just pointing out I didn't know they were that expensive, and then pointed to those lower cost ones.

 

Rechargeable batteries are going to be more expensive than standard alkalines such as those that you linked to. The advantage to buying the chargeable versions is that you can expect 500 - 1000 charges out of each, so they pay for themselves over time and you can expect to use them for several years. It's worth noting that alkaline battery chemistry is different from NiMH and other rechargeable battery compositions - these all yield different voltages and discharge characteristics and some electronics may behave differently. For example, NiMH batteries tend to maintain a steady voltage throughout use and then drop precipitously as they get nearly empty, while alkalines tend to exhibit a steady voltage drop through their entire length of use.

Regarding NiMH batteries, these come in normal and low self discharge flavors. The former usually feature ~20 - 30% greater capacity and are usually somewhat cheaper but tend to lose charge over time when off the charger and not in use (noticeable on the order of weeks). The latter have reduced self discharge (only noticeable on the order of several months to years) with the trade-off of being less energy-dense. The former might be appropriate for something like an RC car where you expect to drain the battery in one sitting. The latter is great for emergency flashlights or remote controls.

I've had perfectly good experiences with Eneloops and Sony CycleEnergy low self-discharge batteries in AA and AAA sizes. I bought them as four-packs with chargers, and they've been reliable for about two years now. As has been mentioned, La Crosse makes good chargers and conditions, so it's a solid recommendation.

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Awesome, thanks for that link. That makes me more willing to pick those up, the more than one +1 for eneloops and the price.

 

It is also the Canadian site for once :)

 

 

I've been using Sanyo Eneloops for quite a while. I picked those up at Costco about 4-5 years ago.

 

http://www.costco.ca/Sanyo-Eneloop-1500-Overnight-Charger-Kit-10-x-AA-and-4-x-AAA.product.100014519.html

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in short...

 

Charger = PowerEx C9000 (i have this myself. it's basically the all around best charger on the market for charging 4 AA/AAA batteries and has been around a while to so it's more time proven)

 

Batteries = Sanyo Eneloop (i think Panasonic bought them out though as i think some of the newest Eneloop's have Panasonic name on them)

 

by default the C9000 charges @ 1000mah which is a bit high for AAA batteries though. as a general rule... you want to charge at half of the capacity of the batteries. so if the batteries are 700Mah (or 800mah) you will want to charge @ 400mah (you could use 500mah if you want) which is not hard to do with the charger once you get used to it as when looking at the process on paper it looks like it's a ton of button presses and steps but in reality it's minimal effort and easy to do.

 

the chargers default charge rate is perfect for regular Sanyo Eneloop AA sized batteries but for Sanyo Eneloop AAA's it's a bit high and needs to be lowered down to 400 (or 500).

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also, i forgot to add to my above post about the C9000 charger...

 

charging at half of the capacity of the battery (so a 2000mah rated AA Eneloop charged at 1000mah) means it will take 2 hours (give or take) to a full charge if the battery is empty. then after it says 'DONE' on the C9000's screen it actually tops off the batteries for another 2 hours at a 100mah charge rate and then shifts to a 10mah trickle charge until the batteries are removed from the charger.

 

so if you want a full 100percent charge on the battery you are looking at about 4 hour charge time (assuming the batteries are empty before re-charging). the C9000 typically shuts off the charge @ about 1.47v and then shifts to the 100mah top off charge for 2 hours and then onto the 10mah until the batteries are removed. with Eneloop's though those tend to eventually peak at 1.49-1.50v (should be at least 1.48v especially after a fair amount of cycles as it seems it will take a fair amount of cycles before the capacity peaks in Eneloops) if you let it finish the 2hours after the initial main charge finishes.

 

but basically there is really no way around that type of charge given the way NiMH batteries work from what i have read as you can't quick charge it to full capacity as it's got to slow charge it when they are close to full basically which is where that 100mah top off charge comes into play which starts after the C9000 says DONE on the screen. plus, doing it that way is easier on the batteries which should extend their life some especially on high quality batteries like Eneloop.

 

p.s. but basically Alkaline batteries suck as they can leak and NiMh wipes the floor with them in higher drain devices as Alkaline batteries just can't hold their voltage up if your device really sucks the juice from them. but basically... the more power your device uses the more benefit you will get from NiMh over standard Alkalines. low drain devices really won't benefit from NiMh as it's best to use NiMh in medium to high drain devices since you will get the most benefit and save the most $$$ that way.

 

also, it's recommended that you do a BREAK-IN cycle on new batteries (especially non-high quality ones) which takes about 39-45hours to complete. as i had one Energizer AAA battery that missed termination (i.e. did not stop charging it like it's supposed to with the 'DONE' on screen) one time and overcharged it as i think it pumped in about 2000mah+ or so into it which it should never do but after that i did a BREAK-IN cycle on them and never had a issue since. i imagine Eneloops you probably don't have to do this (being they are high quality) but i would for good measure.

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