Batteries

sarajoy

I think I'm going to end up burning some money...! £40-odd on battery and battery-gubbins will eventually repay, I suppose...

fossyant

Hybrid's here Panasonic Infiniums - use them in the big camera, my Hope 1's and the AAA's in my Blackburn Mars 3 and 4.

Excellent standby power retention, and if I'm honest, just as long on power as 2700's.

Hybrids are rated at about 2100

Got these and the 2x smart chargers (does 4 cells independently) from 7dayshop.com.

Ectomorph

sarajoy wrote:

I think I'm going to end up burning some money...! £40-odd on battery and battery-gubbins will eventually repay, I suppose...

I run 2x Fenix LD20s on the Vapextech 2900s. The same 4 batteries are into their second season of commuting, 1 hour/evening journey with no perceptible loss of brightness then bunged into the World Charger the next morning. I can't be *rsed to do the maths but my 15-odd quid on the charger + 5-odd quid on the batteries must have been repaid many times over.

Go for it.

---

simon_e

The benefits of a charger like the the BL-700 over the cheaper type are, for instance, that it charges each unit separately. I have found that even two AAs (Uniross 2500) used in the same torch (Fenix LD20) or set of AAAs in another device don't necessarily take the same time to charge up.

My previous Uniross charger worked perfectly for 4 years, including 3 winters of commuting, but I've upgraded. Now I can test battery condition, mix-and-match and even charge each one at a different rate (200, 500 and 700). Money well spent IMHO, particularly as so many things use these batteries - kids' toys, mp3 player, 2 sets of bike lights, radio etc etc.

itboffin

Many thanks for all your detailed advise I knew I could count on you weirdos for OSD levels of information when it comes to anything remotely technical.

8 x Uniross 2700 mAh AA purchased + 4 x Uniross 100 mAh AAA all for the princely sum of £17 delivered.

I'll post there performance should they arrive this year.

wgwarburton

itboffin wrote:

Many thanks for all your detailed advise I knew I could count on you weirdos for OSD levels of information when it comes to anything remotely technical.

OSD? Do you mean OCD?

8 x Uniross 2700 mAh AA purchased + 4 x Uniross 100 mAh AAA all for the princely sum of £17 delivered.

I'll post there performance should they arrive this year.

This is a toe-in-the-water investment, yes? Uniross arn't the best brand available, so I wouldn't be surprised if a few of these show disappointing performance after a bit of use.

If you find that they work well enough when new, but the capacity deteriorates, then it would be worth moving upmarket a bit. The "hybrid" cells seem to be well regarded, at least from the quality manufacturers like Panasonic & Sanyo, and a smart charger should help to keep everything working well.
I'd be interested to know who makes Maplin's hybrid NiMhs, don't suppose anyone has an inside track?

BTW, if anyone want to understand rechargeables properly, Radio Control hobbyists are the people to talk to. They care more than most about maximising battery performance.

Cheers,
W.

DonDaddyD

alfablue wrote:

Jaysus Crisps!!!

That's not something you want to see on a blurry-eyed Friday morning after the 'building Christmas party"!

Gonna be sick....

cougie

Er dunno the science - but +1 for the vapextech kit.

Really worth having - dont touch the cheap nobrand ebay batteries - they're todge in my experience.

Headhuunter

itboffin wrote:

Many thanks for all your detailed advise I knew I could count on you weirdos for OSD levels of information when it comes to anything remotely technical.

8 x Uniross 2700 mAh AA purchased + 4 x Uniross 100 mAh AAA all for the princely sum of £17 delivered.

I'll post there performance should they arrive this year.

Get one of the decent chargers as well, those batts charged in a cheapo fast charger will end up useless. I've got some Uniross AA batts which were absolutely rubbish after a year or so in bike lights and then charged in a cheap fast charger, but the Technoline charger completely revived them.

Wallace1492

alfablue wrote:

This is how far you can pee out of the first floor office window after consuming:

Blue - A single can of beer
Red - Two vodka's and a single can of beer
Green - Three red wines, two vodka's and a single can of beer
Pink - Four pints of stout, three red wines, two vodka's and a single can of beer
Black - 5 Cold Pimms, four pints of beer, three red wines, two vodka's and a single can of beer

sarajoy

There goes my impulse purchase - batterylogic.co.uk requires a phone call to deliver to a different address than the billing address, and the Vapextech site seems to think my card ought to have a start date (it doesn't). Bah!

alfablue

PayPal works on Vapextech I think

Specialized Needs

alfablue wrote:

PayPal works on Vapextech I think

If they don't accept Paypal directly, they should be on ebay (they used to be), so you can use Paypal there instead.

Flasheart

I took Headhunter's recommendation and bought the Technoline BL700 charger and some of their Uniross 2700mAh batteries for my 2 x FenixLD2's from BatteryLogic and I have to say I'm very happy with the results.

I know next to nothing about batteries (or LOTS of other anorack stuff ) but I do know that the cost of a pack of Energiser Lithiums @ £3.60 that lasts 45-60 mins every ride is more than I was willing to pay a few times a week. As I live "in the sticks" theres not a lot of streetlighting out in the forest at night, hence I have the L2D's on turbo mode all ride.
I just charge recharge the sets of batteries up between night rides.

I bought 8 of the batteries so that I can carry the spare set just in case the others give up the ghost during a ride, but so far a few 90 min nights rides have not required me to stop and swap sets over yet

jejv

Looks like your favourite charger is currently available for £16.99:

Voltcraft IPC-1L Charger

http://www1.uk.conrad.com/fas6/fh.php?f ... w%3Dsearch

Dunno if it really is identical, but it's pretty similar.

I'd suggest always using it at the maximum 700mA, unless you have cells below 700mAh.

They also do a higher current version (1Amp), which /might/ be more reliable - it's easier for the charger to detect a full battery at higher charging currents (ideally 1-2 hour rate).

I have this:
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=217893
Which is similar, but higher current, and channels are independent.

None of these seem to have a way of setting default charge/discharge currents,
which makes them difficult for numpties to use.

But all these gadgets will at least let you get rid of worn out or duff cells.

I also have a couple of the big Ansmann chargers (Energy8 & XC3000).
But I really don't recommend them unless you really do use all the different kinds of battery.

The spring contacts are unreliable, and the design approach generally makes them prone to overcharging. I've had new NiMH AA's audibly venting (releasing gasses because of overcharging) on the Energy8. The XC3000 cycle modes don't rest the cells between charge & discharge in cycle mode, and the delta peak (from the display) seems a bit radical. I suspect that the gross overcharging on the Energy8 was due to a combination of low charging current and high delta peak.

Il Principe wrote:

Wow they even make pedants for batteries.

That's not pedantry.

This is the forum where I finally learned what an elliptic integral was, from the SCR thread.

itboffin

Batteries arrived yesterday and today I discovered that they are in fact slightly fatter than a normal AA making them difficult to fit into a Cateye 520 - doh!

N0bodyOfTheGoat

itboffin wrote:

Batteries arrived yesterday and today I discovered that they are in fact slightly fatter than a normal AA making them difficult to fit into a Cateye 520 - doh!

I was just thinking about my Crops NRX35 situation (a thread some weeks ago, no issues yet as my work hours have not warranted lights, although I have not cycle commuted for those weeks either :oops: ), this thread and then saw your post on a related matter!

Has anyone had definite success in finding a "slim" (~13mm if I recall) rechargeable AA that gives 2500mAh or better? :?:

Not sure which manufacturer(s) to slap with a dead fish here... The light makers like Crops that make tight clearance battery holders, or the rechargeable battery makers that surely must be away that some non-rechargeables are slimmer (despite the sizing standards being there for a constructive purpose, one hopes)!

simple_salmon

itboffin wrote:

Batteries arrived yesterday and today I discovered that they are in fact slightly fatter than a normal AA making them difficult to fit into a Cateye 520 - doh!

Anything to be gained from taking the plastic wrapping off?

jejv

NitrousOxide wrote:

itboffin wrote:

Batteries arrived yesterday and today I discovered that they are in fact slightly fatter than a normal AA making them difficult to fit into a Cateye 520 - doh!

I was just thinking about my Crops NRX35 situation (a thread some weeks ago, no issues yet as my work hours have not warranted lights, although I have not cycle commuted for those weeks either :oops: ), this thread and then saw your post on a related matter!

Has anyone had definite success in finding a "slim" (~13mm if I recall) rechargeable AA that gives 2500mAh or better? :?:

Not sure which manufacturer(s) to slap with a dead fish here... The light makers like Crops that make tight clearance battery holders, or the rechargeable battery makers that surely must be away that some non-rechargeables are slimmer (despite the sizing standards being there for a constructive purpose, one hopes)!

<insane>That cloud is quite dark, you know. Almost bla black bla black BLACK BLACK BLACK</insane> Sorry about that.

Slap the equipment manufacturers.

When I came across this, I wasn't sure either. But vernier calipers and standards docs will give you an answer.

If the equipment says AA (ANSI) or LR6 (IEC) and it doesn't take 14.5mm diameter cells, that would be misdescription. Well I guess Catpaw can read standards.

Designers/manufacturers can also mess up what happens at the +ve terminal, so there's no contact.

See (PDF) page 26 of http://www.hekta.org/~hpee0705/ansi%20c181mpart1.pdf

The IEC (euro versions) standards are probably out there too.

So I suppose that should be a trading standards thing.
<insane>
But doesn't the "free market", the "Invisible hand" fix all this stuff for us ?

But hey bikes are eh well like toys, right ? So why would you folks be getting so upset about some folks battery not fitting in the nice lights for your little biiiccyycle ??

How is it that it is possible to buy a rim-braked bicycle without kool-stop pads ???? OK swiss stop might be OK too.

The OH is bringing my medication now.
</insane>

I think rechargables are bigger because capacity is a selling point. But I haven't seen a non-compliant cell.

jejv

simple_salmon wrote:

[Anything to be gained from taking the plastic wrapping off?

It will make it a tad narrower, obviously, but...

I's not a good idea to short out a NiMH or NiCD battery.

You could get 50 watts of heating from an AA.

Internal resistance 14-30milliOhms. Ish. V^2/R.

So having them in a pocket with loose change could be unfortunate.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Ah, but would those neat little cases that Vapextech and alike supply help?

simple_salmon

jejv wrote:

simple_salmon wrote:

[Anything to be gained from taking the plastic wrapping off?

It will make it a tad narrower, obviously, but...

I's not a good idea to short out a NiMH or NiCD battery.

You could get 50 watts of heating from an AA.

Internal resistance 14-30milliOhms. Ish. V^2/R.

So having them in a pocket with loose change could be unfortunate.

Reminds me of a time I had a battery in my pocket plus a chain with my keys on...chain shorts battery and cue shock to the 'special area'...lesson learned :oops:

wgwarburton

Hi,
Anyone know what sort of capacity they are typically getting out of of low leakage cells like Vapextech "Instant"s, Panasonic Infiniums, or even the Maplin Hybrids?

I got a couple of sets of Sanyo "Eneloop"s, which are similarly rated at 2000mAh, but my (Technoline) charger is reporting most of them well above that- nearer to 3000mAh than 2000 (cf. conventional-tech, cheap NiMHs which are generally well below the rated capacity).

Sanyo are generally well regarded, but this seems pretty impressive... or is it par for the course with these "low leakage" cells?

Cheers,
W.
edit: fix typo

alfablue

WGWarburton wrote:

Hi,
Anyone know what sort of capacity they are typically getting out of of low leakage cells like Vapextech "Instant"s, Panasonic Infiniums, or even the Maplin Hybrids?

I got a couple of sets of Sanyo "Eneloop"s, which are similarly rated at 2000mAh, but my (Technoline) charger is reporting most of them well above that- nearer to 3000mAh than 2000 (cf. conventional-tech, cheap NiMHs which are generally well below the rated capacity).

Sanyo are generally well regarded, but this seems pretty impressive... or is it par for the course with these "low leakage" cells?

Cheers,
W.
edit: fix typo

I think you may be reading the figure for mAh that the charger is putting in to the cells on a charge - this will always be more than the actual capacity. The correct way to measure real capacity is to do a discharge cycle in the charger and see what that reports. I would have thought 3000mAh capacity would be technically impossible, and as a rule, the real capacity of cells is usually around 80-90% of the stated capacity (with good quality cells).