Rechargeable AA's too big?

[Arnold F.]

I've tried to use rechargeable AA's in a Lock-It box and they were just a bit too big!  Has anyone had this experience and, if so, is there a brand that works?  I'd love to use them in my SM and SMD.

A.

[bcopenhagen]

I ran a mix of Powerex and Sanyo AA's but although they are fine when freshly charge, I do find uneven runtime in Lectro SM's if they are left for more than a few days without charge. This doesn't seem to be a problem when using them in equipment such as timecode slates which use multiple cells.

On my current shoot I purchased 50 Sanyo Eneloop low discharge AA NiMH batteries. While they are lower capacity, I find the performance consistent. 

One other feature of the Eneloop's is that they appear to be the correct dimensions for AA batteries. All the high capacity NiMh batteries that I have tested have been oversized compared to Alkaline AA's. Ambient Lockit's and Master Controller's need the alkaline sized AA's. Their timecode slates take the tubby high capacity cells.

Here's the post in it's entirety:

http://jwsound.net/SMF/index.php?topic=4250.msg30808#msg30808

Poke around that thread, it's got some good info...

-Brian

[studiomprd]

try doing a "search"

[davidm]

Hi Arnold,

Expanding on my earlier post that Chis has copied, I researched a large number of data sheets for NiMH AA batteries and found most to have variable and oversized width compared to Akaline AA's. Two NIMH AA batteries which do conform to the Alkaline "standard" are Sanyo Eneloop and the now hard to find 2200mah Energizers that Lectrosonics used to ship with the SM transmitters. I think Lectro now supply a larger capacity cell.

The Eneloop's are rated at 2200mah and will run the Lockit's for up to 18 hours or so unless there is a significant termination load on the video/AES sync output.

David M

[Scott Smith]

I just tried putting some Eveready NiMH batteries into a Lockit a couple of days ago, and stopped because they would have had to been pried out. I wouldn't recommend it...

--Scott

Two NIMH AA batteries which do conform to the Alkaline "standard" are Sanyo Eneloop and the now hard to find 2200mah Energizers that Lectrosonics used to ship with the SM transmitters. I think Lectro now supply a larger capacity cell.

The Eneloop's are rated at 2200mah and will run the Lockit's for up to 18 hours or so unless there is a significant termination load on the video/AES sync output.

David M

[PaulE]

I have experienced the same problem.

I now use PowerEx NiMh with all the wrappings removed. They fit nicely into the Lockits and master clock and will run almost 24 hours. Gotta be careful with them when they are loose in your pocket though. But PowerEx supplies handy little cases that solve that problem.

I have a few peeled sets for exclusive use with the Lockits in an army of unpeeled ones for the transmitters.

Cheers,

pe

[Darren]

Switch to these:

Titanium Power Enduro NIMH AA

2700mAh Rechargeable

You'll be glad you did.  They outlast the MAHA's and fit perfectly.