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Hey what’s everybody’s favorite AA rechargeable?


Izen Ears

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New show wants us to use all rechargeable batteries, and I’m just wondering which AA people like for their transmitters.  They are recommending one of these three, and I am wondering which is the best:

 

Sanyo Eneloop 1900 mAH
Powerex 2700mAH
Ansmann NiMH 2850 mAH

 

Obviously the Ansmann ones look the best, but are they? The last time I messed with these was about 12 years ago, and they lasted about two hours.

 

Thanks!

Dan

(Apologies if someone has already talked about this I am a terrible searcher!)

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I had good results with the IKEA Ladda 2450, but according to others, they have changed them recently and supposed to not be as good anymore (?) I can’t confirm or deny that, since I haven’t tried the new ones myself.

 

Currently using Eneloop Pro 2500mah with good results.

- Single battery transmitter (SMV) runs for over 4h, but have not tested running it off the rails to get actual runtime yet.
- Dual battery (SMQV) ran for about 8h 30min last time I did a full test.

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From my personal experience, The main difference between the Eneloop and the Ansmann is the way they keep the charge.

 

If you charge fully both batteries and store them for a week, the Ansmann's will be partially discharged, the Eneloop less.

 

I personnaly use the Ikea Ladda 2450 mAh that seems to be rebranded Eneloop's.

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Awesome thanks fellas!  The Eneloop 2500s seem like a good start.

9 minutes ago, henrimic said:

From my personal experience, The main difference between the Eneloop and the Ansmann is the way they keep the charge.

 

If you charge fully both batteries and store them for a week, the Ansmann's will be partially discharged, the Eneloop less.

 

I personnaly use the Ikea Ladda 2450 mAh that seems to be rebranded Eneloop's.

So if they are both topped off, fresh off the charger, do they both last the same amount of time? We will be able to cook them and then throw them directly in a transmitter, so the issue of “storage voltage drop” (?) shouldn’t be that big a deal.

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7 minutes ago, Izen Ears said:

Hey what about those iPower Max ones? Those seem like they might be pretty hefty, and I love their 9 volts.

Had a lot of problems with those. Inconsistent runtimes and a few went bad over about 6 months.

 

I have a ton of the black eneloop pros and they are by far my favorite.

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5 minutes ago, Trey LaCroix said:

Had a lot of problems with those. Inconsistent runtimes and a few went bad over about 6 months.

 

I have a ton of the black eneloop pros and they are by far my favorite.

Oh dude thank you so much, this is exactly the information I was seeking. I will forget those and just go with the Eneloop 2500s.

 

Thanks JW Sound!!

 

Dan Izen

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1 hour ago, Johnny Karlsson said:

I had good results with the IKEA Ladda 2450, but according to others, they have changed them recently and supposed to not be as good anymore (?) I can’t confirm or deny that, since I haven’t tried the new ones myself.

I was in the same boat as you a couple weeks ago.  I've been using IKEA Ladda 2450 "white" batteries for 4-5 years but they were starting to get old and less reliable.  Decided to give the new "grey" Ladda's a shot (bought four dozen of them).  Still say Made In Japan on the boxes.  Used them on a gig and they worked fine / normal?  Still need to do long term testing but so far so good...

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I bought the new iPower Max AA 1.5V 2600mWh Li-po’s and they seem to be good, until they aren’t.  Meaning the battery meter on my Lectro’s don’t work with them(properly) and there is zero warning of the battery dying.  The transmitter is there and the next second it’s gone/off. I can put hot batteries in and the Lectro meter will show 1/4-1/2 down in a matter of minutes sometimes, even though the battery keeps going for hours.   But one of my audio guys has said he’s never had rechargeable’s of any kind work properly with Lectro Rx battery meters.  He just sets a timer and changes them every X hours.  Also said he’s considering going back to throw-away Li’s.

 

I hope I didn’t waste hundreds of dollars on rechargeable’s….

1 hour ago, Johnny Karlsson said:

I had good results with the IKEA Ladda 2450, but according to others, they have changed them recently and supposed to not be as good anymore (?) I can’t confirm or deny that, since I haven’t tried the new ones myself.

 

Currently using Eneloop Pro 2500mah with good results.

- Single battery transmitter (SMV) runs for over 4h, but have not tested running it off the rails to get actual runtime yet.
- Dual battery (SMQV) ran for about 8h 30min last time I did a full test.

What power setting?  50mW?

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Here's a test on some AA rechargeables after a year of use in solar lights, i.e., many charges and discharges.

 

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=projectfarm+rechargeable+AA+Batteries&&view=detail&mid=12C4897AB10FFD02F03712C4897AB10FFD02F037&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dprojectfarm%2Brechargeable%2BAA%2BBatteries%26go%3DSearch%26qs%3Dds%26form%3DQBVDMH

 

This projectfarm guy tests a little bit of everything, generally very thoroughly. He doesn't test the Eneloop black, which I found to be the best 5 years ago. But that was 5 years ago. Don't trust the ratings of off brand batteries; the measurements are dreamed up by the marketing depart after being threatend with unemployment if sales don't go up.

Best Regards,

Larry Fisher

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7 minutes ago, LarryF said:

Don't trust the ratings of off brand batteries; the measurements are dreamed up by the marketing depart after being threatend with unemployment if sales don't go up.

A shame as I was hoping to try some Pukemark NiMH AA's off Amazon (https://slate.com/technology/2020/10/amazon-brand-names-pukemark-demonlick-china.html)

Speaking of Amazon, I'd avoid buying even name brand stuff off there as they just throw all the fakes into the same bins as the knockoffs and I'm sure cheap knock off suppliers love selling cheap NiMH labeled as Panasonic for the big bucks.

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2 hours ago, RunAndGun said:

I bought the new iPower Max AA 1.5V 2600mWh Li-po’s and they seem to be good, until they aren’t.  Meaning the battery meter on my Lectro’s don’t work with them(properly) and there is zero warning of the battery dying.  The transmitter is there and the next second it’s gone/off. I can put hot batteries in and the Lectro meter will show 1/4-1/2 down in a matter of minutes sometimes, even though the battery keeps going for hours.   But one of my audio guys has said he’s never had rechargeable’s of any kind work properly with Lectro Rx battery meters.  He just sets a timer and changes them every X hours.  Also said he’s considering going back to throw-away Li’s.

 

I hope I didn’t waste hundreds of dollars on rechargeable’s….

What power setting?  50mW?

It is absolutely impossible to measure the voltage of a NiMh battery and derive its state of charge. Do as your audio guy suggested; fully charge the NiMh and then use the timer to determine how much time expended and/or left. The power light color is absolutely meaningless for NiMh be it green, red or purple, except to tell you that the transmitter is on. 

Best Regards,

Larry Fisher

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I too use the black eneloop pro’s with great success for many years. i keep them numbered and rotate them, they hold charge really well over a few weeks at least with slight dips. There definitely is a charging rythm that is device specific i.e. trx’s n rx200’s i charge the morning of whereas erx’s and sennheiser g2’s i can let them set for weeks and still make it thru a full day. So i have color coded battery cases to split these up, and newest batteries with highest numbers stay specifically for the higher draw devices mentioned above. I do believe the chargers like the 16 bank titanium chargers help in the long run with proper charging and periodic refreshing vs the lesser quality 4 bank chargers sold it kits

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1 hour ago, LarryF said:

Here's a test on some AA rechargeables after a year of use in solar lights, i.e., many charges and discharges.

 

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=projectfarm+rechargeable+AA+Batteries&&view=detail&mid=12C4897AB10FFD02F03712C4897AB10FFD02F037&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dprojectfarm%2Brechargeable%2BAA%2BBatteries%26go%3DSearch%26qs%3Dds%26form%3DQBVDMH

 

This projectfarm guy tests a little bit of everything, generally very thoroughly.

This is an interesting test, but

what bothers me a bit is, that he compares values of single samples of each product. Whenever I bought some Ladda, I've put them in a C9000 and an ISDT N-Series (empty bays in between), energy density and inherent resistance already vary quite a bit within the same pack. Obviously, it would rise the price and/or time for such tests a lot, but it'd be more fair and convincing to compare means and variations of different products.

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5 hours ago, Izen Ears said:

So if they are both topped off, fresh off the charger, do they both last the same amount of time? We will be able to cook them and then throw them directly in a transmitter, so the issue of “storage voltage drop” (?) shouldn’t be that big a deal.

You are right, out of the charger, there is not so much difference. The duration between 2500 and 2850 mAh is marginal.

And it's not scientific by any means, but I feel like the Eneloops last longer. After two years, I had many failures with the Ansmann.

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5 hours ago, LarryF said:

It is absolutely impossible to measure the voltage of a NiMh battery and derive its state of charge. Do as your audio guy suggested; fully charge the NiMh and then use the timer to determine how much time expended and/or left. The power light color is absolutely meaningless for NiMh be it green, red or purple, except to tell you that the transmitter is on. 

Best Regards,

Larry Fisher

Hey Larry.  These are actually lithium batteries, not NiMH and I have the receivers set to lithium batts.

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10 hours ago, RunAndGun said:

Hey Larry.  These are actually lithium batteries, not NiMH and I have the receivers set to lithium batts.

My error in reading too fast. Those lithium AA batteries are even worse about charge detection. The internal LiPo battery in the AA's is running at 3.7 to 3.2 (?) Volts and an internal power supply knocks the voltage down to a regulated 1.5 Volts or thereabout until the internal battery dies. The regulator then shuts down quickly to protect the LiPo. Treat them the same as NiMh; only use the timer in the unit.

Best Regards,

Larry Fisher

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