Ben's Bargains Serving Fresh Deals 24/7

1200 and 400 mah? or is ma something different? Surely it cant be 400mah batteries.

Its a fast charger which usually is bad on the batteries.

It charges AA's @ 1200mah and AAA's @ 400mah.

The batteries look to be 2500mah cells.

what are the good rechargeables? are eneloops the way to go? just picked up a couple AA and CR123 led flashlights and i'm not sure what to get for them.

FYI: Rechargable AAs are 1.2V while disposables are 1.5V make sure you device supports which ever you use.

Eneloops/Rayovacs hybrids/Duracell Precharged are low discharge rate batteries which are good for remotes and such as they hold a charge longer.

Charging rate is rated in milli-amperes (mA). Batteries are rated in milli-ampere hours (mAH).

Theoretically, a 2400 mAH battery would take 2 hours to charge at 1200 mA. (2400 mAH / 1200 mA = 2 hours). However, it usually takes a little longer due to efficiency loss.

Generally, completely charging from an almost fully drained state in less than 10 hours is bad news for the battery. Too much heat generated kills the chemistry.

#3, I'm using 2 Eneloop AAA in a Logitech Vx Nano, 4 months now and still working. I'm surprised, actually. Thought I'd need to recharge every month or so even with low self discharge. For your lights, check to make sure they can accept rechargables in the first place. If you don't use them much, Eneloops ensure there'll still be some charge when you get around to using them, so long as you remember to recharge every 3 months or so.

#3 While I'm a huge fan of Eneloops and rechargeables, you may be better off using disposable alkaline batteries from Duracell/Energizer for a flashlight if you rarely plan on using it. Decent alkalines have a shelf life of a few years. Rechargeables are better used in devices whose batteries need recharging multiple times a year because you get more bang for your buck. Just my $.02.

First, the included batteries are crap. The specs on buy's page don't tell us essential info, whether this charger has timer or Delta -V charge termination, and whether it continues to trickle charge at that point (and the supposed-trickle rate if it does).

With decent cells like Eneloops, and a quality charger with Delta -V termination, the cell impedance is low enough you can charge at 1200mA/AA and 400mA/AAA without excessive heat. You actually want to stay above roughly 500mA charge current so that the cell voltage depression happens fast enough a typical charger's circuitry can sense it.

Certainly very slow charging at a C/10 or lower rate will work too but left overcharging C/10 is a bit high, these days you might as well take advances made a few years back and use a 2 hour semi-rapid charger if your needs allows for it.

#3, if your lights have relatively high discharge current, over roughly half an amp, you may find that the NiMH cells actually retain a higher charge during use than an alkaline spec'd for 1.5V because the alkaline suffers voltage depression from higher internal impedance, as well as shorter runtime from the more linear drop in voltage as the cell discharges causing even higher current if the flashlight is regulated.

I agree that if a flashlight is to be left sitting in a closet or glovebox for only emergency use, a primary lithium or alkaline cell is a better alternative since they have a few years shelf life, but if you would use up a battery in less than 1-2 years, Eneloops are the way to go for a flashlight if you're not wanting nor can it accept Li-Ion rechargeables.

Then again, in an emergency it's real handy to have a rapid charger with an automobile lighter adapter, assuming you own a car.

For extreme duty use you might even consider LiFEPO4, as they can be recharged over twice as many times and don't self-degrade like typical Li-Ion just sitting around, though the voltage is 0.7V lower but a decent regulated flashlight can handle that, albeit with half the capacity so it really depends on the need which cell type to choose.

The one thing you don't want is crap cells like these Lenmars. Low QC, very fast self discharge, higher cell impedance, pretty much the worst of all worlds just to save 2 bucks in a bundle with a charger we know nothing about. IOW, you can probably get an equivalent charger if we knew exactly what it is/does, for $15 bucks and the cells are $1 each generic types so you're only saving $1 to end up with junk batteries.

Dave_C, how can I tell what the discharge current is on the lights? i just purchased these...

https://www.eagletac-store.com/product_info.php?cPath=103&products_id=606

https://www.eagletac-store.com/product_info.php?cPath=103&products_id=715

https://www.eagletac-store.com/product_info.php?cPath=103&products_id=1577

As a heads up to anyone looking for a LED flashlight...all of the eagletac's are 40% off at this store using the code eagle40. Thought I'd share as they are supposed to be good lights.

https://www.eagletac-store.com/index.php?cPath=103

Ripoff!
nearly 10 years ago I Bought 20 x lenamar 2000MaH AAS at fry's for $20. they worked well enough for the price and the fact that low discharge eneloop or hybrid batteries had not been invented yet. In this last year they have started to die.

now you can get 6xAA eneloop with a charger at costco for approximately this same price($18.00)!

MAYBE if you only want to spend $1 per battery get conventional NIMH AAs, but my advice is spend around $2 each for eneloop or other low discharge ones.

I would not have paid half this price 10 years ago for lenmars!

<table width="90%" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3" border="0" align="center"><tr> <td><span class="genmed"><b>broadwayblue wrote:</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="quote">Dave_C, how can I tell what the discharge current is on the lights? i just purchased these...

https://www.eagletac-store.com/product_info.php?cPath=103&products_id=606

https://www.eagletac-store.com/product_info.php?cPath=103&products_id=715

https://www.eagletac-store.com/product_info.php?cPath=103&products_id=1577

As a heads up to anyone looking for a LED flashlight...all of the eagletac's are 40% off at this store using the code eagle40. Thought I'd share as they are supposed to be good lights.

https://www.eagletac-store.com/index.php?cPath=103</td> </tr></table><span class="postbody">

The first linked light definitely draws over 1A from the battery, for anything other than long term storage you should avoid alkaline AA, and it may even be noticeably dimmer the whole time with alkaline AA.

The second linked light you could get away with using alkalines without as much penalty. The thing to remember is with a 1.5V cell you have a driver transistor voltage drop from regulation, so it's slim margins, but by simply having two cells you can halve the current even if it has a bit higher total output, plu... [Truncated]

<table width="90%" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3" border="0" align="center"><tr> <td><span class="genmed"><b>dave_c wrote:</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="quote"><table width="90%" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3" border="0" align="center"><tr> <td><span class="genmed"><b>broadwayblue wrote:</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="quote">Dave_C, how can I tell what the discharge current is on the lights? i just purchased these...

https://www.eagletac-store.com/product_info.php?cPath=103&products_id=606

https://www.eagletac-store.com/product_info.php?cPath=103&products_id=715

https://www.eagletac-store.com/product_info.php?cPath=103&products_id=1577

As a heads up to anyone looking for a LED flashlight...all of the eagletac's are 40% off at this store using the code eagle40. Thought I'd share as they are supposed to be good lights.

https://www.eagletac-store.com/index.php?cPath=103</td> </tr></table><span class="postbody">

The first linked light definitely draws over 1A from the battery, for anything other than long term storage you should avoid alkaline AA, and it may even be noticeably dimmer the whole time with alkaline AA.

The second linked light you could get away with using alkalines without as much penalty. The thing to remember is with a 1.5V cell yo... [Truncated]

<table width="90%" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3" border="0" align="center"><tr> <td><span class="genmed"><b>broadwayblue wrote:</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="quote">

Wow, thanks for the detailed reply. Yes, the 2nd light can go with rechargeable 123A (RCR123 i think they are called):

Uses one 1.5V AA battery
(optional: one 1.2V rechargeable or one 1.7V lithium AA battery)

As for the broken link, it was removed because the product sold out...this is the manufacturers page:

http://www.eagletac.com/flashlights/t10lc2.html

Basically I need to decide whether to go with NiMH or Li-ion for the first. Do you recommend a particular brand of rechargeable CR123?</td> </tr></table><span class="postbody">

I don't know if there is any difference in brightness or runtime on the now linked product, when you get into lights capable of higher input voltage it varies more based on the driver used and I am not familiar with that one.

The first you linked appeared spec'd to be only 1.5V or lower capable. LOL, now none of the original 3 links work. The second one seemed better with Li-Ion but it really depends on your goals.

Personally if a light can take 2 or more NiMH, I opt for NiMH because it means fewer types of cells I carry with me. For example if I had 3 gadgets that take a different type of battery each, then if I take 3 replacement sets of batteries I can only fit a new battery in any one device one time. If I take 3 gadgets that take the same type of batteries, I can put fresh cells in the whichever run through the batteries the fastest which can change based on conditions.

It also means taking a charger along is easier, I'm a big fan of NiMH rapid chargers that can ru... [Truncated]

Waste of money. Never buy high discharge batteries. Charge a HDB & in 30 days it will be dead without ever even using the battery. A HSB battey usually has a a discharge rate of 1-3% per day. A Low Discharge Battery LDB has a discharge rate of 3-6% per year. A regular alkaline is 1%.

I have a bag of NiMH Energerizer 2500mAH batteries, since I've switched to Eneloops I won't go back.

I do agree if you have a flashlight, something that just sits around and is rarely used I would use Lithium batteries.

Well there are high discharge batteries and then there are generic high discharge batteries. Generics like these tend to discharge MUCH MUCH faster than typical, I've seen them lose half capacity in a single week and that's the good specimens not the marginally defective when arrived specimens.