Rechargable batteries
I want to start using rechargable batteries in my mp3 player, but I don't know anything about rechargables, so any advice is appreciated.
The mp3 players uses a standard AAA battery (a "Pencil Battery", as we call them here in England, as apposed to the AA "Pen Batteries"), so what type of batteries and charger should I get. If you're in England/Great Britain and have an Argos catalogue handy, then a page and item number would be nice too ("Oh Yeah", I hear you cry, "should I buy the damn things for you too, ewgf you lazy bast!")
Also, are rechargables good for remote controls (TV, satellite, etc) or do they lose their charge too quickly?
The mp3 players uses a standard AAA battery (a "Pencil Battery", as we call them here in England, as apposed to the AA "Pen Batteries"), so what type of batteries and charger should I get. If you're in England/Great Britain and have an Argos catalogue handy, then a page and item number would be nice too ("Oh Yeah", I hear you cry, "should I buy the damn things for you too, ewgf you lazy bast!")
Also, are rechargables good for remote controls (TV, satellite, etc) or do they lose their charge too quickly?
Post edited by ewgf on
Comments
NiMH and NiCd batteries have a high self-discharge rate, so they are suitable for things where you tend to go through batteries quite quickly. They aren't much good for TV remotes etc. as a consequence (where an alkaline battery might last years). Unless it's a really fancy remote with a backlit LCD that sucks down the power and eats batteries.
As Dr Winston O'Boogie said, NiMH is the way to go.
Component-Shop on the internet are good, and I've bought some excellent and relatively cheap NiMH batteries of them. Here's a wee link:
http://www.component-shop.co.uk/html/chargers.html
https://discordapp.com/invite/cZt59EQ
Don't buy Batteries from Argos, there overpriced. They rely on the "would you like any batteries for that" to sell them to punters. Buy online from somewhere like Spector suggested, or I tend to use www.7dayshop.com, which have always given good service, so I stick with them.
You're supposed to stick to the same brand charger as the batteries you buy. Eg, if you buy a Duracell charger use Duracell batteries. This only applies to the quick chargers (1 hour or less) since they apparently depend on battery characteristics to know how much current to deliver and to determine when the battery is fully recharged. Whether that's as important as they say, I do as I'm told. Not like it matters a lot since I haven't bought batteries besides these 8 in about two years now.
Write games in C using Z88DK and SP1
perv ;)
mine has a built in battery.
it charges from the USB plug...
:p
http://svp.co.uk/category/rechargeable_aaa_batteries
They sell lots of other nice goodies as well.
A lot of cheap chargers simply work on a timer - which will usually only be good for the batteries that come with it. (you can faff around double charging them and stuff but it doesn't do the batteries a lot of good)
Chargers that support all sorts of capacities are around but I had to hunt for one a couple of years ago - There were loads of places offering great deals on high capacity AA and AAA batteries but it was a bugger to find a charger that would charge them up fully.
I guess I'm saying don't pay for the extra capacity batteries if your charger won't charge them up that high anyway!
Everyone I know calls AA batteries "pencil batteries".
yeah i call them that too. if you want AAA batteries you say 'can i have some batteries the ones smaller than the pencil ones.'
everyone *I* know calls them AA batteries. We also call a car a car, a dog a dog, and a house a house. Crazy I know! ;)
your lead a very generic life there. no makes of cars, no breeds of dogs, no types of houses?
...it's written on the side of the battery. I never seen 'pencil battery' anywhere on a battery.
For most people these days using MP3 players, cameras, etc, you should choose NiMH types over NiCd. (There are some benefits to NiCd like physical durability and failure mode that can make them desirable in certain applications, but this is getting rarer.)
I have tried a couple of popular cheap NiMH brands and I quite honestly consider them to be an abysmal waste of money. For example, the Hama batteries sold by 7 Day Shop have a frightening self-discharge characteristic, meaning they're totally flat inside a couple of weeks if not used. Don't touch with a barge-pole. (Yet, weirdly, the unbranded "designed for GP2X" AA's I got with my GP2X lasted a good few months of storage and seem to perform to their rated 2500mAh capacity! Nowhere near as poor as I expected. :) )
I have been quite impressed by the standard Uniross NiMH AA's (not tried the ultra-fast charging ones - I'm just talking about the silver/black ones like these (except they were 2500mAh when I bought them). Note the link is to AA's, not AAA's.). It is worth treating them with some care initially though. I usually discharge them first, then put them in an old slow-charger (8-10 hours) before first use, and then ensure the first use drains them completely. You can then use a 1-2 hour fast charge thereafter. An independent-cell charger like in the link above is a must if you intend to fast charge, otherwise you will get progressive imbalance in the cells. It might take 4 or 5 full cycles before you get max capacity. (And it's always worth cleaning the battery ends before fast charging or using them in high-drain situations. Don't leave sticky fingerprints on the ends of the battery or the equipment terminals else you will get poor performance.)
The decent NiMH cells still suffer from (much more tolerable!) self-discharge of course, at about 2 months or so to half charge. Some people seem to have a pathological hatred of Uniross, but I've not had a problem with any of my sets. By comparison, a set of Duracell rechargeables failed to hold a charge at all.
However, I have been using a new technology for the last 6 months or so. Ultra-low self-discharge NiMH batteries. I think Sanyo started it with their Eneloop range, and I have several of the Uniross Hybrio range, which can be had for around £6 for a 4-pack. The lower absolute capacity of these cells is easily offset by the fact you can come back to them six months later and they'll still have their charge. Ideal for casual digicam users, remote controls, and other non-intensive uses. My MP3 player has a single Hybrio AAA to power it and I've not yet had to charge it from when I bought the batteries at Christmas!
Theres no point putting rechargables in a TV remote anyway - They only need replacing once a year at most, and you can now buy 12-15 cheap but decent quality AA/AAA batteries for a quid (Panasonic/Kodak/Samsung etc.)