[ale] [OT] any experience with low self discharge NIMH batteries

[Jim Kinney]

I have a vague memory of a rechargeable lantern battery at Frys.
On Mar 9, 2013 2:38 PM, "Ron Frazier (ALE)" <
atllinuxenthinfo at techstarship.com> wrote:

>
>
> Alex Carver <agcarver+ale at acarver.net> wrote:
>
> >On 3/8/2013 19:25, Ron Frazier (ALE) wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >> Alex Carver <agcarver+ale at acarver.net> wrote:
> >>
> >>> On 3/4/2013 21:04, Ron Frazier (ALE) wrote:
> >>>> Hi all,
> >>>>
> >>>> A few months back, we had a thread here about new advanced LED
> >>>> flashlights.  I bought one that has the giant 1/4 in LED inside,
> >and
> >>> is
> >>>> bright enough to be competitive with an incandescent krypton bulb.
> >>> Love
> >>>> the flashlight.  Works great.  However, it's powered by only 2 AA
> >>>> batteries and they're dying 6 months later.  I'm considering using
> >>> NIMH
> >>>> rechargeables there.  The problem with that is that, left on the
> >>> shelf,
> >>>> standard NIMH batteries lose 10 % - 30 % of their charge per month.
> >>> So,
> >>>> you could pick up the flashlight and not have it working when you
> >>> need it.
> >>>>
> >>>> Enter Low Self Discharge NIMH batteries.  These are relatively new.
> >>> They
> >>>> claim to lose only about 15 % of their charge after a year.  So,
> >you
> >>>> could get away with charging the flashlight batteries only every 6
> >>>> months or so.
> >>>>
> >>>> Two main brands of LSD NIMH seem to dominate.  Eneloop by Sanyo and
> >>>> Imedion by Powerex (Maha Energy).  I've used some standard Powerex
> >>> NIMH
> >>>> 2700 mah batteries and I like them, but I have to charge them if
> >>> they've
> >>>> been sitting a while.
> >>>>
> >>>> Does anyone have any experience with the LSD NIMH batteries.  Is it
> >a
> >>>> good idea to use them in a flashlight, or stick with Duracells at $
> >3
> >>> /
> >>>> pair, or other alkalines?  I know Fry's and Home Depot / Lowes
> >>> sometimes
> >>>> sell batteries in packages at lower unit cost.  I haven't done a
> >>> price
> >>>> analysis on those.
> >>>
> >>> For something like a flashlight that can handle deep discharge try
> >one
> >>> of the lithium iron (that's Fe not a typo of 'ion') formulations.
> >You
> >>> can pick up AA versions at the hardware store next to the solar
> >powered
> >>>
> >>> garden lights.
> >>
> >> Hi Alex,
> >>
> >> Thanks for that info.  I did some research on these and they sound
> >interesting.  The attributes of that battery chemistry sound cool and
> >it's probably worth keeping an eye on.  I don't think it will work in
> >my case since these batteries are 3.2 V and my flashlight expects to
> >see 3X 1.5 V cells.  I may end up going with some of the LSD NIMH ones.
> >>
> >> Sincerely,
> >
> >Ah, but you're missing half the fun of tinkering with the flashlight to
> >
> >use them. :)  A tiny, three terminal 4.5V regulator wedged inside and
> >you'd be set.
> >
>
> Hi Alex,
>
> I'm not sure I need another project to tinker with.  The flashlight I
> mentioned is one of the new high power led pocket units.  There's barely
> room for the 3 AAA batteries in it.  I don't think I want to mess with
> that.  Also, if it's a linear regulator, it would be wasting all the power
> dropping from 6.4 V to 4.5 V.  The only way you could avoid that would be a
> switching regulator.
>
> However, I have a couple of bigger flashlights that have the krypton bulbs
> and the big 6V square lantern batteries.  The batteries are around $ 10
> each.  More than the flashlight costs.  I had planned to decommission the
> units after the batteries die.  A Lithium Iron rechargeable battery pack
> for those might be worth considering.  I wonder if such a thing is already
> available in that form factor?
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Ron
>
>
> --
>
> Sent from my Android Acer A500 tablet with bluetooth keyboard and K-9 Mail.
> Please excuse my potential brevity if I'm typing on the touch screen.
>
> (PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to
> call on the phone.  I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy
> mailing lists and such.  I don't always see new email messages very
> quickly.)
>
> Ron Frazier
> 770-205-9422 (O)   Leave a message.
> linuxdude AT techstarship.com
>
>
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