Batteries and chargers (Eneloop and BC-900)

Orville said:
I posted this thread within another forum. Eneloops are great, but I found GP Recyko's to be slightly more powerful and also cheaper. I own lots of both.
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That's strange because on THIS thread I found Eneloops to have around 2100mAh rather than the 2000mAh they are rated at!

Still they work extremely well giving me 500+ discharges easily from the flash and stay charged.
 
Anyone buying the Eneloops from 7dayshop check out:

prod_88787.jpg


buy one get one free at £1.99
 
cowasaki said:
That's strange because on THIS thread I found Eneloops to have around 2100mAh rather than the 2000mAh they are rated at!

Still they work extremely well giving me 500+ discharges easily from the flash and stay charged.
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That is most likely due to the difference in testers. The Maha C900 I use is known to show lower capacities than the SB700/800's. I tested both types within the same unit, following the same test parameters and every Recyko held more charge than every Eneloop I tested. The difference was tiny, but the Recyko's do appear to hold more capacity. Different testers reach full discharge and full charge at different rates. For example the C900 reaches full discharge when cells reach 0.9v. Other chargers go lower, meaning you can charge their depleted cells further. Cut-off points for charge cycles and measurement tolerances can also vary. The only way to be certain which battery type performs best is to test them all within the same piece of equipment under the same conditions.
 
Orville said:
That is most likely due to the difference in testers. The Maha C900 I use is known to show lower capacities than the SB700/800's. I tested both types within the same unit, following the same test parameters and the every Recyko held more charge than every Eneloop I tested. The difference was tiny, but the Recyko do hold more capacity.
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I used the BC-900 for my test. Like you said very little difference so either is ideal but best to stick to one type at a time. Getting 500+ flashes is all I need. How good is the ability to hold a charge on the Recyko batteries and what kind of price?
 
cowasaki said:
How good is the ability to hold a charge on the Recyko batteries and what kind of price?
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I cannot tell any difference between charge retention of Eneloops & Recykos. No doubt they will both last for years and years if left unused, but the fact that "out of packet" capacity of the Recyko's is slightly better than the Eneloops I have tested suggests they should perform pretty similar. At the time I paid less than £3.50 for 4x Recyko's at Amazon (mis-price). You can now find them for £7.49 for 6 AA's or £4.99 for 6 AAA's at http://www.buyabattery.co.uk. Prices are cheaper still if you buy in bulk.


I now use 3 types of LSD's for kids toys, camera gear, remote controls, and everything else. I fully recommend Eneloops, GP Recyko, and Unicross Hybrios. Without a tester you will never notice any difference between the 3. With a tester the differences are very very small. Just buy the cheapest you can find.

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The only duff LSD's I have tested are 7DayShop "good-to-go". I purchased a pack of 4x AA's a month ago because they were cheaep, and the capacities varied between 1600-1800mAH after several discharges. I will be sticking to the 3 above.
 
Thanks for that.

Just deciding to buy eneloops/hybrios/7day shop good to go and can't decide which ones. The Sony ones are also an interesting option.

Tempted to just buy the cheapest I can and see what they're like. So that'll be 7day shop or Sony. Or maybe I should just stretch to the more expensive eneloops or is that just paying for the brand :shrug:
 
Going by Orville's post I would avoid the "good to go" batteries

Orville said:
The only duff LSD's I have tested are 7DayShop "good-to-go". I purchased a pack of 4x AA's a month ago because they were cheaep, and the capacities varied between 1600-1800mAH after several discharges. I will be sticking to the 3 above.
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I'm another eneloop fan. Been using them in my flashes for about 6 months now and they haven't let me down.
 
Flash In The Pan said:
Seemingly Sainsbury's are doing these

41-xQDjzdmL._SL500_AA280_.jpg


2000mAh, ready-to-use....£3 a pack
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Doh, bought 2 packs of Eneloops at £9 a pack from ASDA today (need them for tomorrow and the rest of the week). These are apparently re labelled Eneloops, wish I'd known about these! :bonk:

I've got a quick charger for my Uniross rechargeables, but I've read Eneloops are better if slow charged. I've got a Hahnel slow charger, but how anyone know long should I charge them for? It doesn't cut off automatically like my fast charger!
 
socrates said:
Thanks for that.

Just deciding to buy eneloops/hybrios/7day shop good to go and can't decide which ones. The Sony ones are also an interesting option.

Tempted to just buy the cheapest I can and see what they're like. So that'll be 7day shop or Sony. Or maybe I should just stretch to the more expensive eneloops or is that just paying for the brand :shrug:
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I would go for the Sony ones at that price!
 
I've found with the Annsmann MaxE's that you need to use an appropriate charger with them, otherwise they get very hot.
 
Flash In The Pan said:
Seemingly Sainsbury's are doing these

41-xQDjzdmL._SL500_AA280_.jpg


200mAh, ready-to-use....£3 a pack
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Went into sainsburys. Couldn't find these, not even any empty racks. Also, can't see it online. Wonder if it has expired or only in some branches

Maybe i'll get the eneloops unless i can find these
 
Eneloops are the future, no questions.

I've been running 48 of them for around 3 yrs now and they aint shown any sign of cr@pping out. They're always there.
The Maha C801D is my charger, processor controlled, single bay charging with recondition if desired

Just go there !!!!!
 
Well went into sainburys and they had the charger with 2 aaa batteries for £11.99 but no aa batteries!
 
What I find surprising is that despite these La Crosse/Technoline BC 900 chargers being raved about as chargers they are an absolute PIG to get hold of. Only one place in the UK seems to stock them and they are out of stock until April. It's like they must make 50 a year or something. Excellent chargers maybe but doubt they'll be around long unless people can buy them.

Will likely go for the 700 model (or even a Maha) and get the C/D converters from Sanyo.
 
Empgamer said:
What I find surprising is that despite these La Crosse/Technoline BC 900 chargers being raved about as chargers they are an absolute PIG to get hold of. Only one place in the UK seems to stock them and they are out of stock until April. It's like they must make 50 a year or something. Excellent chargers maybe but doubt they'll be around long unless people can buy them.

Will likely go for the 700 model (or even a Maha) and get the C/D converters from Sanyo.
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The BC-700 does pretty much everything that the BC-900 model does and is £28 rather than £42 so I'd just get that.
 
strobemonkey said:
The 900 charges faster.
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I don't use my BC-900 on full power anyway. It has all the other functions though. I was thinking of getting a BC700 so I can charge 8 batteries using a decent charger at the same time.
 
There are several alternative makers of batteries with the same chemistry. 7 day shop seems to be the best price-wise. They are about £6.50 for 4 or £8 with a 4 battery charger.
 
Seems there have been a few melt-down problems with the 900. Many places seem to be out of stock. Think I'll go for the Maha/Powerex C9000.
 
Empgamer said:
Seems there have been a few melt-down problems with the 900. Many places seem to be out of stock. Think I'll go for the Maha/Powerex C9000.
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I'v read the meltdown problem has already been solved. IIRC it was just a firmware update that solved it, and was due to heat from the battery while charging at full power.
 
I too was under the impression that they had fixed the overheating problem, mine certainly does not over heat. Just ordered another four sets of eneloops! Couldn't be bothered mixing brands.
 
Empgamer said:
What I find surprising is that despite these La Crosse/Technoline BC 900 chargers being raved about as chargers they are an absolute PIG to get hold of. Only one place in the UK seems to stock them and they are out of stock until April. It's like they must make 50 a year or something. Excellent chargers maybe but doubt they'll be around long unless people can buy them.

Will likely go for the 700 model (or even a Maha) and get the C/D converters from Sanyo.
Click to expand...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crosse-Inte...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1267750881&sr=8-1

amazon have 1 left and with a pack of eneloops it comes to £44.20. Bargain!! :D
 
Well, this has been an interesting read for my insomnia :p ... not sure I want to run out and get anything right now. I just want to get some shut-eyes.

It seems to be Eneloop, if I can find them; otherwise, it'll be the Duracel / Sony re-branded (y)

Excellent thread (y)
 
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