Rechargeable AA batts, how long do they retain? charge

[Boyboy]

Let's say I am going for a shoot. After two to four days from the day they are being charged, how much of their original capacity will they retain?

 

another way to ask, how long before the shoot can i charge my batts?

 

i am using compact digicam for diving. it uses two AA batts. my batts are mostly sanyo 2700mah but got one pair GP2700 and two pairs "uniross" 2500.

 

i usually use them in my nikon SB800 external flash. been a long time since i took my sony P73 underwater for a shoot. as most of you know, u can't change batts underwater

 

my trip is this weekend, i charged some batts yesterday, and will charge the others today and tmr. but my concern is whether the batts i charged yesterday and will charge today will run out of juice by the dive trip..

 

don't feel like getting eneloop because their capacity is lower. and i can't "condition" them in time for the dive trip. also, can;'t charge everything on thurs and fri as they need about 4 hours to be charged.

 

or can i just do a "top up" charge w/o discharging?

 

another matter, if anyone got lobang for cheap and decent alkaline 'C' size batt i'd like to hear it too. need those for my dive torches. one torch eats 8 C size batts and i have two of those (one for wifey). actually we intend to kiamsiap and only switch on one torch, the other torch use as spare. we have another smaller dive torch liao but the beam is quite narrow

[Madsumm]

NiMh batts hold charge for months.

 

Unless its faulty batt.

 

So within this week or next, I think its fine.

 

since its AA size, y not use Lithium then. THese definitely hold charge better.

 

Rgds

[Vroomtattat]

Brudder BoyBoy,

 

It all depends on what batteries you have. Those older nickel cadmium ones are when it comes to holding power. The new ones can hold the charge better and for longer.

 

http://www.energy.sanyo.com.sg/eneloop_thinkgaia1_what.asp

[Boyboy]

the last time i dived, the AA mostly good enuff for one or two dives. but those were freshly-charged. then again, they were 2100mah and i have long sinced replaced all those with 2700s liao

 

this time i want to take more video rather than pix (video says more and my cam ain't tt great at pix anyway, old model ). so capacity abit more of a concern.

 

lithium kinda ex.. but that's an idea. anyway ur reply is quite reassuring, guess i can just not worry abt the battery life of my rechargeables then

 

another reason why i worry is because in the past, i had this mistaken impression that NiMH needs deep discharge all the time. so i killed alot of my rechargeables . sometimes charge liao but will still register low batt in the camera

[Boyboy]

i use nymph

 

on hindsight, those batts which hold charge for longer (eneloop, maha powerex and GP recyko) suit my usage better. oh well..

 

sometimes i just find myself expending my batts to shoot my hamsters so that i can charge them again. i prefer do partial discharge before charging, rather than topping up on a previously charged but unused batt.

[Qpik]

boy, my sanyo AA last me half a yr. meaning during this 6mths, after charging, it can hold for 2days.

 

so i've got 8AA sanyo (270) for my digicam. but, i'm going to give eneloop a try.

[Samshio]

use the new sanyo enlope ones. Very good. retain charge well, also last longer than my 2700 sanyos.

[Qpik]

but it doesn't come in 270. did u use it for digicam? can last?

[Fondue]

I 2nd that.

 

I switched to eneloop 2000mAh for my last vacation and lasted me a whole week. The usual sanyo 2500mAh only lasted 3 days previously.

 

On top of that, with the eneloop, I have tried leaving the batteries in the camera for almost 2 months with very light usage and it is still working.

[Kklee]

I would recommend to invest in a battery charger like the one below.

 

http://www.eastgear.com/shop/product_info....products_id=510

 

Battery charger can report that the batteries are fully charged but how much charge a battery can actually hold differs between batteries even if they are the same set. Just to share, it takes only a single piece of faulty or cannot hold charge battery to "disable" the SB800 - I learn it the hard way!

 

Keep a couple of akalines battery handy for emergency. A cheap source of akalines of all sizes - IKEA.

[Vroomtattat]

i use nymph

 

on hindsight, those batts which hold charge for longer (eneloop, maha powerex and GP recyko) suit my usage better. oh well..

 

sometimes i just find myself expending my batts to shoot my hamsters so that i can charge them again. i prefer do partial discharge before charging, rather than topping up on a previously charged but unused batt.

 

That's the way! Discharging is important.

[Dwoon]

Errr.... any idea of the charge to be ehld by Lithium-Ion "non protected" batteries?

 

Will they lose charge very fast because of the lack of the protection circuit?

 

Thanks

[Samshio]

no need for 2700. The enloop ones last very long , much longer than 2700

[Samshio]

same experience. I used eneloop and 2700 on my vacation. I charged all before my vacation. eneloop last about 5 days. the 2700 ran out only about 2-3 days.

 

If long time never use the battery, eneloop can still use. 2700 no charge left.

 

I will switch to 2 sets of eneloop for my next vacation.

[Tjkbeluga]

Yea, I discharge myself everyday too....

[Boyboy]

I 2nd that.

 

I switched to eneloop 2000mAh for my last vacation and lasted me a whole week. The usual sanyo 2500mAh only lasted 3 days previously.

 

On top of that, with the eneloop, I have tried leaving the batteries in the camera for almost 2 months with very light usage and it is still working.

 

cool. seems like i shd get eneloop or the maha imedion

[Boyboy]

I would recommend to invest in a battery charger like the one below.

 

http://www.eastgear.com/shop/product_info....products_id=510

 

Battery charger can report that the batteries are fully charged but how much charge a battery can actually hold differs between batteries even if they are the same set. Just to share, it takes only a single piece of faulty or cannot hold charge battery to "disable" the SB800 - I learn it the hard way!

 

Keep a couple of akalines battery handy for emergency. A cheap source of akalines of all sizes - IKEA.

 

the device u show me doesn't seem to be a charger leh. seems more like a battery power tester.

 

the maha products look good

[Madsumm]

the last time i dived, the AA mostly good enuff for one or two dives. but those were freshly-charged. then again, they were 2100mah and i have long sinced replaced all those with 2700s liao

 

this time i want to take more video rather than pix (video says more and my cam ain't tt great at pix anyway, old model ). so capacity abit more of a concern.

 

lithium kinda ex.. but that's an idea. anyway ur reply is quite reassuring, guess i can just not worry abt the battery life of my rechargeables then

 

another reason why i worry is because in the past, i had this mistaken impression that NiMH needs deep discharge all the time. so i killed alot of my rechargeables . sometimes charge liao but will still register low batt in the camera

 

What kills the batt now that I've found out... after sacrificing 10+ of them, is the bloody chargers.

Don't ever belief in the 15min quick chargers. Its almost definite way of killing your batts.

 

Another thing, it hold is dependent on a few things:

1) Age of batt

2) Temperature