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Re: [OM] question for Dr. Battery

Subject: Re: [OM] question for Dr. Battery
From: Chuck Norcutt <chucknorcutt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:36:00 -0500
Maybe there are two sets of Duracell specs.  The scuttlebutt I found on 
the web said Duracell was sourcing from Sanyo with Japanese made cells 
but also from China.  What I found was only from China.  However, the 
capacity still matched that of Eneloop at 2000 mah.

Chuck Norcutt


Tim Hughes wrote:
> The Eneloops are generally the best that I have looked at, because
> they are rated to deliver a higher current  than the competition's
> cells.
> 
> EverReady has just come out with some precharged low self discharge
> cells, but I have not got my hands on them or seen full data sheets.
> I believe Sony has also come out with some, but again I have not seen
> specs or evaluated.   I have not looked at Duracell specs either.
> These are credible vendors , so if somebody wants to search web for
> data sheets and post urls, I will be happy to compare specs.
> 
> Some of the Chinese generics are much lower current rated and have
> higher internal resistance (voltage drops more with increase current)
> and some have higher self discharge and also spec smaller # of
> cycles, so not as good.   Rayovac, Hybrio,Ultralife etc all seem  not
> as good as Eneloops.
> 
> Remember deep discharging these cells, is exactly like doing that to
> regular NiMh and it will likely greatly shorten life.  Particularly
> in a long string of cells where the weakest cell then gets reverse
> charged and damaged by venting.
> 
> Tim hughes
> 
> --- On Tue, 12/1/09, Chuck Norcutt <chucknorcutt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
> 
> From: Chuck Norcutt <chucknorcutt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Subject: Re: [OM]
> question for Dr. Battery To: "Olympus Camera Discussion"
> <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Date: Tuesday, December 1, 2009, 4:40 AM
> 
> I'll second Moose's opinion on the batteries and would also recommend
> a charger that handles each cell individually.  I have a couple of
> Maha chargers that charge 4 cells in pairs.  That's better than
> charging all four at once but, as some of my older NiMH batteries
> aged and started to fail, I would discover that a pair would be
> extremely slow to charge or never reach full charge at all.  Trying
> to discover the bad cell means mixing different pairs until you
> narrow down on the culprit.  On the other hand, given the high price
> of single cell chargers and the low price of NiMH batteries it might
> possibly make more sense to replace all the batteries of a given
> purchase group when one gives an indication of being weak.  When I
> buy rechargeable batteries I mark them in groups with a ring of
> colored tape to identify them as part of a group based on when they
> were purchased.  When I use the batteries I use all of the same
> group. If I had a group of 8 that were two years old and one was 
> giving signs of weakness I'd have no qualms about trashing all 8
> since the other 7 are probably not far behind.
> 
> As to low discharge NiMH I also highly recommend Sanyo Eneloop.  I've
>  been using 8 of them for a couple years.  All 8 still charge up
> equally and still provide plenty of power in a flash the only gets
> used maybe once every 3 to 4 months or even longer.  For heavy duty
> shooting I'd more likely buy the highest capacity NiMH I could find
> (are they at 2700 mah now?) and charge them just before the event.
> That is, if I was shooting a wedding with NiMH batteries.
> Personally, I would more likely use my high voltage lead acid battery
> packs for shooting a wedding. NiMH have plenty of capacity but can't
> recycle a flash from a full dump in 1.5 seconds.  This is like a
> Quantum Turbo battery at 1/3 the price. 
> <http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/294330-REG/SP_Systems_SPDCBPRC_Power_Pack_for_SP.html>
> 
> 
> I recently added a set of 4 Duracell low discharge NiMH to my
> Eneloops. I wanted another set of Eneloops but there is no place
> where I can buy them locally and I needed them in a couple of days.
> A search of the web told me that Duracell low discharge NiMH were
> actually rebranded Eneloops... at least the ones made in Japan.  I
> located some Duracell 2000 mah (same as Eneloop) at Home Depot but
> they're made in China, not Japan.  So I don't know what I've got
> although they're working fine so far.  But I've only had them for a
> few months.  I'll give another report in a couple of years.  :-)
> 
> Chuck Norcutt
> 
> 
> Moose wrote:
>> Sue Pearce wrote:
>>> What's the latest on rechargable AA batteries for shoe mount
>>> strobes? I went to the Thomas Dist. site and found a Maha charger
>>> and "low discharge" NiMH batteries that I think I remember from a
>>> previous discussion.
>>> 
>>> But that was at least a year ago. What's the latest?
>>> 
>> I've been very happy with the eneloops I bought and a combo of the
>>  charger that came with some of them and a Lacrosse Technology
>> BC-700U charger. The Sanyo charger works fine, but with pairs only,
>> and I use them in some devices that use one or three cells. The
>> Lacrosse charger has full charge info and control individually for
>> each of up to four cells.
>> 
>> Other makers, both name and generic brands, have come out with
>> similar sounding batteries. Whether they are as good as the
>> eneloops, I don't know. Better, I'd bet not. I haven't kept up,
>> 'cause I'm not in the market.
>> 
>> I very seldom use flash, so I know little about how they fare in
>> that use. The one time I used a set in the 540EZ for an event, they
>> breezed through. They are certainly great for everything I've tried
>> them in. I think that the use where they wouldn't be best is really
>> heavy flash use where batteries can be fully charged the night
>> before and maximum flashes per charge is needed.
>> 
>> There, one would go with the highest capacity normal NiMh batteries
>>  available. I read, although I'm not sure where in my initial
>> research, thta the highest capacity cells also have a fairly fast
>> drop off in usable capacity with heavy use. Still, out of the
>> budget for a major pro shoot, one could simply replace them
>> regularly.
>> 
>> Moose
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