mcdenney
12 pointer
I just thought I would pass along some information to some of you regarding my recent experiment with Energizer NiMH Rechargeable batteries. I thought this might be of benefit if considering a purchase of these for use with Game Camera's. I purchased several rechargeable batteries last fall and began using them in select game cameras. I purchased several D's, C's and AA rechargeable batteries in hopes of lowering the cost on batteries used in my game camera addiction. I did some side by side comparions versus regular alkaline as well. After a couple months of experimenting I have found out a few things about Energizer rechargeable batteries.
First, all NiMH batteries lose their charge when not in use at a rate of about 1.5% per day. Compared to a normal alkaline battery which is almost nothing. I would notice that when installing a newly charged battery that it would not show full charge after not using it a few days. It would basically lose complete charge over time, even more so on cold days.
Second, NiMH batteries have varying mAh (milli-amp-hour) ratings which indicate the power capacity of the battery. The higher the capacity, the longer the battery will last between charges. The ones I used all had approximately 2500 mAh per charge. Which is comparable in charge to that of a normal AA Alkaline battery. This means that the capacity of a rechargeable C & D battery only holds bascially a AA's worth of charge. This was very evident when comparing the larger size battery performance versus a alkaline battery. Just for reference the Mah rating for a C or D alkaline battery is roughly 10 times that, somewhere in the 20-25,000 Mah range. Therefore the performance is much better on the alkaline side the larger the battery you use when comparing to rechargeables. Again, this was very noticeable when installing newly charged batteries and the charge indicator would never show full charge. Cold weather also seemed to even further complicate his lower performance.
In the end, I will be returning most if not all of these batteries due to poor performance when compared to an alkaline battery. I am considering keeping a few AA batteries as performance lose is not that drastic versus the larger sizes. I knew going in that the comparison would not favor the rechargeables but I wanted to see if the rechargeables would be "acceptable" for my pattern of use. They were not especially on the larger sized batteries. Again, I just thought I would pass this along for those which are interested.
First, all NiMH batteries lose their charge when not in use at a rate of about 1.5% per day. Compared to a normal alkaline battery which is almost nothing. I would notice that when installing a newly charged battery that it would not show full charge after not using it a few days. It would basically lose complete charge over time, even more so on cold days.
Second, NiMH batteries have varying mAh (milli-amp-hour) ratings which indicate the power capacity of the battery. The higher the capacity, the longer the battery will last between charges. The ones I used all had approximately 2500 mAh per charge. Which is comparable in charge to that of a normal AA Alkaline battery. This means that the capacity of a rechargeable C & D battery only holds bascially a AA's worth of charge. This was very evident when comparing the larger size battery performance versus a alkaline battery. Just for reference the Mah rating for a C or D alkaline battery is roughly 10 times that, somewhere in the 20-25,000 Mah range. Therefore the performance is much better on the alkaline side the larger the battery you use when comparing to rechargeables. Again, this was very noticeable when installing newly charged batteries and the charge indicator would never show full charge. Cold weather also seemed to even further complicate his lower performance.
In the end, I will be returning most if not all of these batteries due to poor performance when compared to an alkaline battery. I am considering keeping a few AA batteries as performance lose is not that drastic versus the larger sizes. I knew going in that the comparison would not favor the rechargeables but I wanted to see if the rechargeables would be "acceptable" for my pattern of use. They were not especially on the larger sized batteries. Again, I just thought I would pass this along for those which are interested.
