Nimh batteries? Eneloop?

I got my BC-900 in the mail yesterday. I have 3 sets of sunpak AA's. put one set on charge last night with the new charger and afte 12 hours they are still charging at 200mah. Ordered the charger off amazon and came with a set of 4 AA's and a set of 4 AAA's free shipping for $39. I will probably have to refresh all my batteries because I think the old energizer quick chrarger has been tearing them up. I've gone through 3 sets of duracell and energizer rechargable's over the past 2 years.

I don't use flash that often, being primarily an outdoor sports shooter. Eneloops have been a godsend to me. I love the fact that I can keep a set in my flash and 2 spare sets and be covered for just about any situation. I can pull out a spare set that's been sitting in my bag for 6 months and they perform as if I just pulled them off the charger. When I used to use standard rechargeables, if I didn't remember to charge my batteries every time I left on a shoot, I most likely had a couple of sets of dead batteries in my bag. Got so bad that I had to carry several sets of standard AA alkalines in my bag as well as backups to my backups.

I just bought two sets of Rayovac Hybrids at CC, but haven't really given them a good workout yet. If ya'll have a CC close, you might look for them. 6 AAs, 2 AAAs, and charger for $4.19.

speedster00 wrote in post #7252237
I got my BC-900 in the mail yesterday. I have 3 sets of sunpak AA's. put one set on charge last night with the new charger and afte 12 hours they are still charging at 200mah. Ordered the charger off amazon and came with a set of 4 AA's and a set of 4 AAA's free shipping for $39. I will probably have to refresh all my batteries because I think the old energizer quick chrarger has been tearing them up. I've gone through 3 sets of duracell and energizer rechargable's over the past 2 years.

2500mah @ 200mah/hr gives 13 hours or so. If you do a proper refresh cycle it will take about three days, they usually do three charge/discharge cycles.

This was so informative. I had no idea there was so much to learn about batteries.

You have no idea, this has barely scratched the surface.

www.batteryuniversity.​com

+1

My simple question about whether I could use different brand batteries and chargers has turned into a wide load of information about rechargeables!

Maha Powerex and Maha Imedion

/thread

The charger I think is the most mportant part to get the most out of your batteries. However, Eneloops are good for holding a charge, but they arent the strongest out there. If you google Eneloop, you'll see some test done on other Sanyo batteries that are actually stronger, but dont hold the charge as long. So....do you want a battery you can let sit and dont have to worry about the charge? Or do you want one with more power but you have to charge more often?

speedster00 wrote in post #7259406
The charger I think is the most mportant part to get the most out of your batteries. However, Eneloops are good for holding a charge, but they arent the strongest out there. If you google Eneloop, you'll see some test done on other Sanyo batteries that are actually stronger, but dont hold the charge as long. So....do you want a battery you can let sit and dont have to worry about the charge? Or do you want one with more power but you have to charge more often?

I'm not sure! Here's my situation:

I currently have a set of 12 NiMh batteries for 3 flashes, and a set of 6 for three Pocket Wizards.

I charge the Pocket Wizard batteries weekly, and the flash batteries after every other shoot (depending on usage). I shot four basketball games, wrestling, and swimming in the past two weeks, and I only had to charge at the start of each week. I only shoot about ~150 shots per game, and my flashes are usually at 1/4 - 1/2 power, rarely at full.

Since I charge every week, should I go with eneloops because they hold charge longer? The batteries I use right now are a mix of 2100 mah and 2650 mah I think.

If you want to keep charging every week, then standard rechargeables are probably your best bet. They offer higher capacities and are typically cheaper. If you don't want to have to charge every week, then the eneloops are the way to go. I never recharge mine before I go out, but I do make sure I have a backup set with me. What I really like about the eneloops is that I don't have to worry about the backups being dead.

I recently picked up the eneloops and they work great!

I just noticed that Eneloops are $7 per 4-pack AA at Circuit City now. Not a bad price if you already have a charger.

WOAH sweet deal! I'm all over those!

That's cheaper than most normal NiMhs...

I had been using a roughly 7 year old Kodak nimh charger for all my AAs
I was glad to be done with AAs when I went from my Powershot S2 to the 400D, but then came a 40D and a 580EX, and back into the AA world I went. My old Enegrizer AAs weren't really cutting it, bought a Lacrosse charger, and ran them through the charger, and they're now acting like new again!
I also have a few Eneloop sets dedicated for the flash. All other AA batteries I have collected over the years have been run through the charger's refresh cycle, and either ended up tossed, or are being used in other devices around the house...

tim wrote in post #7241776
Maha C-9000 is a great charger. Enloops are good, slightly lower capacity than PowerEx but they don't self discharge as much so they're better for some people. Personally I charge my batteries the day before each wedding so it doesn't matter to me.

I bought into the Eneloops and the Maha C-9000 two years ago and based my decision on a five year usage. The batteries are really holding up well and a "refresh" every 5th charge keeps the batteries just like new.

I bought a few extra batteries and tested them after a year of just sitting on the shelf. They are rated for 80% power rete4ntion, but it is really higher. These are 2000Mha and flash recovery time is very good.