I found a bunch of Eneloops in the bin at the local recycling centre. Some were tarnished and spoilt but I found 7AA and 3AAA that looked good. I charged them up and left them for a few months and recently tested some of the AAs. The worst were 1600mAh, the best 1800. Not a bad result. Sadly I’ve used the AAA, so will have to test them some other time but they look like they’ll get close to spec. Wonder why they were thrown away. Somebody thought they were too old and wanted an upgrade?
So the answer is no! I haven’t recycled any Eneloops but I have benefitted from someone else’s discards. Very green!
I haven't had to retire any yet. I have about 40 or so (haven't tried to keep track). Some from each generation. Haven't tested any as none have shown signs of diminished capacity yet.
I’ve got one or two which are physically crushed, 4 of my Duraloops are rusty (from being used in an electric toothbrush), but I haven’t discarded any. I can’t seem to remember/find out when I bought any of them.
FWIW I don’t think I’ve had my cheapy LSD cells wear out yet either…
There must be something wrong with me because I only have 4 eneloops. Thats 4 not 40 or 400
Had them since about 2010 and they get plenty of use (and abuse) by the kids. I would have got some more, but free cells from work negate this.
Nawh, you're fine. Just missing out a little. I'm guessing I have about 40, but I want double that. In addition to various flashlights, they're in many of my high drain (or want handy and ready to use) devices. Devices such as:
Compact electric screw drivers in my house, shed, and handy truck.
Handy work lights in the same locations
2-way radios in the same locations
Remote temperature sensors/transmitters in the chick coop and shed
Remote Motion Detectors/transmitters
Camera
A hair trimmer
"Other" handy devices
I'm sure I'm missing some stuff. Oh, and there are usually some loose cells fully charged waiting to swap in and some drained waiting to be charged.
I have four xx cells [2012 dated] which havent had much use as well as 20 odd normal eneloops. When i fully charge them[xx] to 1.49v, hot off the charger, my ea4 in turbo mode sends the battery voltage indicator flashing instantly and is about 15% down on output. The normal eneloops are fine and seems my XX’s have built up a dislike to discharging at higher current which is disappointing - any similar experiences with the XX.
I don’t think I have recycled any Eneloops just yet! My collection includes:
4 AAA Eneloops, 16 AAA Duracell Duraloops, 4 AAA Sony CycleEnergys Sonyloops (dated 2007 too!)
32 AA Duracell Duraloops, 4 AA Sony CycleEnergy Sonyloops
Of all these, even the 8 year old Sonyloops are holding on! There is only 1 set that has a bit higher than normal internal resistance, and that’s with a set of Duraloops that are in a Panasonic cordless phone whose charger I think is more timer based and could be overcharging the batteries a bit.
I know, I know, get therapy.