I got some NiCad AAAs from eBay, because of their higher draw capacity, to try with my LED torches. Although rated at 450mAh they only tested at 300mAh.
(I understand NiCads are more robust for garden lights).
I bought a pack of 4 from another seller for $3.27 - they tested the same 300mAh. You get a case for just a few cents more.
PS: I did complain to the seller about their low capacity; but it wasn’t worth the hassle to return, and I did get a few dollars value out of testing with my AAA torches & checking the battery capacity. On reflection 2/3 of advised capacity for a generic 50c cell doesn’t seem too unreasonable.
If I am reading your review correctly, the Generic Yellow ones are the Winner of the group.
Makes sense as they didn’t have to spend money on fancy graphics and were able to put that money where it counts, in technology
Moral of the story, Generics Rule in a sea of wannabe’s.
Is it worth building a "sticky" thread that can name and shame the sellers and brands that fall into this category? Its all well and good to just accept that we know these cells are crap, but that doesn't help the vast majority of the great unwashed out there who don't know any better. After all, we are not just talking about mildly exaggerated claims here but cells with less than 30% of claimed capacity.
As long as we have people like old4570 and others who can accurately test cells we should be able to take some follow-up action. Isn't this supposed to be one of the great benefits of the Web?
I'm not suggesting we just post in at random with comments like "these cells didn't last long in my camera/flashlight" or "they seemed weak" but where someone has taken the time to do controlled tests it seems a bit of a waste not to take the next step.
User HJK over at CPF has a thread on Li-Ion cells and it is very useful, but I've never seen anything done on NiMH AA and AAA cells.
I don't know if there is some unwritten rule about not naming crap products or sellers here, and I know it could grow to be a very big list but I really think this info is worth preserving. It seems a shame that this thread will eventually drop off the radar and the cycle will have to repeat.
From my previous research, Thomas Distributing seems to be one of the better places to purchase in the US. Unfortunately, shipping costs make it less practical for me in Oz.
They currently have a 16pack for $41.97 but I'm sure there are other quantities as well. http://www.thomasdistributing.com/16-Pack-Maha-Imedion-2400-AA-Low-Discharge-Batteries_p_2449.html
Apparently if you order over $75, US shipping is free so you might be able to ask around if any of your mates need batteries to bump up your order quantity.
(FYI, the same 16 cells here would cost me about $78 delivered from a local seller. Sucks!)
Other bargain hunters can probably steer you to Amazon, Adorama or Ebay deals but I doubt you can go too far wrong with Eneloops or Imedions from TD.
I bought some of those yellow ones for a bike light, which then left me stranded in the middle of the woods at night. After I tested them, they came out around 700mAh like yours and I got a full refund. I really can’t explain my total lapse of judgement, live’n’learn I guess. Have a bunch of Tenergy LSD AAs now - I haven’t tested capacity but they last for ages and don’t noticeably self-discharge.
I also bought a couple of Uniquefire 2500mAh 18650s off eBay for $hits’n’giggles - massive voltage sag @1A and ~800mAh capacity. Got my money back on those too. I even pulled one apart after soaking it in salty water for a couple of days and it looked like a real battery (no cell within a cell).
Moral of the story is… don’t buy non-brand batteries off eBay!
I see mention here that a test was done at 500mAh on these batteries but perhaps it should be kept in mind that this is a very high discharge rate for continuous discharge. It’s likely to cause some internal heating and would lower the capacity with the already high internal impedance (relatively) of Ni-MH cells. If you want this sort of discharge rate out of an AA size battery, your better at looking at Ni-Cad batteries which have a very low internal impedance. Sadly, it’s not possible to make Li-Ion batteries which could be used in place of 1.5V cells as these have a low internal impedance and a high storage density. I guess we have to wait till appliance manufacturers catch up now there is a ready supply of 3.7V cells with high capacity and relatively low price. I chose my torch based on this as I can get something like 24h continuous use on a single charge and the batteries are just a few $ on eBay.
You can start a car on Ni-Cads, just you try that on your eneloops, it’s just a matter of what your using your batteries for. Bragging that my batteries can do 5A is great, but just what are you using them for that and, more importantly, how long do they last at that drain. I bet the capacity will not be the same at 5A than 5mA or 500mA… If you have an item that only uses a drain current of 50mA, perhaps some of these other batteries will show greater capacity at this rate (this is expected behaviour).
I agree that in high drain devices, like cameras, the batteries you mention are King but these may be an expensive luxury for low drain devices.
I have some of those and with a 150 mah discharge it lasted around 3 hours. Eneloops can do 10 amp discharges with a very good capacity. (Around 1500 mah) Also nicads aren't LSD.
