Looooong term test: 10+ year old Rayovac nimh AA's

Results first:

Original capacity (mAh) Current capacity (mAh) Retained capacity (%)
1300 1110 85
1300 1004 77
1300 1097 84
1300 1168 90
1600 1263 79
1600 1209 76
1600 1159 72
1600 1117 70

I don't remember when I bought these cells. When I searched for the 1600 mAh version, I found a thread from 2002. I bought these batteries for my Fujifilm Finepix 2400, and the reviews for that camera were in 2000. I'm pretty sure I bought this camera when I lived in Alabama, so it couldn't have been later than 2001. I bought the 1600 mAh batteries shortly after the 1300 mAh batteries. So let's call it 2001. That means I've had these batteries for over 11 years. They were used heavily in the first half of their lives, but have gone mostly unused since 2007.

They went through a single refresh cycle in a La Crosse BC-700 at 250/500 mA. Room temperature was in the low to mid 70's °F, and the charger was on a laptop cooler.

How long will they hold a charge, some 7 year old rayovac hybrids i have that were supposed to have 80% charge after a year hold about 40-50% now

Impressive, leaftye, what was left in them, if anything?