I’ve been pushed too far. I bought a cheap CD player/radio to use at work only to discover that the bugger needed 8 c cells for the many times I don’t have AC power on the job. One set of discount alkies cost 75% as much as the radio did, and they’ll have to be replaced sooner or later so it’s obviously time for a change. And I have lots of other things that need C and AA size cells so I’m looking at needing about 40 cells total and that’s going to be a lot of “ouch!” to the initial budget even if stretched out over time. At least I’ve got a fairly decent charger already.
Would that they could all be Eneloops, but they can’t because of cost, nor do I really need that kind of capacity since most of my stuff is low current drain. What I seek is recommendations for cells that have a decent AH capacity and reasonably long life at the lowest price possible. Buys will probably be 4-6 cells at a time, can’t swing the whole lot at once. I’m OK buying anywhere, I know the mega-store risks. I just don’t want fakes or junk. Any recommendations for “C” and “AA” cells?
I have been happy with ikea ladda AA and AAA. “Family” price is Au$3.99 for 4, considering how we gouged for everything here I imagine cheaper in other countries.
I have already done this. Use an 18V drill pack and a cheap step down DC to DC board. You probably already have an extra drill pack and charger. I use this to power an 80’s stereo “Boom Box”.
Only problem is it would be an external plug in power pack. Not as convient. Great runtimes and fast charging
I use Makita 18V stuff and have the radio w/aux input for a nano. Works with both the 18V liion cells and my older 14V nimh packs. The only batteries I buy are the ones I need for the tools.
My seeking these cells is for more than just this radio. It’s a kick-about that will be dead within a year and the Big Lots shelves are filled with dusty replacements for $20 so it ain’t worth modding; just get a new one, pop the cells in and go. I was using a real radio (my GE 2880B to those in the know) but it isn’t something I wanted exposed to the jobsite conditions which are beyond my control. I have over 250 radios already, but that’s another story altogether :bigsmile: I needed a junker which I did not have, and this is it.
This ain’t about radios, I really just need info on decent cells on the cheap. But thanks anyway!
I am so glad that a couple of years ago, I bought a bunch of rechargeable Tenergy D cells.
I hadn’t realized how many cool things, cheap radios, boom boxes, flashlights, flashlight conversions, etc, that I had been passing on, or not using, or had quit using, because of the expense of D batteries.
I also realized the luxury and convenience, and capacity, of using D batteries again, instead of all the annoying AA to D battery adapters.
It hurt to buy them, but I’m sure glad that I did.
Brad, I used Tenergy NiMh cells to rebuild a few tool battery packs where they seemed to do well, but that was the “sub-C” size and 5+ years ago, and my local source said they couldn’t get any more though I’ve noticed them online recently. Do you know if they are still as good as always, or have they ‘gone downhill’ like so many other brand names have done?