False economy? rechargeable AA's

Hi – Just starting to wonder if buying and binning standard AA’s is actually better value or does anyone know how to re-vive them (e.g. quick go in freezer worth a go)?

I’ve had some recommended Vapextech AA’s for a while now (both the high capacity ones and the new tech ones which store charge longer) and they are dying really quickly. I’ve probably only done 3-4 charge cycles with each of them but when I put them back onto my charger (a good one techno line Bl 700 it doesn’t detect them (null).

They’ve been used in my fenix L2D torch that I use on my lid – could this be causing the problem….?

My rechargeables last years, try another brand.

My vapextechs have been great. Good power and reliable.

(2900 MAH)

OP: I’ve had this with Vapextech and that exact charger. What I find is if a battery responds as “null” if I plonk it into my “old” charger (a brutal charge-or-don’t-charge one none of this fancy “Refresh” lark) for a couple of minutes it seems to give it a bit of a jolt and then when you put it into the Technoline it charges as normal. If it then recharges to a pathetic capacity then “Refresh” does usually help to restore it.

I have had some Vapextech batteries that just lose all capacity it seems so I emailed Vapextech (or it may have been the importer, can’t remember) with the details and they sent me some replacement batteries…

HTH

I found Duracell ones to loose a lot of capacity over a year. Now using some Panasonic ones that came pre charged (similar to Sanyo Eneloops but cheaper). They seem to last well. It’s really strange for rechargeables to loose capacity after only 3-4 charge cycles. Might be a bad batch or something.

My Vapextech AAs have lasted well too.

7dayshop.com. That is all. Well, not quite all…. I’ve been using their 2900 mAh rechargeable AAs in my flashguns since they started selling them. Their chargers also have a discharge function which I use regularly. Works very well….

try 1 pack of these and you`ll be impressed
i tested 8 cells and averaged 2011mah …
with the lowest being 1990mah

higher capacity AA batteries have a shorter life
Sanyo Eneloop link

I used vapextech, they do die quite quickly, tried 2 of their chargers with no difference. Although some last longer than others, still got about 8 in use, but I seem to bin a least one dead battery a month.

great responses ta.

I’ll try the “jolt” method and then probably another brand if that doesn’t revive them. Cheers

These are great for battery storage

http://www.bikeandbivi.co.uk/php/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=255

Is this sometimes caused by getting pairs of batteries mixed up, so you end up recharging a battery with 10% left along with one with, say, 90%? Battery charger then cuts off when battery 2 is fully charged, but not the other?

I may be talking complete rubbish (and I know you get get single chargers) but I reckon I’ve had this problem.

munkster – Member

OP: I’ve had this with Vapextech and that exact charger. What I find is if a battery responds as “null” if I plonk it into my “old” charger (a brutal charge-or-don’t-charge one none of this fancy “Refresh” lark) for a couple of minutes it seems to give it a bit of a jolt and then when you put it into the Technoline it charges as normal

I have had exactly this issue and the cure was the same

Battery charger then cuts off when battery 2 is fully charged, but not the other?

no the BL700 is intelligent and treats each cell separately – you can even set different charging rates for each AA

Thanks, might get myself one. My cheap charger certainly doesnt behave so intelligently?

I get the same issue with the same charger, usually one of the four cells is over discharged. I just connect it in parallel (poz to poz, neg to neg) with one of the good cells for a few seconds and then it will charge OK.

I’ve never had any of there issues. Not used those batteries tho,.

Dibs – sorry I’m being thick – do you mean connect + to + in the torch with a good cell or in the charger?

in a torch they’d be in series wouldn’t they…. are you just holding a piece of wire to connect + to + and – to – ?

To OP – I’ve got the BL900 which is basically the same as yours and use the same fix as Dibbs to raise the voltage of an over discharged battery so the charger recognises it. Put a charged battery in the charger slot next to the “nul” battery, unplug the charger and connect the two positive terminals using a paper clip for 10-20 seconds. Remove the paper clip, turn on the charger and it should recognise the battery.

You will be damaging the batteries by over discharging them so try to avoid this. Also Sanyo Eneloop and other low self discharge batteries (GP Recyko are a good alternative) will probably give better results even though the quote capacity may be lower.

Think I’ll stick to “my” solution! 🙂

I gave my old crappy charger away so I’ll have stick with the paperclip 😉

Also using the refresh function will restore most batteries to a useable state but don’t do it too regularly as you’ll age the batteries.

OP: I’ve had this with Vapextech and that exact charger. What I find is if a battery responds as “null” if I plonk it into my “old” charger (a brutal charge-or-don’t-charge one none of this fancy “Refresh” lark) for a couple of minutes it seems to give it a bit of a jolt and then when you put it into the Technoline it charges as normal. If it then recharges to a pathetic capacity then “Refresh” does usually help to

+1

I’m dubious about the ‘higher capacity’ batteries now. Using the Technoline charger it’s surprising how little difference there is in *real* capacity between my old old GP1800’s and batteries that claim to be up to 2400 or higher.

I stick to eneloops. fantastic batteries. The panasonic ones are good too. I had some orange and silver vapex ones that died after less than a year in our cordless phones.

My recharg’ AA’s also last ages, hundreds of cycles.. never had issue with vapex.