Leon Fisk wrote:
On Sun, 19 Oct 2008 09:51:10 -0500, Don Foreman
wrote:

On Sat, 18 Oct 2008 19:10:05 -0700, Gunner Asch
wrote:


Some nits:

Smoke detectors draw very little current. A 9-volt battery lasts at
least a year.

Alkaline AA's have slightly more capacity than NiMH AA's in
low-current apps. NiMH works better in high current apps.

There is one NiMH that has much less self-discharge than others:
Sanyo Eneloop. They come charged, and retain 85% of capacity after 12
months (of disuse).
http://www.eneloopusa.com/eneloop.html

I understand that the Rayovac Hybrid has the same
characteristics. Probably a whole lot easier to find.

http://www.rayovac.com/recharge/index.shtml

I've been using 4 AA Rayovac Hybrid batteries for a bit over
a year now in my iRiver MP3 player and Sony headphone radio.
So far I have been happy with their performance. Hardly high
current draw devices though...

Anybody recall the rayovac "renewal" rechargeable alkalines that maybe
came out around 1995?

They were cheap and decent in performance, then they vanished.

My guess is people people only charge thing whe they stop working and
therefore saw no benefit to the technology of those batteries.