On 9/3/2013 8:20 AM, Stormin Mormon wrote:
You put up with him, and he asks you to get down?

Back to rechargeable batteries. After having some
leakers, Energizer sent me a couple coupons. I
use AA more than other sizes. Wondering if there
are any cautions. I think Duracell had some
Japan ones that were better than the China ones.
Any similar cautions about Energizer? Is some
particular product line better quality than
others? I'm thinking of buying AA NiMH cells.

For AA NiMHs Eneloops are the way to go. I bought some from "My Battery
Supplier" on eBay (unfortunately, it's dropped off my purchase history
so I don't know what the eBay seller name is, that's what it said on the
receipt) and they were 3rd gen and recent date codes, also a good price
(about $10/4) The "Duraloops" that I was looking for that prompted this
thread are Duracell "Precharged" or "Staycharged" cells that have white
tops and are made in Japan, and are supposed to be 2nd gen Eneloops
rebranded as Duracells. Unfortunately buzz is that anything else that
you're likely to find in a brick and mortar store is going to be more
expensive and/or (likely both) not as good.

For about the same price you can get Maha Imedions from Thomas
Distributing, they're a little over $40 for a 20 pack right now which is
a great deal, as the Imedions are rated at 2400 mAh vs. the Eneloops'
2000 mAh and usually sell for about the same price as the Eneloop XX.
Some say the Imedions won't last as many cycles, who knows. I have both
and am happy with them.

Tenergy Centura are also supposed to be good, but I haven't tried those.
I think you can order those from Battery
Junction. They're roughly equivalent to the regular Eneloops also at a
nominal 2000 mAh but less expensive (about $8/4 now.)

Almost as important as getting good cells is getting a good smart
charger; most anything you're going to find in a store is going to be
pretty much junk unfortunately. I'm using a Maha C9000 but the LaCrosse
BC-900 is also supposed to be excellent. If you need the capability of
charging C or D cells for occasional use you can get adapters that will
fit either of those chargers but for more frequent use you probably want
something like a Maha C808M to make life more convenient. Unfortunately
I don't think the latter has all the "smart" capabilities of the C9000
or BC-900 so you could make a case for having both, especially if you
need to bulk recharge batteries regularly.

nate