DIYbanter - View Single Post - Replacing 250mAh NiMH with higher capacity

Theo[_3_]

wrote:
On Tuesday, 31 March 2020 12:13:58 UTC+1, Grumps wrote:
Hi All
So, as per subject. This is for some solar lights that have 250mAh NiMH
1.2V AA cells, but would 2500mAh cells work too?

sure no problem. They'd last longer too as they only see part of a cycle
each day. If the things contain more than 1 cell, do your best to
capacity match them or they'll see repeated reverse charging which kills
them much quicker.

Beware that higher capacity cells can have lower cycle life (number of
charge/discharge cycles before they die). Given solar lights only get a
certain amount of energy per day you might find the extra capacity isn't
much use, and yet they die faster due to the lower cycle life.

For comparison, Eneloop Pro have 500 cycles life, Eneloop Lite have 3000
cycles life. So the Pro would last 1.5 years and the Lite 8 years.

Theo