Would have thought this was easy to find, but i've goggled and it's not
straight away obvious.

Anyone know what the Ah ratings for typical Alakaline or Zinc carbon D
cells is?

I've picked up an LED lantern to use for camping that takes D cells. I
was wanting to check on the ratings of disposable D cells to compare
them to NiMh to see if I think it's worth buying some for the amount of
use it would get.

Cheap NiMH seem to be hardly anymore than AA in capacity, decent sized
ones (5000 mAh - 10000 mAh) cna be pretty expensive

TIA
--
Chris French

"chris French" wrote in message
news
Would have thought this was easy to find, but i've goggled and it's not
straight away obvious.

Anyone know what the Ah ratings for typical Alakaline or Zinc carbon D
cells is?

I've picked up an LED lantern to use for camping that takes D cells. I was
wanting to check on the ratings of disposable D cells to compare them to
NiMh to see if I think it's worth buying some for the amount of use it
would get.

Cheap NiMH seem to be hardly anymore than AA in capacity, decent sized
ones (5000 mAh - 10000 mAh) cna be pretty expensive


ISTR that the cheap ones are basically an 'AA' battery in a larger shell.
This would tie in with the capacity.

No idea of the rating of disposables, though.

Cheers

Dave R
--
No plan survives contact with the enemy.

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

In article ,
chris French writes:
Would have thought this was easy to find, but i've goggled and it's not
straight away obvious.

Anyone know what the Ah ratings for typical Alakaline or Zinc carbon D
cells is?

I think a real full-spec alkaline D cell is around 13000mAh.
Trouble is that lots of the cheaper ones won't come even close.
It will also depend on how quickly you drain the battery, and
what you regard as the level at which it's no longer usable.
Zinc carbon will be much less, but I don't have a figure.

About 18 months, I made a toy for a newphew which uses three
alkaline D cells, partly as weights, as well as for powering
it. http://www.cucumber.demon.co.uk/lights/crossing/
They've not yet needed changing, even though it has been used
a lot, and left on when they went away on holiday for several
days.

I've picked up an LED lantern to use for camping that takes D cells. I
was wanting to check on the ratings of disposable D cells to compare
them to NiMh to see if I think it's worth buying some for the amount of
use it would get.

Rechargable NiCds and NiMh have always lagged some way behind
the higher-end non-rechargable technology. That's part of the
price you pay for reusability.

Cheap NiMH seem to be hardly anymore than AA in capacity, decent sized
ones (5000 mAh - 10000 mAh) cna be pretty expensive

Back in the days of NiCds, a proper high temp D cell was 4Ah.
However, a large number of the D cells were actually C cells in
a larger package (1.2 Ah IIRC). It seems that this practice
continues with NiMH too, using even smaller real cells.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On Jun 7, 10:17*am, chris French
wrote:
Would have thought this was easy to find, but i've goggled and it's not
straight away obvious.

Anyone know what the Ah ratings for typical Alakaline or Zinc carbon D
cells is?

I've picked up an LED lantern to use for camping that takes D cells. I
was wanting to check on the ratings of disposable D cells to compare
them to NiMh to see if I think it's worth buying some for the amount of
use it would get.

Cheap NiMH seem to be hardly anymore than AA in capacity, decent sized
ones (5000 mAh - 10000 mAh) cna be pretty expensive

TIA
--
Chris French

It depends how you use them.

Look at the datasheets on the Farnell website, or similar. They (the
duracell ones at least) have graphs of service life against cell
voltage and load.

if your LED lantern has a switch mode supply to drive the LEDs then it
will probably carry on working to quite a low cell voltage, allowing
you to get the most out of the cells.

MBQ

MBQ

On Mon, 7 Jun 2010 10:17:47 +0100, chris French
wrote:

Would have thought this was easy to find, but i've goggled and it's not
straight away obvious.

Anyone know what the Ah ratings for typical Alakaline or Zinc carbon D
cells is?
Cheap NiMH seem to be hardly anymore than AA in capacity, decent sized
ones (5000 mAh - 10000 mAh) cna be pretty expensive

From memory, Duracell D cells claim to be 15,000 mAh.

Last week my local Lidl had D cell NiMH for £2.49 for 2, and they were
'proper' D cell, ie not AA in a case. I think they were 5000 mAh. Far
cheaper than others I've seen.

On Mon, 07 Jun 2010 14:17:27 +0100, Simon C. . wrote:

On Mon, 7 Jun 2010 10:17:47 +0100, chris French
wrote:

Would have thought this was easy to find, but i've goggled and it's not
straight away obvious.

Anyone know what the Ah ratings for typical Alakaline or Zinc carbon D
cells is?
Cheap NiMH seem to be hardly anymore than AA in capacity, decent sized
ones (5000 mAh - 10000 mAh) cna be pretty expensive

From memory, Duracell D cells claim to be 15,000 mAh.

Last week my local Lidl had D cell NiMH for £2.49 for 2, and they were
'proper' D cell, ie not AA in a case. I think they were 5000 mAh. Far
cheaper than others I've seen.


My local Lidl still has some in stock, or did on Sunday. They are
among the higher capacity NiMH D cells available, and excellent value
for money.

On Jun 7, 10:17*am, chris French
wrote:
Would have thought this was easy to find, but i've goggled and it's not
straight away obvious.

Anyone know what the Ah ratings for typical Alakaline or Zinc carbon D
cells is?

I've picked up an LED lantern to use for camping that takes D cells. I
was wanting to check on the ratings of disposable D cells to compare
them to NiMh to see if I think it's worth buying some for the amount of
use it would get.

Cheap NiMH seem to be hardly anymore than AA in capacity, decent sized
ones (5000 mAh - 10000 mAh) cna be pretty expensive

TIA

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?...ttery_capacity
for a start


NT

On 7 June, 10:45, (Andrew Gabriel) wrote:
In article ,
* * * * chris French writes:

Would have thought this was easy to find, but i've goggled and it's not
straight away obvious.

Anyone know what the Ah ratings for typical Alakaline or Zinc carbon D
cells is?

I think a real full-spec alkaline D cell is around 13000mAh.
Trouble is that lots of the cheaper ones won't come even close.
It will also depend on how quickly you drain the battery, and
what you regard as the level at which it's no longer usable.
Zinc carbon will be much less, but I don't have a figure.

About 18 months, I made a toy for a newphew which uses three
alkaline D cells, partly as weights, as well as for powering
it. *http://www.cucumber.demon.co.uk/lights/crossing/
They've not yet needed changing, even though it has been used
a lot, and left on when they went away on holiday for several
days.

I've picked up an LED lantern to use for camping that takes D cells. I
was wanting to check on the ratings of disposable D cells to compare
them to NiMh to see if I think it's worth buying some for the amount of
use it would get.

Rechargable NiCds and NiMh have always lagged some way behind
the higher-end non-rechargable technology. That's part of the
price you pay for reusability.

Cheap NiMH seem to be hardly anymore than AA in capacity, decent sized
ones (5000 mAh - 10000 mAh) cna be pretty expensive

Back in the days of NiCds, a proper high temp D cell was 4Ah.
However, a large number of the D cells were actually C cells in
a larger package (1.2 Ah IIRC). It seems that this practice
continues with NiMH too, using even smaller real cells.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

I do like your 'toy', Andrew - an impressive bit of engineering in a
very short time, Well done.
Rob

"Simon C." . wrote in message
...


Last week my local Lidl had D cell NiMH for £2.49 for 2, and they were
'proper' D cell, ie not AA in a case. I think they were 5000 mAh. Far
cheaper than others I've seen.

I think they were C cells in a D case, they had the same mAh.

On Mon, 7 Jun 2010 20:08:59 +0100, "dennis@home"
wrote:



"Simon C." . wrote in message
.. .


Last week my local Lidl had D cell NiMH for £2.49 for 2, and they were
'proper' D cell, ie not AA in a case. I think they were 5000 mAh. Far
cheaper than others I've seen.

I think they were C cells in a D case, they had the same mAh.

Ah, in which case you're probably correct. I just went by the weight
and they seemed about right for a D. Didn't know they did C disguised
as a D trick.

On Jun 8, 4:08*pm, John Rumm wrote:
On 07/06/2010 17:03, Bruce wrote:



On Mon, 07 Jun 2010 14:17:27 +0100, Simon . *wrote:

On Mon, 7 Jun 2010 10:17:47 +0100, chris French
*wrote:

Would have thought this was easy to find, but i've goggled and it's not
straight away obvious.

Anyone know what the Ah ratings for typical Alakaline or Zinc carbon D
cells is?
Cheap NiMH seem to be hardly anymore than AA in capacity, decent sized
ones (5000 mAh - 10000 mAh) cna be pretty expensive

From memory, Duracell D cells claim to be 15,000 mAh.

Last week my local Lidl had D cell NiMH for 2.49 for 2, and they were
'proper' D cell, ie not AA in a case. I think they were 5000 mAh. Far
cheaper than others I've seen.

My local Lidl still has some in stock, or did on Sunday. *They are
among the higher capacity NiMH D cells available, and excellent value
for money.

Some eBay sellers are touting 8 and 10 Ah D cells now.

I have quite a number of AA Vapex branded 3Ah cells that have done very
well. *I Note you can get 10Ah D cells from them also:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/10000mAh-RECHA...CHARGEABLE-10-...

Or, if you prefer a more mainstream supplier, Rapid Electronics, where
they've been available for a while.

9Ah for £7.04+VAT
http://www.rapidonline.com/Electrica...-Hi-Watt/80861

10Ah 2 for £16.95+VAT
http://www.rapidonline.com/Electrica...to-cells/79858

MBQ

On Tue, 08 Jun 2010 16:08:00 +0100, John Rumm
wrote:
On 07/06/2010 17:03, Bruce wrote:
My local Lidl still has some in stock, or did on Sunday. They are
among the higher capacity NiMH D cells available, and excellent value
for money.

Some eBay sellers are touting 8 and 10 Ah D cells now.

I have quite a number of AA Vapex branded 3Ah cells that have done very
well. I Note you can get 10Ah D cells from them also:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/10000mAh-RECHA...item1e5792de64

Thanks John. Perhaps I should have qualified my praise for the ones
from Lidl by saying that they were "among the higher capacity NiMH D
cells available on the High Street".

In message
, Man
at B&Q writes
On Jun 8, 4:08*pm, John Rumm wrote:
On 07/06/2010 17:03, Bruce wrote:



On Mon, 07 Jun 2010 14:17:27 +0100, Simon . *wrote:

On Mon, 7 Jun 2010 10:17:47 +0100, chris French
*wrote:

Would have thought this was easy to find, but i've goggled and it's not
straight away obvious.

Anyone know what the Ah ratings for typical Alakaline or Zinc carbon D
cells is?
Cheap NiMH seem to be hardly anymore than AA in capacity, decent sized
ones (5000 mAh - 10000 mAh) cna be pretty expensive

From memory, Duracell D cells claim to be 15,000 mAh.

Last week my local Lidl had D cell NiMH for 2.49 for 2, and they were
'proper' D cell, ie not AA in a case. I think they were 5000 mAh. Far
cheaper than others I've seen.

My local Lidl still has some in stock, or did on Sunday. *They are
among the higher capacity NiMH D cells available, and excellent value
for money.

Some eBay sellers are touting 8 and 10 Ah D cells now.


Thanks for the comments everyone. Found the info I was looking for.

Given the price for higher capacity NiMH D cells, and given it's useage
pattern - where it sits in a crate in the trailer waiting to go camping
(for a few days or a few weeks), gets used for a weekend or week and
then goes back to wait around for a while. So I'd just have another
thing to think about to make sure the cells were charged up at the right
time (cells I wouldn't use for anything esle, unlike AA's which we have
lots of), and would need a different charger etc to take with us (we
have a small AA/AAA only charger for camping/travelling).

I think I'm probably going to stick with Alkaline cells for now. I might
experiment with AA's in D cells adapters to see what run time I get.
--
Chris French

On Fri, 11 Jun 2010 10:13:30 +0100, chris French wrote:

In message
, Man
at B&Q writes
On Jun 8, 4:08*pm, John Rumm wrote:
On 07/06/2010 17:03, Bruce wrote:



On Mon, 07 Jun 2010 14:17:27 +0100, Simon . *wrote:

On Mon, 7 Jun 2010 10:17:47 +0100, chris French
*wrote:

Would have thought this was easy to find, but i've goggled and it's not
straight away obvious.

Anyone know what the Ah ratings for typical Alakaline or Zinc carbon D
cells is?
Cheap NiMH seem to be hardly anymore than AA in capacity, decent sized
ones (5000 mAh - 10000 mAh) cna be pretty expensive

From memory, Duracell D cells claim to be 15,000 mAh.

Last week my local Lidl had D cell NiMH for 2.49 for 2, and they were
'proper' D cell, ie not AA in a case. I think they were 5000 mAh. Far
cheaper than others I've seen.

My local Lidl still has some in stock, or did on Sunday. *They are
among the higher capacity NiMH D cells available, and excellent value
for money.

Some eBay sellers are touting 8 and 10 Ah D cells now.

Thanks for the comments everyone. Found the info I was looking for.

Given the price for higher capacity NiMH D cells, and given it's useage
pattern - where it sits in a crate in the trailer waiting to go camping
(for a few days or a few weeks), gets used for a weekend or week and
then goes back to wait around for a while. So I'd just have another
thing to think about to make sure the cells were charged up at the right
time (cells I wouldn't use for anything esle, unlike AA's which we have
lots of), and would need a different charger etc to take with us (we
have a small AA/AAA only charger for camping/travelling).

I think I'm probably going to stick with Alkaline cells for now. I might
experiment with AA's in D cells adapters to see what run time I get.

In that case (sorry) and given the pattern of use, the Eneloop or similar
might be best: lower capacity but at least it's there when required.
--
Peter.
2x4 - thick plank; 4x4 - two of 'em.

On Jun 11, 10:13*am, chris French
wrote:
In message
, Man
at B&Q writes



On Jun 8, 4:08 pm, John Rumm wrote:
On 07/06/2010 17:03, Bruce wrote:

On Mon, 07 Jun 2010 14:17:27 +0100, Simon . wrote:

On Mon, 7 Jun 2010 10:17:47 +0100, chris French
wrote:

Would have thought this was easy to find, but i've goggled and it's not
straight away obvious.

Anyone know what the Ah ratings for typical Alakaline or Zinc carbon D
cells is?
Cheap NiMH seem to be hardly anymore than AA in capacity, decent sized
ones (5000 mAh - 10000 mAh) cna be pretty expensive

From memory, Duracell D cells claim to be 15,000 mAh.

Last week my local Lidl had D cell NiMH for 2.49 for 2, and they were
'proper' D cell, ie not AA in a case. I think they were 5000 mAh. Far
cheaper than others I've seen.

My local Lidl still has some in stock, or did on Sunday. They are
among the higher capacity NiMH D cells available, and excellent value
for money.

Some eBay sellers are touting 8 and 10 Ah D cells now.

Thanks for the comments everyone. Found the info I was looking for.

Given the price for higher capacity NiMH D cells, and given it's useage
pattern - where it *sits in a crate in the trailer waiting to go camping
(for a few days or a few weeks), gets used for a weekend or *week and
then goes back to wait around for a *while. So I'd just have another
thing to think about to make sure the cells were charged up at the right
time (cells I wouldn't use for anything esle, unlike AA's which we have
lots of), and would need a different charger etc to take with us (we
have a small AA/AAA only charger for camping/travelling).

I think I'm probably going to stick with Alkaline cells for now. I might
experiment with AA's in D cells adapters to see what run time I get.


Another possible might be to make the torch chargeable from the cig
lighter socket. With so little use though its hardly worth it.

BTW I found gas lighting far more reliable than any battery solution
for occasional use lighting.


NT

In message , PeterC
writes
On Fri, 11 Jun 2010 10:13:30 +0100, chris French wrote:

Given the price for higher capacity NiMH D cells, and given it's useage
pattern - where it sits in a crate in the trailer waiting to go camping
(for a few days or a few weeks), gets used for a weekend or week and
then goes back to wait around for a while. So I'd just have another
thing to think about to make sure the cells were charged up at the right
time (cells I wouldn't use for anything esle, unlike AA's which we have
lots of), and would need a different charger etc to take with us (we
have a small AA/AAA only charger for camping/travelling).

I think I'm probably going to stick with Alkaline cells for now. I might
experiment with AA's in D cells adapters to see what run time I get.

In that case (sorry) and given the pattern of use, the Eneloop or similar
might be best: lower capacity but at least it's there when required.

Like I said, I'll probably try them out, but it depends on the run time
as to wether I think it's worth it.
--
Chris French

In message
, NT
writes

Thanks for the comments everyone. Found the info I was looking for.

Given the price for higher capacity NiMH D cells, and given it's useage
pattern - where it *sits in a crate in the trailer waiting to go camping
(for a few days or a few weeks), gets used for a weekend or *week and
then goes back to wait around for a *while. So I'd just have another
thing to think about to make sure the cells were charged up at the right
time (cells I wouldn't use for anything esle, unlike AA's which we have
lots of), and would need a different charger etc to take with us (we
have a small AA/AAA only charger for camping/travelling).

I think I'm probably going to stick with Alkaline cells for now. I might
experiment with AA's in D cells adapters to see what run time I get.


Another possible might be to make the torch chargeable from the cig
lighter socket. With so little use though its hardly worth it.


No I don't think it is. I found also with a previous rechargeable
lantern that I'd tend to forget to recharge it until it was dark.....

BTW I found gas lighting far more reliable than any battery solution
for occasional use lighting.

We have gas lanterns as well, ands we much prefer the quality of the
light from them for camping. But they have their own issues.

I don't really like them around in the tent (especially our smaller
ones) with the kids around (yes they know to be careful around them, but
they aren't always and we can do without the hassle). You can't really
hang them from the tent roof for area lighting because of the heat. Gas
in disposable cylinders is pretty expensive. They are prone to breakages
of the fragile mantles or of the glass globes.

A petrol lantern would in many ways be a sensible choice, as we use a
petrol stove. But generally use unleaded petrol in it. Don't feel so
happy about the additives in unleaded petrol being released into the air
when used inside a closed tent (I accept this may be unfounded, but
there you are).

The stove doesn't really concern me so much as it is normally used
outside, or under a sheltered area, not in the tent.
--
Chris French

On 14/06/2010 15:23, chris French wrote:
In message
, NT
writes

Thanks for the comments everyone. Found the info I was looking for.

Given the price for higher capacity NiMH D cells, and given it's useage
pattern - where it sits in a crate in the trailer waiting to go camping
(for a few days or a few weeks), gets used for a weekend or week and
then goes back to wait around for a while. So I'd just have another
thing to think about to make sure the cells were charged up at the right
time (cells I wouldn't use for anything esle, unlike AA's which we have
lots of), and would need a different charger etc to take with us (we
have a small AA/AAA only charger for camping/travelling).

I think I'm probably going to stick with Alkaline cells for now. I might
experiment with AA's in D cells adapters to see what run time I get.


Another possible might be to make the torch chargeable from the cig
lighter socket. With so little use though its hardly worth it.


No I don't think it is. I found also with a previous rechargeable
lantern that I'd tend to forget to recharge it until it was dark.....

BTW I found gas lighting far more reliable than any battery solution
for occasional use lighting.

We have gas lanterns as well, ands we much prefer the quality of the
light from them for camping. But they have their own issues.

I don't really like them around in the tent (especially our smaller
ones) with the kids around (yes they know to be careful around them, but
they aren't always and we can do without the hassle). You can't really
hang them from the tent roof for area lighting because of the heat. Gas
in disposable cylinders is pretty expensive. They are prone to breakages
of the fragile mantles or of the glass globes.

A petrol lantern would in many ways be a sensible choice, as we use a
petrol stove. But generally use unleaded petrol in it. Don't feel so
happy about the additives in unleaded petrol being released into the air
when used inside a closed tent (I accept this may be unfounded, but
there you are).

The stove doesn't really concern me so much as it is normally used
outside, or under a sheltered area, not in the tent.
There always wind up LED lanterns .

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/ethical...=ecpromo2Link4

Some of the Oxfam shops might have the older typ ein stockl at half price.

In message , robert
writes
On 14/06/2010 15:23, chris French wrote:
In message
, NT
writes

Thanks for the comments everyone. Found the info I was looking for.


I think I'm probably going to stick with Alkaline cells for now. I might
experiment with AA's in D cells adapters to see what run time I get.


Another possible might be to make the torch chargeable from the cig
lighter socket. With so little use though its hardly worth it.


No I don't think it is. I found also with a previous rechargeable
lantern that I'd tend to forget to recharge it until it was dark.....

BTW I found gas lighting far more reliable than any battery solution
for occasional use lighting.

We have gas lanterns as well, ands we much prefer the quality of the
light from them for camping. But they have their own issues.

There always wind up LED lanterns .

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/ethical...rink/HN289337#
ico=echub&icl=ecpromo2Link4


Yup, and a total waste of time for a decent amount of light for any
amount of time.


--
Chris French