On Tue, 19 Jul 2011 13:23:39 +0100, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
PeterC wrote:
Yes, I dunno why the OP didn't just buy Eneloops. I got some from
Amazon for SWMBO. They arrived charged and were still showing full
charge after nearly a year of regular use in her camera.

One thing that impressed me was that across 16 cells, the voltage as
received was a span of 3mV! When fully charged the voltage is higher and
then drops to about the same as the original value. NiMH cells have high
voltage, a bigger range and the drop-off is irregular. The Eneloops that
I bought are the MkII, so good for ~1500 cycles. Sanyo gives a min.
capacity of 1.9Ah which is probably more than some 2.7 - 2.8Ah cells.

Are Eneloops a different type of cell? NiMH are basically a 1.2v cell. If
a device is designed for primary cells, ie 1.5v, the NiMH may well appear
to be flat before they actually are. But that's poor design of the device,
as it should be capable of getting the last drop out of a 1.5v cell.

It varies: one device has 2x2AA batteries (alkaline) (Drayton RF3 'stat)
that last ~3 years and 'die' at about 1.4V - and will then run clocks for 6
months+; a clock will give up at about 0.95V but most clocks are around 1.1
- 1.2V.
ATM I have an Eneloop in the clock that runs down to 0.95V, but only since
mid-May so the experiment is ongoing.
--
Peter.
The gods will stay away
whilst religions hold sway