Just a short note as I find not many people know of this brand of batteries, they are Sanyo Eneloop batteries. I use AAA & AA batteries for everything from torches & lights to the radio. camera, even my nose hair trimmer...but lets not go into that. Anyway, the Enloops are a bit more pricey but they hold there charge indefinitely & have only ever been known to drop to 85% charge over a year of sitting in the drawer whereas a normal NIMH battery will have no charge left over the same time. Also they don't have a memory which means you can recharge them no matter what level of power they have at the time but if you do that with normal NIMH ones they don't charge up properly unless you drain them completely first (very handy for the camera before you goo siteseeing).
So with these you always have a working torch in an emergancy. My sister relied on these for a medical device she had to have with her as she needed the reliability.
Thats my hint for the week anyway.
Cheers
Jon

-- Edited by Hylda&Jon on Tuesday 16th of March 2010 07:13:25 PM

Hylda&Jon wrote:

---

Just a short note as I find not many people know of this brand of batteries, they are Sanyo Eneloop batteries. I use AAA & AA batteries for everything from torches & lights to the radio. camera, even my nose hair trimmer...but lets not go into that. Anyway, the Enloops are a bit more pricey but they hold there charge indefinitly & have only ever been known to drop to 85% charge over a year of sitting in the drawer whereas a normal NICH battery will have no charge left over the same time. Also they don't have a memory which means you can recharge them no matter what level of power they have at the time but if you do that with normal NICH ones they don't charge up properly unless you drain them completely first (very handy for the camera before you goo siteseeing).
So with these you always have a working torch in an emergancy. My sister relied on these for a medical device she had to have with her as she needed the reliability.
Thats my hint for the week anyway.
Cheers
Jon

---

I checked the price of the Sanyo Eneloop AA batteries at the Battery world and was quoted $30 for a pack of 4.  Below is the URL for Batteries direct where they are $18.86 + $2.50 postage and handling.  I purchased some of these batteries the other day and they were delivered within 4 days.

http://www.batteriesdirect.com.au/shop/product/4760/hr-3utg-bp4.html

 

Only rechargable battery ive been using them for 3 yrs now & very happy with them, they usually sell for around $20 aprox for 4 batterys.  Cheers Daryl

I use them but they don't hold their charge very long. I found my camera batteries drained if I left them in the camera, even if I didn't use it. So now I take them out, and carry a spare pair. I have an Everready charger and I give the batteries a triple charge every time before I'm happy they're fully recharged. I've been looking for a better battery and better battery charger, but the budget doesn't stretch that far. JRH it looks like you're on to a good thing there. Good advice thanks.

 Hi Granny that surprises me as we use these in a Fuji dig camera & an Etrex H/H GPS which doesnt get used very often & that was why we went to these type of batterys. Cheers Daryl

Mine hold the charge for ages, I had a torch in my old car for nearly 2 years & it still worked when I sold the car.

Hylda & Jon

I have been reading your blog from time to time, great reading, thanks for sharing.

Ginger

-- Edited by Ginger on Tuesday 16th of March 2010 11:07:16 PM

Thanks for the comment Ginger, we get very little feedback so it is much appreciated we enjoy doing it & especially enjoy the travel part of it. A new blog post will be going in in the next couple of days.

Sorry to mislead you DeBe and everyone, I meant I've been using rechargeable batteries, but not that brand. I'll just have to change brands. Thanks everyone for the heads up.

If you use a lot of AA batteries have a go at pulling apart a 9V square battery, the one with the 2 coil connectors on top.  They are full of AA batterys connected together.

A cheap supply.

Chris, The prob I  used to have with the usual type of Nicad battery was that just sitting around they were nearly flat in a couple of months, real pain as you are aware.  Daryl

It was recommended to me to get those batterys for my new GPS.....I bought a pk of 4 for $21.95 from Dick Smiths

 This is a very good charger for these batterys as it has several desirable features. V-cutof function, safety timer to prevent over charge, thermal cut off (very important if baterys are over heated shortens life significantly) Reverse polarity protection, Bad cell detection. These are avalable from Batterys Direct, either Charger only Or Charger + 4 batterys. Charger with batterys was $63.46

A great post guys, very helpful stuff! piccys great too.  Thanks...Denise  :)

I use the eneloop charger also & agree with DeBe, it is the best I have tried & it has 12v & 240v adapter so is great for us travellers.
Jon


-- Edited by Hylda&Jon on Wednesday 17th of March 2010 05:39:24 PM

Does Battery World or someone better have these batteries and the charger? I really need to update.

Cruising Granny wrote:

---

Does Battery World or someone better have these batteries and the charger?
I really need to update.

---

I checked the price at Battery World here in Rockingham and was quoted $30 for a pack of 4. 

Smokey says he got a pack of 4 in Dick Smiths for $21.95.

I purchased mine through Batteries Direct for $18.86 + $2.50 postage and received them within 4 days.  URL below, sorry don't know how to turn it into a hyperlink.

http://www.batteriesdirect.com.au/shop/product/4760/hr-3utg-bp4.html
Seems one just has to look around for the best deal.


Sorry Chris didn't notice the bit about the charger, they have  them at Batteries Direct also, not sure about Tricky Dicky.

 

-- Edited by JRH on Wednesday 17th of March 2010 06:35:45 PM

In Rockhampton, Dick Smith has 4 "AA"s with a Charger for $34.99.
4 Packs of "AA"s and "AAA"s are $21.99.

Leading Edge has them about $1.00 dearer.

Battery World has them, but I don't know their price yet.

Sheba.


-- Edited by Sheba on Wednesday 17th of March 2010 06:49:25 PM

Hi Chris, Checked on http://www.batteriesdirect.com.au  they are in Mortdale NSW Ph 0295864155 this is where i got mine. There current prices are. Charger only NC41500USB $34.10.  Charger with 4 AA batterys NC41500USB-EN4. $59.87.  Batterys only HR-3TG-BP4.   $19.50.   The charger takes 90Min to charge up flat batterys, so the over temp feature in my opinion is important, as I have seen many cells damaged by over charging which causes over heating. Altronics & Jaycar both have simmilar chargers but are dearer. Hope this helps.  Daryl

Hi Sheba, Just been to the Dicksmith site the Chargers are mutch cheeper, But they take 13Hrs to charge & theres not mutch more info on there site, suspect they are only 240V chargers no 12V DC provision. Cheers Daryl

Hi Darryl, Never thought to check re. 12Volt. Cheers, Sheba.

Have been using the Eneloop in the camera for the last couple of weeks. It's wonderful to reach into the bag at that crucial time when the batteries run out and know that the spares will be fine and not discharged while they've been sitting there.

OK, ok, you guys I'm sold. What a sales job! You sure you're not on commission with that website? Good job. I'll get on to them when I get back from my week in Brissy. Just another hospital visit to be pumped full of salt to see if my remaining adrenal gland is doing it's job. Should be a barrel of laughs - a guts full of salt and endless blood tests. Can't wait. The flight down and back to Cairns will also be a barrel of laughs avoiding that tricky cyclone. She'll be right. Cheers and thanks again.

I think I brought out all the closet Eneloopers with this thread, its great to let people know about a useful product

Hi everyone

I've been otherwise pre-occupied for a while recently so I'm still catching up on the posts.

Yes, the Eneloop batteries are worth their weight in gold if you need to store them charged for immediate use without recharging first.

There's another brand that I came across in Coles, of all places, named Varta Ready2use.

Much the same technology and they also have 4 unit chargers which work off the 12volt "wall wart" supplied or any other 12v source, cigar lighter plug and cord also provided.
They also charge AAA in the same unit.

I have so many battery driven doo-dads that I ended up buying almost all of the remaindered units when the local store stopped stocking them and sold them off at a huge discount. Lucky me, eh?

Highly recommended gear.

Avoid "Energiser" brand. I've consistently found these to be unreliable and to have a short lifespan. Like Hylda & Jon I've found the Eneloop batteries to be fine. I purchased mine from Dick Smith. When I was employed in the media industry our news staff used battery powered recorders for doing interviews. We avoided using (then) "Eveready" (non-rechargeable) batteries in the recorders as they would regularly let us down. Panasonic (non-rechargeable) was our preferred brand back then.

Yes, Eneloop good. I've also had positive experiences with Duracell brand, especially in digital camera. They also come with a charger that handles only two batteries at a time, which is handy. Cheers, Tony