Voltage is from product packaging,
except:
- NiZn from PowerGenix
site (PDF). PowerGenix can't make up their mind
about the nominal voltage, and they list it elsewhere (such
as on the packaging) as 1.6 instead of 1.65. I'm using
1.65 in the table because these batteries are even hotter
fresh out of the charger, and the extra voltage can fry
devices, so it's better that I show the voltage as higher
rather than lower.
- Lithium voltage is 1.5 on the package,
but I and
many
others
have measured some between 1.6-1.8.
- Oxyride from Wikipedia
and TechLore.
mWh figures:
- NiZn from product
marketing.
- Alkaline from ZBattery.
- For the rest, I calculated mWh by
using the same mAh-to-mWh ratio shown at StefanV
for NiMH & NiCd (1.14x for AA/D, 1.1x for AAA), and
ZBattery for the others (1.15x for AA/D, 1.16x for
AAA).
mAh/capacity figures:
- NiMH/NiCd is from product packaging of
various brands.
- NiZN from the
manufacturer (PDF).
- For Rechargeable Alkaline AAA/AA, the
high figures are from Juice
(PDF) and a Pure
Energy retailer, while the low figure for AA is from an
engineer's measurements. Rechargeable Alkaline D-size
is from Accucell. Alkaline mAh is from ZBattery.
- I couldn't find mAh or mWh figures for
Oxyrides, but the NY
Times test showed they took 1.5 more pictures in a
digital camera than premium alkalines.
- Lithium AAA is from Energizer (AA
PDF, AAA
PDF).
- Carbon-Zinc from Rayovac
(PDF), All
About Batteries, Solarbotics.
Recharge Cycles:
- NiMH is 300-1000 per Thomas
Distributing, 400-600
per Battery
Canada, and 100-800 per
PowerGenix.
Sanyo claims 500-1800 for various
flavors of eneloop. Cadex's
testing showed 700 cycles to be practical for an older
(non-LSD) NiMH).
- NiCd: Cadex
terminated their testing at 2300 cycles and their battery
pack still had close to 100% capacity. Up to 500
cycles per Hardware
Secrets, "typical life is over 500 cycles" per Electropaedia,
100-800 per PowerGenix.
- NiZn: PowerGenix
claims 100-500, but they don't specify the depth of
discharge. NLee
says he found technical data on PowerGenix's site that said
the deep-discharge cycle life was only 200 cycles, though I
couldn't find it (probably no longer available). My own experience was pretty bad: After about
a year of using them in electric toothbrushes and electronic
door locks (perhaps 10 cycles), 7 of 9 cells dropped to
45-150mAh, and the remaining two were 996 and 1298.
They should be 2500mWh ÷ 1.65V = 1515mAh.
- Rechargeable alkalines are claims for
Pure Energy (from Sundance
Solar), Lenmar,
and Juice.
- Alkaline cycles from my experience.
- Oxyride from Joe
Horn.
- The definition of Cycle Life (the
number of charges while retaining ≥60% of the initial
labeled charge) is from Energizer.
Self-Discharge Rates:
- Shelf life is often defined as how
long a battery can last unused and still retain 80%
capacity. (Energizer
PDF, p. 13, and Pure
Energy)
- NiMH:
- Figures in the table are from independent
testing.
- Sanyo's
graph shows standard NiMH retains 50% after six
months and 0% after one year.
- Sanyo
says their normal eneloop retains 75% after two years,
while their eneloop 1500 retains 85% after one year and
75% after three.
- For NiMH/NiCd, discharge rate
doubles for every 18∞F (10∞C) increase in temperature. (Battery
University)
- Refrigerating batteries slows
self-discharge for NiMH by about half, but the easier
solution is to just buy the Low Self-Discharge flavor of
NiMH in the frist place. (Contrary to myth,
refrigerating doesn't slow self-discharge for alkalines,
and alkalines hold their charge for a long time anyway).
- NiZn from NLee
the Engineer. Note that PowerGenix (the
manufacturer) claims
8%.
- NiCd from Battery
University.
- Rechargeable Alkaline from Juice
(PDF). Note that Pure
Energy states <1%/mo., Fig. 15.
- Alkaline from Panasonic
(PDF) and Energizer
(PDF).
- Lithium from Energizer (PDF,
p. 13, and website)
- Carbon-Zinc Energizer
(PDF).
% capacity at cold temps:
- NiMH from Panasonic
(PDF, and additional note),
and Sanyo.
- Rechargeable Alkaline from Pure
Energy, Fig. 13.
- Alkaline from Energizer
(PDF) (75% @ 50mW discharge, 41% @ 250mW, 35% @ 500mW, 31% @
1000mW). Alkaline much worse at sub-freezing
temps (for the first table on this page) from Energizer
(PDF, p. 5) and Climber.org.
That
second Energizer doc also suggests that all flavors of
alkaline are similar. Alkaline from J.
Harper.
- Lithium is Ultimate Lithium from
Energizer (PDF)
(96-98% @ 50-250mW discharge, 87% @ 500mW, 82% @ 1000mW)
Temperature range (operating):
Self-discharge slowed by freezing
temperatures:
Weight:
Commonly available since...:
- NiMH:
- Normal: From my own observation
- LSD: Eneloop available since
2005 as per Sanyo.
- NiZn from PowerGenix press release.
- Alkaline from Duracell,
Battery
Technologies Inc.
- Oxyride from Panasonic press release.
Lithium from Energizer.
Related websites
Fan Mail
|
I've been searching battery stuff on google for
quite a while and usually the sites are ok at best.
Thankfully i found your site today and I think it
is without a doubt the best by a longshot. --
Jeff D.
Thanks for your site. It has been very helpful. I
want to share this info: I just purchased a Postal
scale which came with a 9-volt battery of a type
apparently not covered in most sites. It says it is a
Mercury-Cadmium battery and looks to be of Japanese
manufacture. With both Mercury and Cadmium, it
probably ranks high on the list of the EPA's worst
nightmares. Ironically, it comes with a "Postal"
scale, pitting bureaucratic agencies against each
other. -- Edward Frank
I'd never heard of
Mercury-Cadmium batteries and couldn't find much on
the net about them, but they're apparently a rare
type becoming even rarer because of, not
surprisingly, environmental considerations. My
guess is that they were bundled with certain devices
from foreign manufacturers (like the one you bought)
but are not available individually to consumers in
stores, at least not in the U.S., and probably never
were. - MBJ
I've had an old Nickel Cadmium battery charger for
ages (7+ years) and just bought some Nickel Metal
Hydride batteries today. When I put them
in the charger I just happened to notice a warning
saying not to charge any type other than Nickel
Cadmium. Well I wasn't sure if NiMH was close
enough -- so I searched on the web and found your . .
. dare I say "exhaustive"? . . . site. After
some looking around at the Chargers page and Battery
Types page I found the Charging Tips area and from
there the answer to my question: Don't recharge NiMH's
in an old NiCad charger! The further information
found on the link in that question ("more on this
topic") was helpful too. Thank you very much for going
to all the effort to provide this resource to us
laymen. -- HCDearmore
|
Great site! Short, concise information, which
aided my buying decision. I really appreciate
your efforts and cutting through all the marketing
speak. Thanks! -- Erik Martin
WOW! What an EXCELLENT site! I found your site
extremely informative, THE source for all my battery
questions. Too often there's a lack of info on these
subjects, but your site answered everything. I'll be
recommending this site highly to all my fellow photogs
and others. Keep up the great work! -- K.A.H.
Great review! Simple, concise and full of
facts! Appreciate your efforts and I am sure many
others learned a lot too! I have used batteries for
many photo applications for years and found your facts
to be truthful with a lot of great anecdotes that cut
to the chase quickly. -Zapper777
Thank you so much for your battery web site (which
I
found using Infoseek) I had been wondering about the
new NiMH rechargables and lithium vs alkaline stats.
Your information was appreciated. -Ron Graber,
Carthage, MO
[We reviewed battery chargers for WIRED magazine for
its May 2000 issue.]
[Men's Health magazine wrote to us in June 2000
asking about information for an article.]
|
©1999-2013 by Michael
Bluejay ï I have tried to verify all the information on this
page, but I ain't responsible for no errors or omissions, bucko.
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