How do the current LSD batteries fair?

[Ligure]

I recently came across the Tenergy Centura low self discharge (LSD) battery that is a knock off of Sanyo's Eneloop.

http://www.all-battery.com/centura-cardnimhaa2000mahrechargeablehighcapacitybatteries 10321.aspx

I also noticed that the Gen II Eneloops are finally packaged outside of the Costco package.

http://www.amazon.com/Sanyo-eneloop-Pre-Charged-Rechargeable-Batteries/dp/B004UG41XW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318003719&sr=8-1

Both make grandiose claims on their performance. I was wondering if anyone that has the equipment has taken the time to analyze the performance and indicate and would like to share.

The best that I have come up with is the marketing literature on the respective sites above. Also one thing to note is that Tenergy (unlike Sany0) has battery sizes for their Centura line in C, D, and 9V. I find that a plus in their favor at least for the 9V size.

Also anyone know when it says that it can be recharged up to 1000 times, does that mean that if you have the battery on a solar charger that keeps it topped off every day that each day ends up being a usage of one of those charges?

Oh and one more question: How do you measure battery capacity (mAh) in a home setting?

Thanks,

Ligure

[thomasusa]

...How do you measure battery capacity (mAh) in a home setting?

I recently purchased a MAHA Mh-C9000 battery charger.
Best $50 I have spent in a long while.
It charges AA and AAA batteries at home or in the car.
My thought was that if I plugged it into a $40 5 watt solar panel from Harbor Freight, it would be much better than the small solar chargers I see everywhere.

It has a charge/cycle function that will report the mAh in each battery.
I have been testing/refreshing a pile of the cheap rechargeable batteries.

I have no idea how to predict the number of charges remaining for a battery.

[BackBlast]

I recently came across the Tenergy Centura low self discharge (LSD) battery that is a knock off of Sanyo's Eneloop.

Here is a related post I made a while ago in the AA Power thread.


Those are other brands. The advertising verbiage for these styles of cells is "Low Self Discharge" and "Pre-Charged" and similar. Most battery brands have a line. I still recommend the Eneloops over the other brands, generally, because there is a fairly insignificant price difference most of the time (~$2.5/cell). Eneloops are made in Japan where most all the other brands (Except Imedion, that I'm aware of, Imedion -> Taiwan) are Chinese. The Chinese cells usually have slightly higher capacity on the onset, but worse performance in general.

If you look at the original graph. It had another LSD cell:

<table class="sortable" id="reviews" width="100%" align="center" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td>Titanium Power Enduro 2100mAh
http://www.light-reviews.com/aa_shootout/titanium_enduro.jpg (http://www.ldsglo.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5611#)</td> <td valign="top" align="right">01:01 (http://www.ldsglo.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5611#)</td> <td valign="top" align="right">1820 (http://www.ldsglo.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5611#)</td> <td valign="top" align="right">27.4g
0.96oz (http://www.ldsglo.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5611#)</td></tr></tbody></table>
It didn't perform as well, and it generally does not hold up as well. I have Enduros and Hybrids and have hammered them all. The Eneloops hold up much better in the long haul. Unless you can find significant discounts for the Chinese cells, I'd take the Eneloops.

The main feature which sets the eneloops apart is it's lower internal resistance. Most cell failure is with high internal resistance buildup. Starting lower seems to help the longevity and general performance of the cells.

Imedions have an interesting property, and that is a generally higher voltage and voltage retention. More so than most LSD cells have - which is generally higher than regular NiMH. IMHO, lower internal resistance > better voltage retention, but it has it's place in better performance in more voltage sensitive devices.

Brandon Which provides some general comparison information. I would take allbatteries' claims with caution, chinese manufactures do NOT stand behind their products like the Japanese do. The number of complete duds you'll find is much higher and you will have little recourse for them.


Both make grandiose claims on their performance. I was wondering if anyone that has the equipment has taken the time to analyze the performance and indicate and would like to share.I've done testing on Chinese and Japanese cells, the Japanese cells hold up much better and longer. I would only buy Chinese cells at a significant discount. Like $1 a cell, maybe $1.5/cell.


The best that I have come up with is the marketing literature on the respective sites above. Also one thing to note is that Tenergy (unlike Sany0) has battery sizes for their Centura line in C, D, and 9V. I find that a plus in their favor at least for the 9V size.It's true eneloop doesn't make C or D or 9V cells available in the US to my knowledge. I would prefer a more reputable vendor over the Tenergy cells if I could find one. C, D, and 9V cells are big investments.


Also anyone know when it says that it can be recharged up to 1000 times, does that mean that if you have the battery on a solar charger that keeps it topped off every day that each day ends up being a usage of one of those charges?1000 charges is mostly optimistic. You will usually kill a cell through baking it on a poor charger or in the sun (in the case of solar lights and such) before you really hit a charge limit. Even so, there is a reason all the marketing literature contains the weasel word "up to" prior to 1000. It's woefully optimistic. Here's a snip from the beginning of the AA Power thread that gives reasonable more realistic estimates in my opinion.


AA NiMH Hi-Capacity (2500+ mah): 250 cycle life span. Temp range: 20F or higher
AA NiMH Standard (1800-2100 mah): 500 cycle life span. Temp range: 20F or higher.
AA NiMH Low Self Discharge (2000-2100 mah): 500 cycle life span. Temp range -10F or higher.
AA NiCD Hi-Capacity (800-1000 mah): 700 cycle life span. Temp range -20F or higher.
AA NiCD Standard (500-700 mah): 2000 cycle life span. Temp range -20F or higher.


Oh and one more question: How do you measure battery capacity (mAh) in a home setting?I 2nd the C9000 stated above.

Brandon