maverick18
Sharpshooter
So I pulled the trigger and jumped into the rechargeable battery realm with both feet! Since no one here seems to have much experience with them, I decided to do a review and will attempt to keep up on this thread as to how things are holding up.
I chose to go with the Tenergy brand cells and the best prices I found were on Amazon. Amazon.com: Combo: Tenergy TN190 Universal LCD Battery Charger + 24 PCS Tenergy Premium NiMH Rechargeable Batteries (8AA/8AAA/8D): Health & Personal Care What I need most is D-Cells around my house with kid toys and what-not. So I purchased this 'starter kit' that came with 8 AAAs, 8AAs, and 8Ds and the LCD digital battery charger. The price was $88.99 which I thought was a great deal. Rechargeable D-Cells are incredibly expensive. For just the 8 D-Cells on Amazon, they are $63. For those that don't know, most rechargeable D-Cells are only rated as 1800-2000mAh. They are really just a AA cell inside a larger D-Cell housing. The Tenergy Premium D-Cells are rated at 10,000 mAh for long life and hence the high cost.
When I received the package via USPS there was visible damage to the outer box. When I opened the package, the retail packaging that the charger came in was also cosmetically damaged. The inner plastic packing materials were in good shape though. I unboxed everything and let the batteries rest overnight in the house to reach room temperature. (I don't know if that is necessary, but it was like 15 degrees outside and I didn't want to throw them right into the charger cold.)
The next morning I put 4 D Cells in the charger. They were reading 60% charge which seems to be the norm on these reading other reviews. This charger 'automatically' chooses the current for the cells. Some people have had trouble with this feature if they let the batteries go completely dead so I will keep an eye out for it. It took a little over 3 hours for them to reach full charge status. The charger is very quiet (no discernible noise) and never got warm. The batteries were slightly warm to the touch after the 3 hour charging session. I put the other 4 D cells in with similar results.
The AAs and AAAs were also reading about 60% charge out of the box. The AAs took right at an hour to top off and the AAAs were 35-40 minutes.
My barn is 'off-grid' and runs on solar and most of my 'stuff' is running directly on 12v instead of running through inverters. So I purchased this as well. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001AM0HU0?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00 I haven't had a chance to try it out directly from the 12v power source yet, but look forward to it once the weather breaks.
Of note on the Ni-Mh batteries, they have a fairly high static discharge rate. Meaning if you just leave them alone, the power levels will drop over time. These are really made for heavy usage applications with high cycle rates. Pretty new to the market are Ni-Mh with slightly different chemistries that are considered LSD or Low Self-Discharge. I am planning on buying some of these to leave in my Mag-Lite that I keep next to my bed. I don't want to reach over to grab it and have the batteries be dead. There is a trade-off on these though. The standard models are 10,000 mAh and the LSD versions are only rated at 8,000 mAh. And the are EXPENSIVE http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0041TEHMS?keywords=tenergy lsd&qid=1453238946&ref_=sr_1_4&sr=8-4. $16/pair
Overall my initial impressions are quite good. The charger is quiet and doesn't heat up. In the two applications that I have the D Cells in, they are still running strong after 1 week of use. As I stated above, I will attempt to continue to update this thread as time goes on.
I chose to go with the Tenergy brand cells and the best prices I found were on Amazon. Amazon.com: Combo: Tenergy TN190 Universal LCD Battery Charger + 24 PCS Tenergy Premium NiMH Rechargeable Batteries (8AA/8AAA/8D): Health & Personal Care What I need most is D-Cells around my house with kid toys and what-not. So I purchased this 'starter kit' that came with 8 AAAs, 8AAs, and 8Ds and the LCD digital battery charger. The price was $88.99 which I thought was a great deal. Rechargeable D-Cells are incredibly expensive. For just the 8 D-Cells on Amazon, they are $63. For those that don't know, most rechargeable D-Cells are only rated as 1800-2000mAh. They are really just a AA cell inside a larger D-Cell housing. The Tenergy Premium D-Cells are rated at 10,000 mAh for long life and hence the high cost.
When I received the package via USPS there was visible damage to the outer box. When I opened the package, the retail packaging that the charger came in was also cosmetically damaged. The inner plastic packing materials were in good shape though. I unboxed everything and let the batteries rest overnight in the house to reach room temperature. (I don't know if that is necessary, but it was like 15 degrees outside and I didn't want to throw them right into the charger cold.)
The next morning I put 4 D Cells in the charger. They were reading 60% charge which seems to be the norm on these reading other reviews. This charger 'automatically' chooses the current for the cells. Some people have had trouble with this feature if they let the batteries go completely dead so I will keep an eye out for it. It took a little over 3 hours for them to reach full charge status. The charger is very quiet (no discernible noise) and never got warm. The batteries were slightly warm to the touch after the 3 hour charging session. I put the other 4 D cells in with similar results.
The AAs and AAAs were also reading about 60% charge out of the box. The AAs took right at an hour to top off and the AAAs were 35-40 minutes.
My barn is 'off-grid' and runs on solar and most of my 'stuff' is running directly on 12v instead of running through inverters. So I purchased this as well. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001AM0HU0?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00 I haven't had a chance to try it out directly from the 12v power source yet, but look forward to it once the weather breaks.
Of note on the Ni-Mh batteries, they have a fairly high static discharge rate. Meaning if you just leave them alone, the power levels will drop over time. These are really made for heavy usage applications with high cycle rates. Pretty new to the market are Ni-Mh with slightly different chemistries that are considered LSD or Low Self-Discharge. I am planning on buying some of these to leave in my Mag-Lite that I keep next to my bed. I don't want to reach over to grab it and have the batteries be dead. There is a trade-off on these though. The standard models are 10,000 mAh and the LSD versions are only rated at 8,000 mAh. And the are EXPENSIVE http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0041TEHMS?keywords=tenergy lsd&qid=1453238946&ref_=sr_1_4&sr=8-4. $16/pair
Overall my initial impressions are quite good. The charger is quiet and doesn't heat up. In the two applications that I have the D Cells in, they are still running strong after 1 week of use. As I stated above, I will attempt to continue to update this thread as time goes on.
