Duracell "Stay Charged" NiMh - can't find them anymore

lumen aeternum

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Are they OOP? For most uses I want them to not lose the charge, & can accept the smaller capacity.
Or do "all" NiMh now have a long self-discharge time?
 

Zak

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The popular low-self-discharge option now (and for some time back) is the Panasonic Eneloop.
 

xxo

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The Stay charged seem to be long gone; these were re-branded standard Eneloops if made in Japan (white tops).

Duracell now offers Ion Cores which are rebranded Eneloop Pros; Energizer Recharge Plus (Japan) also appear to be rebranded Pros in AA size, AAA's may be standard Eneloops.
 

ChrisGarrett

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The Stay charged seem to be long gone; these were re-branded standard Eneloops if made in Japan (white tops).

Duracell now offers Ion Cores which are rebranded Eneloop Pros; Energizer Recharge Plus (Japan) also appear to be rebranded Pros in AA size, AAA's may be standard Eneloops.

I have 12 of the older DuraLoops here and got them when Target was discontinuing them 4-5 years back ($1.68 a quad--yay!).

They were Gen. 2s and still work well.

Unless I started using AAs on a weekly basis, say in game controllers with 10 kids, I don't think that I'd pick up the Ion Cores again. I just don't use them enough to make them worthwhile. Others might welcome that.

Chris
 

xxo

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The Ion Cores are good cells if you need hi-caps, I tested some along side some Eneloop XX/Pros and the above mentioned AA Enegizer recharge pluses and they all performed the same. I also have some of the old standard capacity "duraloop" stay charged cells and they are still going strong after 5-6 years of heavy use.
 

ChrisGarrett

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The Ion Cores are good cells if you need hi-caps, I tested some along side some Eneloop XX/Pros and the above mentioned AA Enegizer recharge pluses and they all performed the same. I also have some of the old standard capacity "duraloop" stay charged cells and they are still going strong after 5-6 years of heavy use.

Nobody's saying that HiCaps don't yield more capacity than the standard LSDs, it's just that they don't tend to last more than a couple/few years.

If people are prepared for that shortened life span and understand, they're great.

Hell, my HSD AccuPower 2900s and Sanyo 2700s offered a good chunk more capacity than even the Eneloop XX HiCap cells at the time, but they just didn't last.

I just repeated a break in cycle on some 5th Year Anniversay Glitter AAs, stamped 9/12 and got 1870mAh-1930mAh almost 6 years after they were released.

That's pretty good!

Chris
 

lumen aeternum

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The responses seem to be focused on comparing capacity.
What can I buy that holds a charge for the longest time ?
 

ChrisGarrett

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The responses seem to be focused on comparing capacity.
What can I buy that holds a charge for the longest time ?

Here you go. They're a bit dated but still relevant:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...ut-Eneloops-GP-ReCyKos-and-Imedions-it-s-done!

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...year-and-one-day-Duraloop-AA-2000mAh-LSD-test

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...oop-5th-Anniversary-GLITTER-AAs-38-month-test

Those are mostly Gen. 2 Eneloops, but there's also the GP ReCyKo and Imedion from that time frame.

Chris
 

ChibiM

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Last month i did a discharge test on new-in-package 10 year old eneloops. Made in April 2008. Result? Still 60% charge left in them. I posted the video on eneloop101.com on the tests page to see for yourself.
 

Gauss163

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^^^ @ChibiM It would be interesting to know the internal resistance after 10 years storage. Did you test it? (might need a few cycles to stabilize).
 

WalkIntoTheLight

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Considering that Eneloops are only charged to 75% capacity at the factory, only loosing an additional 15% over 10 years is quite impressive!

I wonder what their remaining charge would be if they were stored at full charge?

ChibiM, did you also test their capacity? (Perhaps after a couple of cycles.) Is it still close to 1900mAh?
 

Gauss163

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Considering that Eneloops are only charged to 75% capacity at the factory, only loosing an additional 15% over 10 years is quite impressive!

Iirc there are claims that those shipped to Japan were charged to 100% at the factory, so that might apply to ChibiM's cell.
 

magellan

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The Stay charged seem to be long gone; these were re-branded standard Eneloops if made in Japan (white tops).

Duracell now offers Ion Cores which are rebranded Eneloop Pros; Energizer Recharge Plus (Japan) also appear to be rebranded Pros in AA size, AAA's may be standard Eneloops.

I've tried both the AA and AAA size Iron Cores over the last year or so and they've been fine.
 

magellan

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Nobody's saying that HiCaps don't yield more capacity than the standard LSDs, it's just that they don't tend to last more than a couple/few years.

If people are prepared for that shortened life span and understand, they're great.

Hell, my HSD AccuPower 2900s and Sanyo 2700s offered a good chunk more capacity than even the Eneloop XX HiCap cells at the time, but they just didn't last.

I just repeated a break in cycle on some 5th Year Anniversay Glitter AAs, stamped 9/12 and got 1870mAh-1930mAh almost 6 years after they were released.

That's pretty good!

Chris

Wow, impressive!
 

lumen aeternum

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The Stay Charged are 2000 mAh
The "Rechargeable" are 2450 mAh

What defines "high cap?"
 
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ChrisGarrett

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The Stay Charged are 2000 mAh
The "Rechargeable" are 2450 mAh

What defines "high cap?"

Well, standard LSD type batteries, such as Eneloops, Fujitsu, Amazon, and older Duraloops are in the 1900mAh (min.) to 2000mAh.

Higher capacity NiMH batteries can be lumped into two camps: low self discharge and high self discharge.

LSD high caps are in that 2400mAh-2500mAh range and these would be Eneloop Pros, Fujitsu 2450mAh, Duracell Ion Core 2450 and some Amazons.

We don't get nearly the cycle life out of them, that we see with standard LSD types. Figure on 200-300 cycles, but IME, about 2-3 years, whichever comes first. They also don't hold a charge as long as the standards, over time, but they can offer about 25% more juice, so they have their place.

Finally, we have the high discharge type NiMH that stay charge for a month and start to sail south on us. These can be my long defunct Sanyo 2700s and my AccuPower 2900s. PowerEx/Maha had their 2700s as well. There are others and they're usually sourced from China, although my Sanyos were made in Japan.

Probably slightly higher in capacity than the LSD high caps, but with similar (shorter) longevity before internal resistances start spiking and they need recycling.

If you use batteries quickly, say in a camera flash, baby chair, or game controller, the high caps should be your choice, but you're replace them sooner, regardless of cycles.

Chris
 

xxo

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Well, standard LSD type batteries, such as Eneloops, Fujitsu, Amazon, and older Duraloops are in the 1900mAh (min.) to 2000mAh.

Higher capacity NiMH batteries can be lumped into two camps: low self discharge and high self discharge.

LSD high caps are in that 2400mAh-2500mAh range and these would be Eneloop Pros, Fujitsu 2450mAh, Duracell Ion Core 2450 and some Amazons.

We don't get nearly the cycle life out of them, that we see with standard LSD types. Figure on 200-300 cycles, but IME, about 2-3 years, whichever comes first. They also don't hold a charge as long as the standards, over time, but they can offer about 25% more juice, so they have their place.

Finally, we have the high discharge type NiMH that stay charge for a month and start to sail south on us. These can be my long defunct Sanyo 2700s and my AccuPower 2900s. PowerEx/Maha had their 2700s as well. There are others and they're usually sourced from China, although my Sanyos were made in Japan.

Probably slightly higher in capacity than the LSD high caps, but with similar (shorter) longevity before internal resistances start spiking and they need recycling.

If you use batteries quickly, say in a camera flash, baby chair, or game controller, the high caps should be your choice, but you're replace them sooner, regardless of cycles.

Chris

That has not been my experience with the hi cap cells with regard to lasting 2-3 years. I have Eneloop XX's from 2011-2 that I use often and still work fine, didn't keep track of the charge cycles but I am guessing I have over 200. I also have a bunch of Ion Cores form when they first came out in 2013 or so and some 3 + year old Energizer Recharge plus cells - again all still work fine after a good amount of use.


I think that most problems with short life of Eneloops and Eneloop rebrands are caused by crappy chargers that are dumb that never shut off or only shut off after 12-16 hrs, cooking the cells or by marginally less chappy "smart chargers" that charge only cells in pairs that typically overcharge half of the cells being charged. A decent smart charger that charges individual cells, like the basic Eneloop BC-17, will charge all of the cells properly. Another type of charger that kills cells are the super quick 15 min - 1 hour types.
 

xxo

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What are the rechargeable Duracells that they sell at Home Depot?

They are the Ion Cores, if they say they are made in Japan (I think all Ion Cores are), they are re branded Eneloop Pro high capacity cells. Same thing with the Energizer Recharge Plus (made In Japan) AA's (I am not sure if the Recharge Plus AAA's are high or standard capacity). Avoid the Duracell and Energizer chargers that they typically sell in stores - these are usually dumb chargers or "smart" chargers that only charge 2 or 4 cells in pairs. Eneloop's BQ-CC17 charger is a good basic smart charger to start with, not the fastest but it does charge each cell individually they way they should be.
 
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