# Has anyone tried BTY brand rechargeable batteries?



## johnny13oi (Aug 7, 2007)

Hey guys, has anyone tried BTY brand rechargeable batteries? They seem fairly cheap on DX and they appear to have a 1350mah AAA battery, I don't know how valid a rating like that would be for a AAA battery.


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## Fallingwater (Aug 7, 2007)

I am highly suspicious of that battery.

The average rule of thumb (well, my average rule of thumb, anyway) is that the highest mah Sanyo can come up with is the maximum that is generally attainable for that cell type at the current state of the technology. The highest capacity Sanyo AAA is a 1000mah cell.

Most of the "1000mah" cheap AAAs hold significantly less energy, and possibly even those of known brands.
They can still be good value, though, if one knows what one's getting. I got a box of eight "2500mah" AAs and eight "1000mah" AAAs for spare change on eBay some time ago. I'm absolutely certain they don't hold the advertised capacity (they couldn't, not at that price), but they were so very, very cheap that I got them anyway. I guess they are 700mah AAAs and 1800 to 2100mah AAs.

So I'd bet a decent amount of money that this BTY "1350 mah" cell is a complete fake. It's probably a 800mah cell, if that. Get it if it costs the same as other cheap cells, but not if the preposterous fake capacity makes it cost more.


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## TorchBoy (Aug 8, 2007)

Fallingwater said:


> They can still be good value, though, if one knows what one's getting.


That sounds reasonable. If it's a reliable 600mAh for a great price, then why not? But if it's an unreliable 300mAh then it might not be worth any price - just too much hassle.

Who wants to test them?


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## johnny13oi (Aug 8, 2007)

TorchBoy said:


> That sounds reasonable. If it's a reliable 600mAh for a great price, then why not? But if it's an unreliable 300mAh then it might not be worth any price - just too much hassle.
> 
> Who wants to test them?



Yeah that's my thought as well. As long as they perform decently for their price then they're good to go right? If I had a means of testing them I would definitely take one for the team. haha


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## VidPro (Aug 8, 2007)

johnny13oi said:


> Hey guys, has anyone tried BTY brand rechargeable batteries? They seem fairly cheap on DX and they appear to have a 1350mah AAA battery, I don't know how valid a rating like that would be for a AAA battery.


 
what fallingwater said.
first its WAY to good to be true, second, even real 1000ma cells from off brands (i wont mention) are misrable batteries in the AAA size. they work for about 900 to begin with, and get screwey over time, and can be at all kinds of different capacities from 670-900.
BECAUSE of that, and having tried many types of overrated cells that fail, i actually went DOWN, and have been using the enloops which are LOWER in capacity but maintain the capacity AND discharge in similarity to the others in the set, which reduces the reverse charge issues.

i hate AAAs to begin with, but anybody saying thier AAAs have over 1000ma is not only stretching the truth a bit, but the battery probably isnt worth owning even for FREE.


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## TorchBoy (Aug 8, 2007)

Other cheap rechargeables at DX:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.72 - printed 700mAh, actual about 350mAh.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.73 - printed 2200mAh, actual about 800mAh.

People in the DX forum have wondered if they're actually NiCd instead of NiMH.


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## cam94z28 (Aug 8, 2007)

They are sold in 2-packs. At $6.20 for 4 I don't think you're saving much (other than shipping) over name brand AAA's, and probably getting lesser quality/capacity. If anyone wants to test them for comparisons sake, I won't complain though. :thumbsup:

I see that DX now has GP Recyko LSD batteries too, but they're twice the price of Kaidomain.


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## Fallingwater (Aug 8, 2007)

VidPro said:


> i hate AAAs to begin with


Welcome to the club.
I've always found them too weak for their size advantage. I'd rather have a slightly bigger gadget that works on AAs and has two and a half times the battery life.
If price was directly proportionate to capacity they'd make much more sense, but on a price-performance basis AAs absolutely cream them.



TorchBoy said:


> Other cheap rechargeables at DX:
> http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.72 - printed 700mAh, actual about 350mAh.
> http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.73 - printed 2200mAh, actual about 800mAh.
> People in the DX forum have wondered if they're actually NiCd instead of NiMH.


They are. The numbers add up, and they say many ordinary NiMH chargers don't charge them, and suggest one that does. That one is a dual-mode NiMH and NiCD charger.
Coincidence? I don't think so.

As for the Recyko cells: I think DX sells two of them while kai only one, which is why the DX price is doubled.

In any case, they aren't significantly cheaper than eneloops to be worth the risk. LSD cells are a relatively new technology, and I'll trust the big brands more than che yum-cha manufacturers if there isn't a great difference in price.


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## cam94z28 (Aug 8, 2007)

Fallingwater said:


> ....As for the Recyko cells: I think DX sells two of them while kai only one, which is why the DX price is doubled.
> 
> In any case, they aren't significantly cheaper than eneloops to be worth the risk. LSD cells are a relatively new technology, and I'll trust the big brands more than che yum-cha manufacturers if there isn't a great difference in price.



I noticed that, but it's $9 for 2 Recyko's at DX, and $14 for 4 at Kaidomain. DX is expected to get 4 packs soon, but based on the 2-packs I doubt they'll be that cheap. GP has a decent track record, so I do want to try the Recyko's. At $14, they run about with the Eneloops, but knock-off LSD's can be had much cheaper locally (ex. $8 Kodak Pre-Charged, and $10 Hybrids at Wal-Mart).


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## TorchBoy (Aug 9, 2007)

Fallingwater said:


> They are. The numbers add up, and they say many ordinary NiMH chargers don't charge them, and suggest one that does. That one is a dual-mode NiMH and NiCD charger.
> Coincidence? I don't think so.


What's so special about NiCd that a NiMH charger wouldn't be able to charge them? I don't understand that one at all.


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## johnny13oi (Aug 9, 2007)

cam94z28 said:


> I noticed that, but it's $9 for 2 Recyko's at DX, and $14 for 4 at Kaidomain. DX is expected to get 4 packs soon, but based on the 2-packs I doubt they'll be that cheap. GP has a decent track record, so I do want to try the Recyko's. At $14, they run about with the Eneloops, but knock-off LSD's can be had much cheaper locally (ex. $8 Kodak Pre-Charged, and $10 Hybrids at Wal-Mart).



I wouldn't call the Hybrids necessarily as a knock-off, I have a bunch and they're great batteries.


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## cam94z28 (Aug 9, 2007)

johnny13oi said:


> I wouldn't call the Hybrids necessarily as a knock-off, I have a bunch and they're great batteries.



I only called them knock-offs because we don't know who really makes them (Matsushita/Yuasa?), as we do with the Eneloops (presumably Sanyo). I have a set of Hybrid AA's, and AAA's myself, so by knock-off I definitely didn't mean crap. My hybrids test about 150mah higher than the Eneloops on my C-9000, as do the Kodak Precharged. I will probably buy these before I buy Eneloops again. I will have a CBA II soon though, so we'll see which hold up better under load.


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## barkingmad (Aug 9, 2007)

cam94z28 said:


> I only called them knock-offs because we don't know who really makes them (Matsushita/Yuasa?), as we do with the Eneloops (presumably Sanyo). I have a set of Hybrid AA's, and AAA's myself, so by knock-off I definitely didn't mean crap. My hybrids test about 150mah higher than the Eneloops on my C-9000, as do the Kodak Precharged. I will probably buy these before I buy Eneloops again. I will have a CBA II soon though, so we'll see which hold up better under load.


 
I have some Hybrio and Eneloop batteries - the Hybrio have slightly better capacity (50-100mah) but the Eneloop have a lower (quoted) low self-discharge rate and hold up better under load.


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## Fallingwater (Aug 9, 2007)

TorchBoy said:


> What's so special about NiCd that a NiMH charger wouldn't be able to charge them? I don't understand that one at all.


Different charging method. A charger that's only meant for NiMH can't reliably charge NiCD. The opposite is also true.


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## TorchBoy (Aug 9, 2007)

Fallingwater said:


> Different charging *method*. A charger that's only meant for NiMH can't reliably charge NiCD. The opposite is also true.


Slightly different, sure. But, and forgive me if I'm being obtuse, I don't think that answers the problem I have with why the chargers rejected the cells as being unworthy of charging. They may have made a mash/hash/crash of it if they had tried to charge them, but why didn't they?


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## SilverFox (Aug 10, 2007)

A point of clairification...

NiMh and NiCd cells use exactly the same charging algorithm. The difference is in the value of the -deltaV used to terminate the charge.

NiCd cells use a higher -deltaV value.

If you charge NiMh cells on a charger set up for NiCd cells, it will over charge the NiMh cell.

If you charge a NiCd cell on a charger set up for NiMh cells, you end up with slightly less than a full charge, but it is pretty close.

In general, you can charge NiCd cells on NiMh chargers, but not the other way around.

Tom


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## TorchBoy (Aug 11, 2007)

Thanks Tom. That's pretty much what I figured, and hence my  about why the chargers rejected the cells.


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## Fallingwater (Aug 11, 2007)

All I can say is that both my smart NiMH chargers flat out refuse to charge nicads.


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## stjohnh (Aug 11, 2007)

Yes...... I unfortunately bought some. The AA's are marked "2500" (don't actually say 2500 maH, just 2500) and actual capacity is 600-800maH. The AAA's are marked "1000" and actual capacity is about 350 maH. I sent them back.
Holland​


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## kerasi (Apr 10, 2008)

The same happened to me but I coud not send them back to Hong Kong due to the high shipping fees.

These BTY 2500 batteries are a scam in ebay. :thumbsdow


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## Bonky (Oct 21, 2008)

Yep, they suck. Nowhere near their 'rated' capacity and 10% of them are complete duds. Stay away.


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## wayneb (Oct 4, 2010)

If you weigh on of the BTY batteries you will see that they weigh about 14 grams while a good quality NMih battery will weigh about twice that much. Bty batteries are just cheap crap. False advertising and fake claims about their capacity.


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## Ray_of_Light (Oct 5, 2010)

I've got BTY 2500 mA/h AA off eBay, at very good price. I tought it was worth the try.
It is not.
They measure 600 mA/h of capacity consistently, have high internal resistance and very high self discharge.
In addition, they require a dumb charger to recharge, since they register as defective on any automatic Ni-MH charger.

Regards

Anthony


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## Freeze_XJ (Oct 5, 2010)

I have a bunch of those '1350' AAA batteries, and they so far are OK, a bit behind the 900 mAh from a decent brand, but considering their price, they're not horrible. However, i think it's a lottery, since one (out of 4) failed quite quickly, and now (1.5 years after I bought them) the other 3 are slowly failing too (capacity estimated 300-400 mAh now, tested in a high-power laser, so accuracy is below standards  ). If you can, get something better.


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## snakebite (Oct 6, 2010)

a guy at hamvention had a bunch of those "bty" cells in shrinkwrap packages of 4.they were way too light for the claimed capacity.did not buy any for testing as i had already determined they are a joke.he got upset when i asked him if he knew the real capacity vs stated.same deal with aventrade and his so called 2900 mah cells.


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