I do tend to keep charge between 20-80% where possible, and fortunately haven’t seen significant battery degradation.
I’m on a 4 year old iPhone and even that easily gets me through the day still on 80% charge.
My only AA device is my HHKB keyboard and I wish it had a USB-C rechargeable battery instead.
The downside is that "save overcharging" only works at very low charging rates. That's why the double-charger designs all have 10+ hour charge times (mine actually has a 20-hour charge time).
But in practice? Its cheaper to buy 4 extra AA NiMH batteries to keep charged rather than upgrade to the faster chargers. So just keep some spares topped off and you should be fine.
[1] https://www.xbox.com/en-US/accessories/batteries-chargers/pl...
It's a shame Xbox Game Studios is run so badly, because pretty much everything else about Xbox is genuinely better & more consumer-friendly than what PlayStation & Nintendo are doing. But the main thing that matters is the games, and they just don't have 'em over at Xbox. Oh well.
Even many of the pouch cells come in "standard"-ish sizes. An 803860 is nominally 8.0mm x 38mm x 60mm, but I am seeing more custom sizes recently.
Meanwhile, alkaline batteries can go to hell. You might as well plan on one leaking in the battery compartment. My favorite non-rechargable 1.5V AAs are Li-FeS2, which never leak and have spectacularly low self discharge (especially good for multi-year ultra-low-power projects), but are dammed expensive.
On the other hand, alkaline batteries never burn your house down.
I also feel like they serve different purposes. Needed for long-term storage and only used in an emergency? (eg, a flashlight for power outages) You're probably better off going with old-fashioned alkaline batteries. Duracell claims they're good for 10 years. Needed for day-to-day usage? Lithium might be better: you can monitor for swelling, the battery recharge-ability is probably more important than any of the downsides that come with lithium ion batteries.
Lithium Iron Disulfide. For those looking for a brand name, that's what these are:
https://energizer.com/batteries/energizer-ultimate-lithium-b...
I'm running at the hairy edge and only high quality safety engineering is protecting me here? Or these cells can take a lot more abuse than they're given credit for?
AA and AAA batteries are great. I wish using them weren't considered a negative by many hardware reviewers.
Sadly I had to toss that system when I moved to a smaller apartment :(
Looking back, tossing it was a huge mistake.
On the other hand, being afraid of ending up with similar feelings like you, I keep stuff.
So I sit here in a room where I'm probably one or two arms-length away from VGA and DVI cables and other relics, "just in case".
I've gotten burned by that too, but I just try to remember to take out the batteries before I put something into storage.
BTW, I think the old-style "heavy duty" batteries and lithium AAs don't have a leakage problem. Though lithium AAs are now ridiculously expensive. I think they went from $1 a cell to $2 in cell in a Sam's Club 18-cell bulk back over a couple of years.
I’ve since trained them and rebuilt my stockpile but that was painful, at what was then $2 a cell. (Now $3-4.)
klooney•1h ago
I've suddenly figured out why so many toys don't work with rechargeable batteries
bux93•1h ago
I have one in my wireless mouse. If it dies, I change it to a spare and charge it right from my laptop (and the battery that was empty becomes the spare)
ramses0•46m ago
For a fun challenge try to find a non-built-in-battery arc lighter (eg: candles, grills, etc). When I found one I bought four (think camping/disaster bag... if everything is AA/AAA then having a shelf-stable fire starter is easier/safer than lighter fluid).
For a fun sidebar check out the "Panasonic BQ-CC87AKBBA" which is effectively a combo "in/out" battery charger OR USB battery pack(!). It'll suck in (unfortunately) Micro-USB and charge your AA's, then switch a button and it'll spit that power back out as a battery bank. When I find one like that for USB-C, it's going on my christmas list.
Look up plastic battery holders that hold 8-10 along with a 4x charger and I just swap batteries out and recharge them into that buffer/holding cell. I'll have to look into the Eneloops as I've been working with the Amazon Basics and generally have 1-2 batteries fail out every few months (and am specifically looking for heat-resistant / outdoor applications).
Last one: Lots of cheap solar products have cheap rechargeable AA batteries inside... you can generally open them up and swap the battery out if they're not working any more (and/or potentially scavenge the charging panel if you think about it!).
jchw•1h ago
Of course not all rechargable batteries are the same; there are a few different rechargable battery chemistries in the AA form factor. I like Eneloop Pros, though; they've been very reliable for me. I've been using them for years and I've never had to throw one out yet; supposedly they last over a thousand cycles with most of their capacity.
zabzonk•27m ago
Totally OT, but does anyone have a good link on how the thermostat gets paired with the boiler? I'm thinking of getting replaced and would like to talk to the gas fitter from a vaguely informed point of view.
dragontamer•57m ago
Alkaline batteries only have 1.5V for a short time. In practice, toys are designed to opeerate off of 1V to 1.5V, because Alkalines vary _wildly_ in voltage during use.
NiMH at 1.2V _STAYS_ at 1.2V, even when drawing 1Amp or more (under these conditions, Alkaline would have long dropped below 1V).
EDIT: This is also a problem because "nicer toys" will measure the voltage assuming an Alkaline is "full" at 1.5V and dies at 1.0V. However, NiMH starts at 1.35V, then "plateau" at 1.2V, and stays there for most of its life, before rapidly falling off to 1.0V or .8V like a cliff at the end of its life. So NiMH life "cannot be predicted" by any simple metric.
jonpurdy•20m ago
joecool1029•11m ago
direwolf20•57m ago
There are a lot of low–quality toys.
c0nsumer•57m ago