this post was submitted on 07 Aug 2023

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I just wanted to take a minute to appreciate interchangable batteries (lemmy.ml)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I know these are currently out of fashion but I'm still thankful they exist.

Let's remind ourselves of devices that use(d) these standardized batteries:

Toys
Digital cameras
Torches
Gadgets like fans
Wireless keyboards
TV remotes

Thanks to having a standardized system of batteries,

You can use the same battery across several devices. This is a no brainer but it's very practical.
Batteries can charge quicker thanks to being put in a dedicated charger and not being limited by USB cables. (But yes I concede that USB has been updated for faster charging over the years)
Devices don't have down time when their battery is charging. To charge, the battery is removed from the device and can immediately be replaced with a fresh one.
You'll never have to trash a device due to an expired battery. Just buy a replacement. And building on this...
Any improvements in future battery technology can be retro-fitted into your existing devices. And there is a high incentive for future improvement, because...
An accessible (due to easy replacement) and large (due to many devices) battery market is very attractive to competition.

If you look at the pros I listed, they all happen to be things that would be very useful for electric cars. So I think it would aid the adoption of electric cars if their batteries were standardized too.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Those batteries in your photo are NiMH batteries... which discharge on their own at a fairly rapid rate even if you're not using them at all. They're also pretty big and heavy for the amount of power they provide (which, due to the self-discharge issue, is effectively a lot lower than the official number on the battery).

I strongly recommend investing in devices that use 18650 batteries. They're about the same size/weight as a AA, and they last much longer (both in terms of from full to flat and also the number of years (decades?) of use you'll get from the battery.

A lot of "proprietary" batteries are in fact a bunch of 18650 cells wired together.

It's worth investing in good ones - the quality varies significantly from brand to the next. With a good 18650 cell, you won't be replacing it when the battery expires, you'll be transferring it to a new gadget when the gadget is broken or so old that you decided to buy a new/better model.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Tipp for people wanting to get into rechargeable AA and AAAs: get IKEA Ladda batteries and their charger. They are cheap and japanese made. Some people argue that they are just relabeled Panasonic eneloops!

Edit: Oh also if you used rechargeable batteries in the past and you remember them sucking that's probably true. But the battery chemistry is better now and it's possible that your batteries degraded quickly because of "dumb" chargers. Modern chargers like the gray 4 battery Ikea charger detect how and for how long to charge and thus will not ruin the batteries.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

LADDA are my go-to as well. I recommended going with the wall charges and not the USB-A charger, since the latter juices them up very slowly (compared to the wall outlet or the storage+charge box).

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Thanks for the info! It's incredible how much the quality of batteries and chargers vary. It's good to know a cheap easy place to get them

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Its unlikely Panasonic eneloops. Project Farm does a great test for all the batteries and the IKEA showed no characteristics to the Panasonics. https://youtu.be/0A1GvQ40j0Q

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The two cells tested in that video are different. The Ladda 2450 mAh is equivalent to the black wrapped Eneloop Pro, but the video only tests the standard white Eneloops which have less capacity but a better cycle life rating. This is honestly one of the most disappointing videos I've seen from Project Farm, he didn't test most of what makes a cell better/worse.

Whether or not they are identical cells, from what I've read there is only one factory in Japan that makes NiMH cells, so the Eneloops and the Ladda come from the same factory and are therefore likely to be very similar.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Ahhh, I didn't know that about the Eneloops Pro. Thanks.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

The 18650 should have become the ubiquitous replacement in most applications, but nooo, the manufacturers had to go all proprietary and enforce even more planned obsolescence

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Invest in a solid charger (30-40€ will do). You'll keep it for years, it'll charge an odd number of batteries as well (unlike some cheap ones that only charge in pairs) and it charges just the right amount, then stops. Some even have battery test/discharge function, and charge more than just AA/AAA.

Then invest in a bunch of rechargeables, possibly Eneloops or something good from Amazon.

Now profit for years to come. The planet will thank you as well.

Honestly single use consumer batteries should be banned.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The downside is the volt is not 1.5volts. Its closer to 1.2volts. This is fine if you're using 2 batteries for things like the TV remote. But when you're using things that require more than 4 batteries, then you might get into some weirdness. I have a remote for my DSLR that sends infrared to the softbox. Every 10 shots, it would miss the shot. It turned out to be the batteries. It needed all 6Volts vs 4.8Volts.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Alkaline batteries lose voltage as they drain, so 1.5V is at full charge but it drops down to about 1.2V very quickly and then stays at 1.0V - 1.2V for most of the alkaline battery’s operating life.

NiMH batteries tend to consistently stay at their nominal voltage (1.2V) through their entire charge.

So in other words, if you have devices that really expect exactly 1.5V per battery, they would only work with alkalines at the very top of their charge. Nowadays most non-garbage circuits should be designed to work just fine with anything above 1V per battery.