I'm getting a couple of digital cameras for some youth groups to take on mission trips that use AA batteries, and I found some reasonably priced 2500mAh rechargables that look like they should do quite nicely. My only question is an uber-basic one. Does the charger matter? Could I buy some Lenmar rechargables and pop them in an energizer charger, or do I need to find something specifically for these batteries? Also, are there batteries rated at >=2500mAh that you would recommend?
I use 2600mAH ones from RS (I think they may be UK only), they cost around £1.25 a piece + del but they last for one hell of a long time. I use a dual NiCD/NiMh battery charger (switched to NiMh most of the time). NiCD chargers are not directly compatible with NiMh, it has to state NiMh specifically, chargers normally come as wall mount (plug) ones for AA/AAA only and hold 2-4 batteries. I have a large unit which sits on the floor and holds 4 D/C/AA/AAA/9V at a time, but also have a single charger which has support for 8AA/AAA at one time.
The brand of charger makes no difference as long as it supports the right battery chemistry, ie that its a niMh charger. Moriquendi
One possible problem with the cheaper chargers is the "safety timer", it may cut charging off before higher-capacity cells are full (if they were totally flat to start with). I think that's how my cheap Energizer Compact overnight charger works. The more expensive chargers detect temperature and voltage and switch from fast charge to trickle when necessary. Uniross do a 2700mAh AA and matching "fast" charger but the charger gets knocked by some customers.
The best chargers are those that detect both temperature and change in current. They are definitely worth it as they treat the battery properly and fully discharge the battery as needed. The chances are that your charger is timer based so will never charge these 2500mAh batteries properly if it was supplied with some 1700mAh ones for example.
I've bought this charger and I'm very happy with it. I gave it to my father because I bought a charger for my RC plane's fieldbox and it's much better. http://www.ripvan100.com/products_recharger.htm They also sell Sanyo 2700mAH batts.
I bought a pretty nice Panasonic charger with a few cells from Costco a few years back. It has an LCD with the status of the charge and does AA & AAA. Then I went online and bought a package of AA and AAA. I think I got about 80 batteries in all for a great price. Check out some of the deals. Just make sure to compare mAh to mAh. There are some great deals but the mAh are low. The ones I got are Tennergy (SP?) They work great in my cameras, remotes and portable electronics. I have not purchased an alkaline for over 2 years except for devices like smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
