Electronics > Beginners
USB chargeable Li-ion AA battery quality?
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GregDunn:
I have a number of devices which use standard 1.5V AA batteries, but I'm quite nervous about using alkaline cells in them because of their known tendency to leak and ruin equipment. I've seen these USB-chargeable 1.5V Li-ion AA batteries for sale but I can't find much in the literature about their quality and reliability.
Are these a good choice for devices like multimeters or non-critical remote controls? Sometimes mine sit for weeks or maybe months at a time before I haul them out for use, and I'm willing to trade the necessity of recharging them periodically for the safety of not having them leak in a neglected device. I like the fact that they deliver ~1.5VDC, and they won't be used for heavy current draw so the smaller capacity is not an issue.
plurn:
Good question. I would like to know too.
I have been using low self discharge NiMH batteries (eg Eneloop and others) in place of AA and AAA to protect my equipment from battery leaks as NiMH batteries do not leak electrolyte. I have had them in things like tv remote controls for years without needing to charge them.
There may be some devices where 1.5V per cell is important and 1.2V per cell (NiMH) won't work. I expect if that is the case it would be pretty rare? Maybe a problem in devices that use lots of batteries as the difference adds up? 6 x 1.5V = 9V. 6 x 1.2 = 7.2V
From what I have read, Alkaline batteries work from 1.6V down to about 1V. They somewhat linearly drop from 1.6V down to 1V as they are used so they don't spend much time at 1.5V. So most gear would probably take that into account and will work at all those voltages including below 1.5V.
NiMH batteries work from about 1.4V down to about 1V and spend most of their time at 1.2V (fairly quickly drop to 1.2V as they are used, then level out, then when most of their capacity is used they drop quickly to 1V) so most of their time is within the operating range of an Alkaline cell.
Anyway still curious about USB-chargeable 1.5V Li-ion AA batteries, so hope someone can respond about that.
GregDunn:
I'm pretty sure the 1.2V will work in a lot of devices, but one particular use is a strobe trigger for my photo system, and the 2 AA batteries in it die pretty regularly because of how far the alkaline cells drop during use - when they get down to the 1.1-1.3 range they're goners. Bad design, maybe, but it really needs the 1.5V. I haven't tested NiMH in my current batch of portable meters.
viperidae:
You'll find that NiMH cells have lower internal resistance than alkaline, so they will perform better in high current devices despite the lower open circuit terminal voltage.
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