AA Battery Upgrade, Do you recharge?

[jfremm]

Hello all,

Amidst a lighting upgrade to our auditorium, I am also proposing we invest in rechargeable batteries and chargers. We are constantly going through alkaline batteries, almost always replenishing them after a show. Is your auditorium using rechargeable batteries? If so, do you recommend a specific brand? We're looking to get between 24-32 rechargeable batteries. Any help would be great.

Thank you!

 

[markviml]

We're using Ansmann 2850 Slim AA batteries for our Sennheiser HH and beltpacks. I have 24 and have had one failure in just over a year (the charger told me the battery was bad, did not fail during a show). Run time is substantial, I think better than alkaline but I have not tested. Your battery meters will drop to 2 bars quickly, but stay there throughout 4-6 hours use.

Mike

 

[themuzicman]

Maha Powerex is the standard rechargeable in NYC and on Broadway tours. I have a 1,200 AA's and a few hundred AA's in my venue and they are wonderful. I swap them out roughly once every 18 months assuming an 8 show week and 2 sets of batteries per show (1 set runs Tu/WeE/Fri/SaE/SuE and the other set runs WeM/Tr/SaM/SuM).

 

[BobHealey]

I've been using the Powerex batteries, but am less than impressed with the chargers. 2 of the 4 Maha chargers I've bought did not make it to end of warranty period. Not sure if the other two are going to survive either. On the other hand, in last 18 months, they have paid for themselves in terms of what we were spending on AAs. I've used them in SLX, ew500G3, UHF-R, and a Lectrosonics SMV transmitters with no issues.

 

[Jay Ashworth]

Any NiMH higher than about 2200 mAh will be *very* drop sensitive; doesn't matter how they land; the layers are so thin that they'll short, and kill the cell.

If you gotta, let me recommend the LaCrosse BC-series charger; they do independent 4-pocket metering. And don't be surprised when you don't get the rated capacity: remember: you're going to discharge them from the maximum safe charge voltage of the batteries down to the *low cutoff voltage of the device*, not the low cutoff voltage of the cells. For my Olympus E-10 with 2650 cells, that was a 1000mAh difference.

 

[JohnD]

I just noticed in the latest Newegg email they have a promo code for this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...x-_-StandardBatteriesChargers-_-17355026-L04B
With the promo code the price is $ 15.99 ( you do have to be a subscriber to the newegg emails to get this price)

 

[MrX]

PowerEx and their chargers. I use Imedions and am still using the same ones I bought 3 years ago. They're the crap, but always do the soft charge, never ever charge a NiMh quickly if you can help it.

 

[DrPinto]

I use Eneloop batteries (the white and blue ones) and I love them. The AA size are about $3 each and the AAA size are about $2 each. They also make adaptors that you can insert an AA into and make a "C" or "D" battery,

For chargers, I use the Titanium Smart Fast 16 slot charger. It goes for about $60.

I get them through batteryjunction.com and have nothing but good things to say about them.

 

[Bubby4j]

If a rechargeable is $3 per AA battery, and an AA battery is normally $0.25 each (if bought in bulk is doable), that's 12 regular batteries to 1 rechargeable, plus the charging station. One 16 AA battery system would pay for itself in 432 charges total. It can be cost effective when enough batteries are used per year. If you use on average over 8 batteries per week it pays for itself in 1 year. You could of course get less rechargeable if you use less batteries.

Thought someone might find the numbers helpful.

 

[ElGusto]

Another vote for the eneloop batteries. High capacity, and long service life are the main reasons.

 

[jonliles]

I use Powerex batteries. I get about 18 months of use out them on a every weekend basis. 8 weekends of use was my return on investment (ROI) for 2 sets of batteries I have. It took another 4 weekends of shows (Fri, Sat, Sun) to get the ROI for the charges.

 

[Dan0010]

for mics that support them i was using the energizer rechargeable but I always go off the advice that if the event is big then I remove the rechargeable and use regular batteries. I'm paranoid that the rechargeable will die even though it fully charge so events that I know someone won't be happy to pick up the backup mic then i make sure there fresh batteries in there.

one thing i found is that the newer shure (at least the ulxd model) they require their own batteries and won't work with other companies batteries.

 

[gafftaper]

I have all Sennhesier wireless mics. I've been using these Enlope Pro AA's for about a year now. It's a Panasonic product. They have proven very reliable and I'm so happy with them I recently purchased enough that I can use them in all my wireless mics. They don't loose their charge in storage which is fantastic. They are supposed to last 500 recharges. I have two Tenergy TN 160 Chargers and the combination works out great. I have not noticed any difference in performance from Alkaline. Don't hesitate. At one point I put a fresh charged set in a belt pack transmitter and laid it on a counter. It lasted 15 hours before the batteries died. I'm suspicious that the fact it was in a quiet room may have added to the life, but I'm confident from that test that they will out last any 3 or 4 hour show I do in my theater.

 

[kwithnok]

Those enloop batteries, I use for a little P&S camera and they work great. I can almost be out for the day shooting HD video and they last that long. I think with a little 4 set and charger came to 10$ on boxing day 2 years ago. Its a nice little setup.

 

[MrX]

In case anyone's interested... A pair of 3-year old PowerEx Imedions vs. brand-new Procell Alkalines in a Shure P10R IEM receiver.
Anyone still think Alkalines are the way to go?

 

[kwithnok]

you can get AAs that arnt alkaline? I actually didnt know......

 

[robartsd]

NiMH is the rechargable battery chemistry that makes the most sense to me in most situations. You do have to select the right NiMH battery for the task - manufacturers have to balance high power vs. low self-discharge rate. If your battery needs include C or D cells, watch out for NiMH batteries that are really AA in a larger package - very hard to find larger cell capacity NiMH batteries.

 

[Max Warasila]

A good rechargeable is the way to go for regular use. We paid for the the QLX-D rechargeable solution from Shure when we replaced our old LX-88-II system (good riddance), and I'm very impressed with how they perform. I can get an entire day's use out of them, and I haven't even tried them in low power mode yet.

For normal stuff, I've seen great results from Imedion cells. The companies I work with love them.

 

[JohnD]

Taking the advice of this thread I bought the 8 pack of Powerex Imedions and I went for the Lacrosse BC1000 charger.
I admit I am a sucker for "bonus extras" and the charger has lots of stuff included:
http://lacrossetechnology.com/bc1000/index.php
The nylon pouch has enough room for the 8 pack of Imedions too.
I should point out I am not using them for wireless mics, I just wanted rechargeables for all the remotes and keyboards and mice I have.

 

[sdauditorium]

Not to revive an old thread, but we're looking to invest in the Ansmann AA rechargeables for our wireless mics (http://www.fullcompass.com/prod/218041-Ansmann-USA-AA-Rechargeable). Anyone have real-world experience/feedback on those? We'd likely be picking up 50 or so along with their chargers, so I'd appreciate the insight before we go forward. Also, these would be with our Sennheiser EW series systems.