I just got 4 of the new Rayovac rechargeable Alkaline batteries, and as an experiment, and with full knowledge of the dangers, tried recharging them in my usual NiCd 350 mAh charger. After 2 hours the batteries gave out a fizzing noise and leaked a fair quantity of a highly alkaline liquid from the base gaskets !

The warning on the batteries about only recharging in a Rayovac Alk. battery charger is in TINY letters. Not everyone knows how dangerous a highly alkaline liquid is, and not everyone will heed or understand the the importance of the warning. Comments anyone ? Dan.

-- Dan Mitchell (dan.mitchell@virgin.net), March 26, 1998

Answers

Thanks for the warning! - I've been using the Renewals with generally good results, but hadn't ventured to try them in a non-Renewal charger. One limitation I've found with them though, is that they don't do well at all in cameras with particularly heavy power drains: They poop out *way* before their power capacity would normally indicate. Battery engineers know this phenomena as "cell polarization" - basically, the chemicals can't get to the electrodes inside the battery fast enough, so it dies an early death. Thus, Renewals are practically useless in my Oly D-600L, but have worked fine for me in a number of other cameras, including Casios.

While we're on the "warning notice" topic, I've also had bad experience with NiCds and NiMHs in some inexpensive fast-chargers: A lot of these just juice the batteries for a fixed time, corresponding to a full charge on a fully-discharged cell. If the batteries you put in aren't fully discharged, they can *seriously* overcharge, overheat, and dramatically lessen their life.

(PS Dan: The "delete" message you just got was to take care of the redundant post... Thanks for the contribution!)

-- Dave Etchells (web@imaging-resource.com), March 27, 1998.

Re: my original post --

I also have tried one of the quick chargers - 350 mAh output. Mine does indeed seem to charge on a TIME principal. If I wait till the end-of-charge green light comes on, switch off the charger and then on again -- it immediately restarts another 2 hour charge cycle. With a set of expensive NiMH batteries they got almost too hot to hold !

With regard to the use of Rayovac Renewal batteries, the ones referred to in my original message -- these lasted 5 minutes in a Panasonic PalmCam DC1000 - which needs about 1000 mAh current suppply.

And further my NiMH batteries, nominally 1300 mAh capacity,in the same camera, do not last as long as the supplied NiCds of 1000 mAh capacity. Thoughts for the battery experts ? Dan.

-- Dan Mitchell (dan.mitchell@virgin.net), March 28, 1998.

Renewal batteries are *very* different in charging characteristics from NIMH or NiCads, hence the problem in a non-renewal charger.

Read more info about them at http://www.bti.ca/ram.htm

Cheers, jp

-- J. Peterson (isonno@yahoo.com), July 14, 1998.

Rechargeable alkaline batteries, of the type called Rayova, Pure Energy, Grandcell or what not such as that mentioned in "www.bti.ca/ram.htm" are products too hyped up for consumers' collective good.

It is commonly known that their low cost comes with a limited life of only about 25 charges (max). And this is provided they are charged as frequently as possible for optimal performance and product life.

What use is such a battery system claiming a long battery life when one has to refrain from depleting it in the field? For fear of shortening product life?

Oxymoronic don't u think? Consumers should be free from such constraints, especially during the heat of a photo shoot.

In light of the fact that Ni-Cds and NiMH batteries can be charged up to 1000 times (or in practical terms, last typically a year or two), it is clear which is the more cost-effective option.

Give up the rechargeable alkaline stuff, mate, I've tried them before. Breakthrough technology? Not!

From Sunny Singapore "And they say Singaporeans don't dare to speak up"

-- Apollo (astarbucks@yahoo.com), August 06, 1998.

There's no doubt NiCd & NiMH win big in the long run, but the rechargeable alkalines aren't too bad if you have a relatively low-drain digicam. (Particularly early models without an LCD.) They'll actually give you a lot more than 25 charges worth of power if you never let them get too far discharged. A nice feature of the rechargeable alkalines is that their self-discharge rate is practically zero - you can leave them in the camera for months, and still have as much charge remaining as when you left it. No question though, that NiMH is the way to go for digicams!

-- Dave Etchells (hotnews@imaging-resource.com), August 08, 1998.

Rayovac Renewals are junk. I bought stock in the company that invented them- Battery Technologies- and lost my butt. The cells have a tendency to leak even using the proper Rayovac charger, I never was able to get more than 9-12 recharges before it happens. I bought one of the 8 cell chargers and all the contacts have corrosion from fluid leaks. I sure wouldn't trust them in my $500 digital camera!

-- Mark Haythornthwaite (madkiwi@dsp.com), August 26, 1998.

I have used the Grand Cell batteries to power a Grundig Yachtboy radio. It needs six batteries, so I bought two sets - charger and eight batteries per set. They seemed to hold up ok and lasted about 25 recharges. However I can not find any place I can buy just the batteries - I already have the charging modules of course, so I probably will not use them again - unless I can find a 'battery only" seller. If I could buy the batteries separately, I would continue to use them.

Chuck Travis

-- Chuck Travis (cptravis@attbi.com), August 23, 2002.

I have several sets of Grandcell plus the chargers..and to me they wotk as advertised ..have been running 16 batteries in rotation for the last year ..most are now finally running out of steam . You can buy more at auction on Ebay . I have sold 24 sets of these to people at my work (for radios used 5 days a week) and have had zero complaints

-- Bob Mc Naughten (hrscck9@yahoo.com), October 22, 2002.

My Goodness. Well it's obvious that they are not meant for certain high-drain devices. Neither are other are some regular alkalines. If you really have some high-drain devices, just go with Duracell Ultras. I have only used the Rayovacs in things like games and TI calculators, and they work well for me. It's much better for me than regular ones that must be recharged each week. And it better than buying batteries every few months or not having some when they go out. I'm gonna try them in my wireless mouse, keyboard, and controller and see how they work. IF I get 10 charges out of them, it better than usiing them one time.

-- Raymond Jones (jsu1@hotmail.com), December 31, 2002.