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Yesterday I started poking around looking for good deals on Sanyo Eneloop rechargable batteries. These are NiMH rechargables, but they use some kind of technology to make them self-discharge a lot less than normal batteries. They claim that they still have as much as 85% of their charge remaining a year after charging (though I believe they test this at 20*F). This makes them much more useful in items that sit for a month or two before being used. Independent testers online have confirmed that they hold charge quite a bit better than conventional NiMHs
A lot of my rechargable batteries are pushing 6 or 7 years old now and they're starting to die, and having tried Eneloops earlier in 2008 and having had good luck with them, I decided to buy a few more packs.
I found that other companies now have that technology, and looked for those too. The cheapest I could find online was $25 for 8 cells from Amazon.
The deal:
At Meijers this afternoon, I found that they have their own house-branded low-self-discharge NiMHs. They're labelled as "precharged" since they can hold enough charge from the factory to be used upon purchase without recharging.
Normal price is great: $8.99 for 4. But they're on sale now for $7.99. I think it's pretty likely that these are rebadged Sanyos, or perhaps one of the competitors, because it uses the same claims and graphics on some parts of the packaging as Sanyo does.
Even better: they have what appears to me to be an EXCELLENT charger - it has 4 independent charge channels, all microprocessor-controlled -dV monitored, and has "recover dead cell" modes. I have one like that that I paid about $30 for; this one comes normal price for $16.99, packaged with 4 of the above cells!. Even better: On sale right now for $10.99. This is just a crazy good deal even without the batteries.
I haven't used the Meijer brand batteries before or I would have bought a crapload of them. I bought the charger and an extra 4 pack. If they work out well, I'll be buying more, especially as many of my cells are now dying, and I have committed 12 of my good cells to bike lighting recently, leaving few remaining.
A lot of my rechargable batteries are pushing 6 or 7 years old now and they're starting to die, and having tried Eneloops earlier in 2008 and having had good luck with them, I decided to buy a few more packs.
I found that other companies now have that technology, and looked for those too. The cheapest I could find online was $25 for 8 cells from Amazon.
The deal:
At Meijers this afternoon, I found that they have their own house-branded low-self-discharge NiMHs. They're labelled as "precharged" since they can hold enough charge from the factory to be used upon purchase without recharging.
Normal price is great: $8.99 for 4. But they're on sale now for $7.99. I think it's pretty likely that these are rebadged Sanyos, or perhaps one of the competitors, because it uses the same claims and graphics on some parts of the packaging as Sanyo does.
Even better: they have what appears to me to be an EXCELLENT charger - it has 4 independent charge channels, all microprocessor-controlled -dV monitored, and has "recover dead cell" modes. I have one like that that I paid about $30 for; this one comes normal price for $16.99, packaged with 4 of the above cells!. Even better: On sale right now for $10.99. This is just a crazy good deal even without the batteries.
I haven't used the Meijer brand batteries before or I would have bought a crapload of them. I bought the charger and an extra 4 pack. If they work out well, I'll be buying more, especially as many of my cells are now dying, and I have committed 12 of my good cells to bike lighting recently, leaving few remaining.
