Donate to Remove ads

Got a credit card? use our Credit Card & Finance Calculators

Thanks to johnstevens77,Bhoddhisatva,scotia,Anonymous,Cornytiv34, for Donating to support the site

AA rechargeables 1.5V.

Kit, locations and help
88V8
Lemon Half
Posts: 5769
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 11:22 am
Has thanked: 4098 times
Been thanked: 2560 times

AA rechargeables 1.5V.

#626808

Postby 88V8 » November 11th, 2023, 8:14 pm

Are there any rechargeables that are 1.5V?
I ask because I just bought a spare Olympus C5050Z which is not happy with the stock 1.2V AAs. I put in a fully charged set of Panasonic Eneloop Pro, and it immediately flashes that they're near flat.
My current C5050Z is OK with them, but it does say in the user manual that 1.2/1.3V batteries can be a problem.

Would prefer not to use throwaways if I can avoid it.

V8

BullDog
Lemon Quarter
Posts: 2444
Joined: November 18th, 2021, 11:57 am
Has thanked: 1965 times
Been thanked: 1196 times

Re: AA rechargeables 1.5V.

#626809

Postby BullDog » November 11th, 2023, 8:20 pm


servodude
Lemon Half
Posts: 8271
Joined: November 8th, 2016, 5:56 am
Has thanked: 4435 times
Been thanked: 3564 times

Re: AA rechargeables 1.5V.

#626847

Postby servodude » November 11th, 2023, 11:46 pm

88V8 wrote:Are there any rechargeables that are 1.5V?
I ask because I just bought a spare Olympus C5050Z which is not happy with the stock 1.2V AAs. I put in a fully charged set of Panasonic Eneloop Pro, and it immediately flashes that they're near flat.
My current C5050Z is OK with them, but it does say in the user manual that 1.2/1.3V batteries can be a problem.

Would prefer not to use throwaways if I can avoid it.

V8


Have you tried actually using it despite the warning? Or does it not let you?

20+ years back decent AA rechargeables were pretty rare and I wouldn't be surprised if it's simply looking at the terminal voltage assuming it's a primary cell - and miss reporting the lack of power available
https://www.powerstream.com/AA-tests.htm

I had a point and shoot of that era that would go the other way - without NiMHs in it would stall/shut down as the lens motor engaged because the current taken dropped the output voltage

88V8
Lemon Half
Posts: 5769
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 11:22 am
Has thanked: 4098 times
Been thanked: 2560 times

Re: AA rechargeables 1.5V.

#626894

Postby 88V8 » November 12th, 2023, 10:10 am

BullDog wrote:https://www.amazon.co.uk/1-5v-rechargeable-batteries/s?k=1.5v+rechargeable+batteries

Yes, but when one looks at the battery itself, it says 1.2V.
Swizz.

servodude wrote:Have you tried actually using it despite the warning? Or does it not let you?

It works for a while, but only a few minutes.

Somewhere I have a set of the original Camedia batteries - quite useless (like a lot of the stuff I keep) but would be interested to see what voltage they claim. Unfortunately I seem to have put them in a safe place.

V8

servodude
Lemon Half
Posts: 8271
Joined: November 8th, 2016, 5:56 am
Has thanked: 4435 times
Been thanked: 3564 times

Re: AA rechargeables 1.5V.

#626906

Postby servodude » November 12th, 2023, 11:17 am

88V8 wrote:
BullDog wrote:https://www.amazon.co.uk/1-5v-rechargeable-batteries/s?k=1.5v+rechargeable+batteries

Yes, but when one looks at the battery itself, it says 1.2V.
Swizz.

servodude wrote:Have you tried actually using it despite the warning? Or does it not let you?

It works for a while, but only a few minutes.

Somewhere I have a set of the original Camedia batteries - quite useless (like a lot of the stuff I keep) but would be interested to see what voltage they claim. Unfortunately I seem to have put them in a safe place.

V8


It looks like it should be a CR-V3 (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/CR-V3_battery)
- you can get rechargeable ones
AA cells will fit and work in an emergency but will lack the expected grunt

88V8
Lemon Half
Posts: 5769
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 11:22 am
Has thanked: 4098 times
Been thanked: 2560 times

Re: AA rechargeables 1.5V.

#626957

Postby 88V8 » November 12th, 2023, 3:11 pm

servodude wrote:
88V8 wrote:Somewhere I have a set of the original Camedia batteries - quite useless (like a lot of the stuff I keep) but would be interested to see what voltage they claim. Unfortunately I seem to have put them in a safe place.

It looks like it should be a CR-V3 (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/CR-V3_battery)
- you can get rechargeable ones
AA cells will fit and work in an emergency but will lack the expected grunt

Gadzooks.
Never heard of those. I see Panasonic have stopped making them.
I have the original Camedia charger which is for AAs, and the how-to-fit-the-batteries illustration on the camera is for AAs.

I wonder if rechargeables used to give higher voltage but it's been dropped because of the race to provide more Ah.

Anyway, I see a German lithium CR-V3 rechargeable on eBay, now I need a charger.
Ahh, here we are.

V8

kempiejon
Lemon Quarter
Posts: 3488
Joined: November 5th, 2016, 10:30 am
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 1145 times

Re: AA rechargeables 1.5V.

#626963

Postby kempiejon » November 12th, 2023, 3:28 pm

88V8 wrote:I wonder if rechargeables used to give higher voltage but it's been dropped because of the race to provide more Ah.


I remember finding AAs and PP3 were underpowered 25 odd years ago. I used the AAs in my Maglite and PP3 in my guitar pedals and both behaved sub optimally either for length of use or quality of output. I recall checking the 9v PP3 when they packed up early or made a funny noise to discover they were only rated to 8.xv. I checked online and they seem to be 8.4v and 1.2v for the AAs

gryffron
Lemon Quarter
Posts: 3606
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 10:00 am
Has thanked: 550 times
Been thanked: 1586 times

Re: AA rechargeables 1.5V.

#627000

Postby gryffron » November 12th, 2023, 7:41 pm

88V8 wrote:Are there any rechargeables that are 1.5V?

No. There’s a list of the different battery technologies and their actual cell voltages here. https://www.epectec.com/batteries/chemistry/

I used to have an early digital camera that wouldn’t take rechargeables either, for the same reason. :(

88V8 wrote:I wonder if rechargeables used to give higher voltage but it's been dropped because of the race to provide more Ah.

No. The cell voltage is fundamental chemistry. Junction between two dissimilar metals. Use a different pair of metals, you get a different voltage. But you can't change it. That's the problem.

Gryff

Lanark
Lemon Quarter
Posts: 1321
Joined: March 27th, 2017, 11:41 am
Has thanked: 595 times
Been thanked: 582 times

Re: AA rechargeables 1.5V.

#627007

Postby Lanark » November 12th, 2023, 8:38 pm

Energiser ultimate lithium
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/266427213903

gryffron
Lemon Quarter
Posts: 3606
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 10:00 am
Has thanked: 550 times
Been thanked: 1586 times

Re: AA rechargeables 1.5V.

#627008

Postby gryffron » November 12th, 2023, 8:45 pm

Lanark wrote:Energiser ultimate lithium
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/266427213903

Which are NOT rechargeable. In fact they are specifically listed on ebay under "Single use batteries".

;)

servodude
Lemon Half
Posts: 8271
Joined: November 8th, 2016, 5:56 am
Has thanked: 4435 times
Been thanked: 3564 times

Re: AA rechargeables 1.5V.

#627026

Postby servodude » November 12th, 2023, 11:27 pm

kempiejon wrote:
88V8 wrote:I wonder if rechargeables used to give higher voltage but it's been dropped because of the race to provide more Ah.


I remember finding AAs and PP3 were underpowered 25 odd years ago. I used the AAs in my Maglite and PP3 in my guitar pedals and both behaved sub optimally either for length of use or quality of output. I recall checking the 9v PP3 when they packed up early or made a funny noise to discover they were only rated to 8.xv. I checked online and they seem to be 8.4v and 1.2v for the AAs


Most battery powered tech will be running a regulator between the battery and the main gubbins - so in the first instance as long as the voltage is in the input range you can look at the energy available to work out how any given battery will compare; rated V * Ah gives Wh
- more Wh == more energy

This then gets complicated a bit by the fact that different chemsitries deliver the power in different ways depending on the load.

Rechargables and Lithium primary cells (with a low internal resistance) are normally much better at delivering higher currents without their terminal voltage dropping (so they are recommended in cameras or things with motors), whereas primary alkaline cells are normally recommended for long term low load situations (such as smoke alarms) because they do not suffer from self discharge in the way rechargeable cells traditionally do.

But as with most things it's always changing - so it's safer to check what's written on the battery and the gear and see if they match

Rechargable PP3s have got really good recently - there are quite a few that plug in to a USB cable to charge and being LiIon under the covers are pretty capable even for higher draw situations - they're really handy for onboard pre-amps

Guitar pedals though is one area where this all gets even more hand wavey and weird
- simple analog pedals tend not to do very much in the way of power conditioning so some folk seek out crappy batterys to give the fuzz pedal equivalent of power sag (so that there is a compression effect as your power source drops because it can't cope with peaks)
- but given that these days there are many pedals that don't actually take batterys I've got a few https://www.joyoaudio.co.uk/joyo-jp-05-guitar-effect-pedal-power-supply-8-outputs-9v-12v-18v-usb-and-rechargeable
Nutters even more in to this stuff than me (yes there are some) will have a supply that simulates a dying crappy cell so that they can get the full late 60's effect without having to chase down cells manufactured on equipment that was sold to the Chinese when it became obsolete

-sd

88V8
Lemon Half
Posts: 5769
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 11:22 am
Has thanked: 4098 times
Been thanked: 2560 times

Re: AA rechargeables 1.5V.

#627972

Postby 88V8 » November 16th, 2023, 10:57 am

gryffron wrote:
Lanark wrote:Energiser ultimate lithium
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/266427213903

Which are NOT rechargeable. In fact they are specifically listed on ebay under "Single use batteries".

True but I ordered a set so I can check that my notnew camera actually works OK, and for spare given they apparently last 20 years which is probably longer than me... and to my cousin Cedric I leave my Energiser Ultimate Lithium batteries...

However, in a sidebar of weirdness, I find that the camera does work with rechargeable AA Eneloops even though they have the same 1.2V nominal voltage as the Duracell Recharge with which it only works for a few minutes. So, not all rechargeable batteries are created equal.

I also ordered that pair of cheapo CR-V3 from Amazon.

And I bought yet another C5050Z. Well they are twenty years old now, get em while you can.

V8

Itsallaguess
Lemon Half
Posts: 9129
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 1:16 pm
Has thanked: 4140 times
Been thanked: 10023 times

Re: AA rechargeables 1.5V.

#627977

Postby Itsallaguess » November 16th, 2023, 11:15 am

88V8 wrote:
However, in a sidebar of weirdness, I find that the camera does work with rechargeable AA Eneloops even though they have the same 1.2V nominal voltage as the Duracell Recharge with which it only works for a few minutes.

So, not all rechargeable batteries are created equal.


One simple check to carry out in that situation is to make sure the positive nipple of the non-working AA rechargeable is making proper contact with the connection in the camera battery compartment.

I have known situations similar to yours where the length of the positive nipple on the rechargeable battery was not long enough to make proper electrical contact, so it's definitely the case that dimensional specs in that particular area can sometimes cause these issues between different makes of rechargeables...

A quick solution if this is the problem is a sliver of folded kitchen foil to make the gap up. A fairly clunky fix, but a simple one to prove if it is the problem...

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

88V8
Lemon Half
Posts: 5769
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 11:22 am
Has thanked: 4098 times
Been thanked: 2560 times

Re: AA rechargeables 1.5V.

#629216

Postby 88V8 » November 22nd, 2023, 5:54 pm

88V8 wrote:
gryffron wrote:Which are NOT rechargeable. In fact they are specifically listed on ebay under "Single use batteries".

True but I ordered a set so I can check that my notnew camera actually works OK...
However, in a sidebar of weirdness, I find that the camera does work with rechargeable AA Eneloops even though they have the same 1.2V nominal voltage as the Duracell Recharge with which it only works for a few minutes. So, not all rechargeable batteries are created equal.
I also ordered that pair of cheapo CR-V3 from Amazon.

So, I have one camera that insists on disposables, no go with Eneloops or Duracell Ni-Mh.
One that will work with Eneloops rechargeables, but not the Duracell.
One that does work OK with the Duracell rechargeables.
They will all work with the CR-V3 cheapies which are, in effect, 1.8V.

And one camera that doesn't want to work at all but may need the contacts re-cleaning.

These are all the same model of camera and were originally supplied with rechargeables.

My Bushnell, that uses twelve batteries, does not work with rechargeables and will not take the CR-V3s. In the latest Which, Aldi disposables get a good rating. And a lot cheaper than £24 of Energiser Ultimate Lithium.

V8

jfgw
Lemon Quarter
Posts: 2539
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 3:36 pm
Has thanked: 1097 times
Been thanked: 1146 times

Re: AA rechargeables 1.5V.

#629577

Postby jfgw » November 23rd, 2023, 10:19 pm

You used to be able to get rechargeable alkaline AA cells but I haven't found any currently for sale.

You can get chargers for primary alkaline cells quite cheaply, https://www.amazon.co.uk/LLOYTRON-Alkaline-Charger-Batteries-Display/dp/B0859J9C47/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=2FDPBBIDLN05V&keywords=alkaline+charger&qid=1700775852&sprefix=alkaline+charger%2Caps%2C157&sr=8-1

Bear in mind that recharging primary alkaline cells is not in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. The number of recharge cycles is quite limited. Try not to let them discharge to less than 50% if you want to get the best life out of them.

Alternatively, there are rechargeable lithium cells, [url] https://www.amazon.co.uk/EBL-AAA-Batter ... mp_s_a_1_5
[/url]. They are also available with a micro-USB socket so that you don't need a separate charger.


Julian F. G. W.

88V8
Lemon Half
Posts: 5769
Joined: November 4th, 2016, 11:22 am
Has thanked: 4098 times
Been thanked: 2560 times

Re: AA rechargeables 1.5V.

#629646

Postby 88V8 » November 24th, 2023, 9:26 am

jfgw wrote:....there are rechargeable lithium cells, https://www.amazon.co.uk/EBL-AAA-Batter ... mp_s_a_1_5
They are also available with a micro-USB socket so that you don't need a separate charger.

They look good. An actual 1.5V, they say.
Things are moving on, in the battery world.

V8


Return to “Photography”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 5 guests