Yarddog
03-21-2012, 06:49 PM
Maybe 15-20 years ago, Ray-O-Vac came out with a rechargeable Alkaline battery system. At the time their only real competition was Ni-Cads.
The advantage was they would hold their charge for years. The disadvantage was they would only last for a few charging cycles. I think they claimed something like 30 complete charges. In practice I only got around 4 or 5 then I could tell there was a decline in performance.
I made the mistake of getting into the system in a big way. I still have several types of their chargers but no batteries. I could not even use them for topping off regular alkalines since the positive end was just enough smaller than standard as to make them unusable. I actually called Ray-O-Vac and talked to one of their engineers. He was surprisingly frank and talked as long as I wanted. He said they were basically identical to regular alkalines except for a tiny hole to allow escape of gasses and an inner sleeve to prevent corrosion. They were not as powerful as standard alkalines due to the small amount of space the liner took up.
Since then both Sanyo and Ray-O-Vac have come out with Nimh's which will hold their charge much better than standard batteries but not even close to alkalines or Lithium. For a couple of years that is the only type I would buy. They have worked as advertised but like the old alkaline rechargeables pay a slight price in capacity.
A couple of weeks ago I noticed a new company has begun marketing rechargeable alkalines. I ordered only 4 iGo brand AA's and a charger just to check them out. Since it has only been a short time, I have not been able to really tell how they will last but they seem OK so far.
Anyone know anything about them? Have they actually solved the problem with rechargeable alkalines? If they have it will be like having your cake and eating it too.
The advantage was they would hold their charge for years. The disadvantage was they would only last for a few charging cycles. I think they claimed something like 30 complete charges. In practice I only got around 4 or 5 then I could tell there was a decline in performance.
I made the mistake of getting into the system in a big way. I still have several types of their chargers but no batteries. I could not even use them for topping off regular alkalines since the positive end was just enough smaller than standard as to make them unusable. I actually called Ray-O-Vac and talked to one of their engineers. He was surprisingly frank and talked as long as I wanted. He said they were basically identical to regular alkalines except for a tiny hole to allow escape of gasses and an inner sleeve to prevent corrosion. They were not as powerful as standard alkalines due to the small amount of space the liner took up.
Since then both Sanyo and Ray-O-Vac have come out with Nimh's which will hold their charge much better than standard batteries but not even close to alkalines or Lithium. For a couple of years that is the only type I would buy. They have worked as advertised but like the old alkaline rechargeables pay a slight price in capacity.
A couple of weeks ago I noticed a new company has begun marketing rechargeable alkalines. I ordered only 4 iGo brand AA's and a charger just to check them out. Since it has only been a short time, I have not been able to really tell how they will last but they seem OK so far.
Anyone know anything about them? Have they actually solved the problem with rechargeable alkalines? If they have it will be like having your cake and eating it too.