The reason for this poll is that I have cleared out my equipment store room and notice a huge pile of duracell battery packets.

This got me thinking, should I try re-chargeables?
I use pp3's as well as AA's.

What's the preffered type?

Pros/con's please.

John Denim.

I Can't vote cos it really all depends!

Some kit will run on either cell other kit runs on one or another. Old generation NiCds had AA cells at 500mAh max content, AA in best technology can be 1500mAh.

Alkaline D cells are about 15Ahr at a low rate old cheap D size NiCds were 1.2Ahr modern ones can be 6Ahr.

The biggest feature is the rechargeable batteries need for a careful recharge regime on the correct charger,vs the procell get new one dump old one.

Used recahrgables for a while now, not Ni-Cad, but Ni-MH, better capacity, and the voltage is slightly higher.

main drawback is that a 9Vcell is only 8.4, and a 1.5V is 1.2.
I did have 1 issue of the power being turned off in a venue at the mains for most of the day, and then the batteries started droppin like flies just before the interval!

I now have a push-on relay in line with the charging sockets with an indicator neon, so if power is cut at any time, then the relay drops out, then I can use normal procells.

I replace the batteries every 2 years if they show signs or not.

a pack of 3 PP3s is 19.99 from maplin, these are 200mA-Hr, my AAs, and shortly my AAAs are 3.99 per pack of 4, and are 2000mA-Hr

I always keep backup procells in, jut in case.

NIHM almost exclusively, plus a set of procells for backup.

I keep a supply of NIHMs charged at home too - Just in case.

Pete

AA's seem to be better than the PP3's due to some of the issues already mentioned. I would always go for NiMh batteries for rechargables and go for as high a capacity as you can afford.
With PP3's older equipment is less tolerant of the lower voltage (8.4v) and can last no longer than 20 minutes. (Been there suffered that)
If your equipment is newer this is less of an issue as manufacturers (in particular radio mics) have adopted tolerances that accept the lower voltages.

Worthy of note is the inclusion by some manufacturers of 9.6v batteries which sacrifice capacity for having an extra cell (hence the higher voltage) and can work particularly well with the aforementioned older equipment.

Poppadom

The kit that requires batteries is:

Senn radio handheld, two years old. (x2 AA)
Shure radio handheld, three years old. (x2 AAA)
Trantec guitar pack, 6 months old. (PP3)
Senn IEM's, 5 years old. (PP3)

Luckily in my day job (which is not involved in sound) I use batteries all of the time, so I buy them with my company card. (naughty)
I usually buy the Duracell plus packs from wilkinsons or B&Q, but this can prove expensive.
Are the procells a cheaper option?

John Denim.

With the price that maplin sells batteries for there is no need for rechargeable ones anymore - plus there just a pain in the ass trying to remember which ones are charged and which are not etc

Alan

Depends where you buy them. I'm currently paying about 16p each for AA procell, and 60p for PP3. But that's not a price that's available to the public.. having said that, CPC do them for 23/85p (ex-vat etc) respectively.

Procells are basically Duracell "gold top" batteries, but rebadged, and not retail packed - they're intended for bulk/trade sale, not consumer sale. The theory is that if a company is using procell, there's little excuse for any employee who is found with procells in their walkman..

There have been several threads on the best place to buy batteries. Let's not start another, but add to those if necessary.

I was about to say - there has been discussion before ad nauseam on cells vs rechargeables.
Been there, done that, bought the proverbial....

That seems a bit of a sweeping statement, what about the environment and saving money for a start. Also a cheap battery is not necessarily a good one, I've not been in Maplin recently, but I imagine you'll want a decent brand for something which is that show critical, which will mean its not cheap. If you're happy to use the cheap ones which may not be so reliable, why not take the risk of rechargeables. ISTR in one of the old topics there were a few people using them successfully with colour coding or similar to sort out the rotation.

I use Ni-MH's from Maha Energy almost Exclusively, they are some of the best out there with their PowerEX batteries putting out 2700mAH of power and have never let me down. Of course I always keep a spare set of Alkalines on hand just in case, but I've never had to use them. I actually stick them back in the charger after every use so they are always ready. Same with the 9V Batteries and they have a High Output Version that is 9.6v or a regular version which is 8.4v but higher mAH.

Get those batteries saved up over the year and get them swapped for new ones at the Leeds or Reading Festival Battery tents!

+1 for the procell's, but have also used the cpc-sourced GP alkaline's.

Anybody ever tried Energiser? Their new adverts seem to suggest they've done something pretty clever and are now outperforming duracell.

There again, who wouldn't trust that cute bunny every time??

But at the price we can get them for, We run them for one show and then they get demoted to less important duties, Eg my wireless mouse & tv remote controls etc.

Saying that, If I have something very important I might pop in some duracell ones to be on the safe side.

Alan

We use thousands of batteries each year (in a non-audio application) - an we don't buy Duracell/Procell because they're not reliable enough. We specify Fujitsu or Varta alkalines for our systems. Fujitsu cells are often available very cheaply and they have the same capacity as the Duracells.

I've also been using the GP alkalines for home use and they seem fine.

NiMH rechargeables are great for certain things, especially if you are organised enough to have a proper charging regime, but they're not great for things that are used on an irregular basis as they self discharge too quickly.

Cheers

James.

I have used both the Energiser Industrial and the Duracell Procel batteries for Radio Mic work now.

In a show where both types were used in Sennheiser EW122 G2's both types lasted 2 shows before I wanted to change them.

I have known others to be able to go for 3 shows before getting a low battery warning.

Both types also seem to be equally priced although I don't know the prices of the Energisers as they weren't bought by me.

Josh

I must just be lucky then, 2 or my beyerdunamic (Trantec) VHFs are 11 years old at least, and 2 8 years old.
I also have some sennheiser S2003, really old, as yet untested on rechargables, then 2 Trantec S4.5s, these really chew batteries, even a procell wont do 2 shows, and then 2 AKG WMS40s, these will do 24Hrs on rechargables, but they are deisgned to use them.

Procells for me, but that's due to the nature of my work. Sometimes I'm using them on shows, often they're out as dry hire. If I send out rechargables and a charger, they wont come back, it's far easier to just put batteries in and tell them to supply their own replacements.

My Radio mics have just done 3 shows over this weekend and all barring 1 is still on 3 bars of battery. (Senn 300 G2's).



Rob