Eneloop Rechargeable Battery Gone Bad

[easysurfer]

I know here eneloop rechargeable batteries are pretty much considered the gold standard for rechargeable AAA batteries.

But I have one that my Panasonic BQ-CC17 Ni-MH charger spots as bad with a blinking green led light. Just wondering if that's a common thing or not with eneloop batteries going bad in time.

I also have a La Crosse charger that can check the battery capacity. Ran a test and charger showed about 680mAh. Battery listed as min 750mAh, so I don't think the battery is that bad.

I'm going us the La Crosse to try a battery refresh anyhow to see if I can get the mAh any closer to 750mAh.

 

[Texas Proud]

They are the gold standard as they are the best at this time for holding a charge... that does not mean it is not a real battery and can go bad...

I opened up a flashlight the other day and had an Energizer that was leaking badly... it was not that old, and it was not stored outside... just something that happens to batteries...

As for me, I have never had an eneloop go bad... but a refresh might fix the problem...

 

[easysurfer]

They are the gold standard as they are the best at this time for holding a charge... that does not mean it is not a real battery and can go bad...

I opened up a flashlight the other day and had an Energizer that was leaking badly... it was not that old, and it was not stored outside... just something that happens to batteries...

As for me, I have never had an eneloop go bad... but a refresh might fix the problem...

I'm trying a refresh. May not finish refreshing until a few days. Was the Energizer a rechargeable?

At least if the Panasonic charger rejects the battery, I can always pop the battery in the La Crosse and recharge that way.

 

[mountainsoft]

I know here eneloop rechargeable batteries are pretty much considered the gold standard for rechargeable AAA batteries.
But I have one that my Panasonic BQ-CC17 Ni-MH charger spots as bad with a blinking green led light. Just wondering if that's a common thing or not with eneloop batteries going bad in time.

I have had one or two Eneloop rechargeable batteries fail the same way. The charger blinked and it would not take a charge. Not a bad record considering how many times I've recharged the couple dozen eneloops I have. Still better than an alkaline you just throw away when it's discharged.

 

[Senator]

I have had one or two Eneloop rechargeable batteries fail the same way. The charger blinked and it would not take a charge. Not a bad record considering how many times I've recharged the couple dozen eneloops I have. Still better than an alkaline you just throw away when it's discharged.

I just bought a bunch of AC Delco AAA and AA alkaline batteries at Menards a few days ago. Six 30-packs each, 360 batteries total. 1.99 a 30-pack. That's about 0.06 each.

When the alkaline batteries get bad, I toss them in the regular trash, just like the Eco cops recommend.

I also have some rechargeable that seem to discharge just sitting in my battery box after about 6-months.

Do rechargeable batteries really make sense? I have seen some alkaline battery re-chargers too.

 

[MichaelB]

I’ve had 4 aaa eneloop batteries go bad. All were less than a year old. Strangely, I can’t find any information on warranty.

 

[mathjak107]

i had one fail out of 16 in a 5 or year period. i actually had those little white eneloop chargers go bad quite a few times . i use a much better charger for them now .

 

[flintnational]

I just bought a bunch of AC Delco AAA and AA alkaline batteries at Menards a few days ago. Six 30-packs each, 360 batteries total. 1.99 a 30-pack. That's about 0.06 each.

When the alkaline batteries get bad, I toss them in the regular trash, just like the Eco cops recommend.

I also have some rechargeable that seem to discharge just sitting in my battery box after about 6-months.

Do rechargeable batteries really make sense? I have seen some alkaline battery re-chargers too.

When I saw this thread I went online an read a couple of articles comparing cost. (Otherwise, I know nothing about this topic.) From the articles I read, it seems that high use devices, the example used was the kids WII controllers, appear to make sense for rechargeables. But for devices that have low usage, the standard batteries are more cost effective. From the articles, it looks like the cost threshold is somewhere around 3-6 months battery life is where the rechargeables can be cost effective. If your device does not need batteries replaced that frequently, stick with standard. But, the articles mentioned that many use rechargeables to reduce waste and not solely for cost.

The articles did not use your sale price for standard batteries. IMHO, it would be hard to beat .06 per battery.

 

[wmc1000]

I use eneloops in everything except the grandkids toys and our smoke detectors,(use Duracell procell in the detectors).

Use the little white eneloop charger and haven't experienced any failures to date. Probably going on about 7-8 years now. Half were Gen 3 and half are Gen 4 versions. That's only about 18 eneloops total however.

 

[easysurfer]

i had one fail out of 16 in a 5 or year period. i actually had those little white eneloop chargers go bad quite a few times . i use a much better charger for them now .

When the little white eneloop chargers went bad, what were the symptoms? False positives identifying defective batteries?

I'm wondering now if the problem I'm having is with the batteries or the white eneloop charger.

Recently the charger identified a battery (non eneloop) as bad with the blinking green LED but not during the end of the charging instead of the beginning. I tested the battery at it was charged.

I can still charge a battery that's spotted by the eneloop charger as defective. But don't want to fiddle around with the eneloop charger if there are too many false positives.

 

[mathjak107]

they smelled burned and no longer charged .

 

[Texas Proud]

I'm trying a refresh. May not finish refreshing until a few days. Was the Energizer a rechargeable?

At least if the Panasonic charger rejects the battery, I can always pop the battery in the La Crosse and recharge that way.

Nope, alkaline...

I do not have a Panasonic charger... have a couple of good ones, one being a La Crosse that does the refresh..


We now do not use that many rechargeables as they are mostly for lights etc. when we (meaning DW and kids) go camping or we rent a cabin at the lake... I use alkaline in most items.... OH, one that I do not is the camera... seems alkalines do not last long at all... but we have a big SLR and it has its own battery and DW uses her Iphone....

 

[FlaGator]

I have 50-75 Eneloop batteries and had 1 or 2 go bad in 8-10 years .

Have experienced a few not charging in selected chargers, but swapping out for a different charger has worked.

 

[Blueskies123]

I just bought a bunch of AC Delco AAA and AA alkaline batteries at Menards a few days ago. Six 30-packs each, 360 batteries total. 1.99 a 30-pack. That's about 0.06 each.

When the alkaline batteries get bad, I toss them in the regular trash, just like the Eco cops recommend.

I also have some rechargeable that seem to discharge just sitting in my battery box after about 6-months.

Do rechargeable batteries really make sense? I have seen some alkaline battery re-chargers too.

Over the last 50 years I have had dozens of remotes and other devices ruined by leaking batteries. I just found a leaking battery in my Sears Multi-timer. I think I saved it after cleaning it for 15 minutes. Have you considered what happens to your batteries after they have been in the land fill for a few years?

 

[REWahoo]

I have seen some alkaline battery re-chargers too.

My engineer BIL spent 25+ years working for Eveready. He says alkaline battery rechargers are at best a waste of money and at worst a disaster waiting to happen.

 

[easysurfer]

they smelled burned and no longer charged .

Those are good enough symptoms .

 

[mountainsoft]

I just bought a bunch of AC Delco AAA and AA alkaline batteries at Menards a few days ago. Six 30-packs each, 360 batteries total. 1.99 a 30-pack. That's about 0.06 each.

When the alkaline batteries get bad, I toss them in the regular trash, just like the Eco cops recommend.

I also have some rechargeable that seem to discharge just sitting in my battery box after about 6-months.

Do rechargeable batteries really make sense? I have seen some alkaline battery re-chargers too.

I originally switched to rechargeables because I didn't like the idea of throwing away so many batteries. Especially in high use devices like our remote controls, that seemed very wasteful and not good for the environment.

I started out with the old NiCad style batteries, but they would lose power just sitting in the drawer. They were often dead by the time I needed them. I switched to Eneloop rechargeables and the batteries are usually still charged up even after a year sitting in my drawer. I'm sure they loose a bit of power over time too, but it's not enough to matter.

Another bonus is storage. A dozen or so Eneloops will last me many years. Most are in use in devices, then I keep 4 AA and 4 AAA's charged up in my drawer that I can swap out when batteries die in a device. Then I recharge those and put them in the drawer for next time. Storing 8 batteries in the drawer is a lot easier than storing 360 batteries that will just get thrown out.

I still use standard alkaline C and D cell batteries since they aren't available in Eneloop format (they make adapters to use AA's, but they don't have the same power output as the larger batteries). I also use standard 9V batteries in the smoke alarms, stud finder, and metal detector. I would gladly switch to Eneloop rechargeables if they were available in C, D, and 9V formats.

 

[easysurfer]

Nope, alkaline...

I do not have a Panasonic charger... have a couple of good ones, one being a La Crosse that does the refresh..


We now do not use that many rechargeables as they are mostly for lights etc. when we (meaning DW and kids) go camping or we rent a cabin at the lake... I use alkaline in most items.... OH, one that I do not is the camera... seems alkalines do not last long at all... but we have a big SLR and it has its own battery and DW uses her Iphone....

I've gone the opposite route and around a couple years ago, went on an eneloop AA and AAA batteries buying binge and almost everything I use has low discharge rechargeables.

I have a fever thermometer that requires 1.5v AA size batteries. Regular rechargeables don't work as they are about 1.2v. But I got some lithium AA sized USB rechargeables, so no need for alkaline.

Over the last 50 years I have had dozens of remotes and other devices ruined by leaking batteries. I just found a leaking battery in my Sears Multi-timer. I think I saved it after cleaning it for 15 minutes. Have you considered what happens to your batteries after they have been in the land fill for a few years?

Leaking is one reason I switched mostly away from alkalines and gone to low discharge rechargables. Pay now or pay later philosophy. I might use an alkaline in a cheap clock as I don't think there's much chance of leaking as that is constantly used. But something rarely used, I don't want to take the chance.

 

[Senator]

Over the last 50 years I have had dozens of remotes and other devices ruined by leaking batteries. I just found a leaking battery in my Sears Multi-timer. I think I saved it after cleaning it for 15 minutes.

Have you considered what happens to your batteries after they have been in the land fill for a few years?

I do not worry about the landfills, that is the place to throw alkaline batteries according to the recycle people.

I never threw any baby diapers in any landfill, the number one thing in the landfills, and I know many people have thrown thousands. So I get a free pass on a few items, even some prohibited items, is the way I figure...

 

[REWahoo]

I never threw any baby diapers in any landfill, the number one thing in the landfills...

I'm far more concerned about baby diapers and the number two thing in the landfills.

 

[Jerry1]

Leaking is one reason I switched mostly away from alkalines and gone to low discharge rechargables.

I don't know about all alkalines, but I have been very disappointed in Duracells. I think they are less well made than they were in the past. I've had some leak in the package even before I opened the package and before "good until" date. The other day I opened a very old tool (laser level) and thought for sure the batteries would have leaked. Nope. Old Duracells and no leaking.

I've still remained with good on sale alkalines (usually raovac) but I store a lot less of them and check my electronics more frequently. Also, If I'm not using something (like the laser level) frequently, I take the batteries out. I'm interested in rechargables, but I'm with Senator at this point. The cost in time and trouble don't seem to out weight the benefit given how inexpensive I can get good alkalines and how little I use batteries. I think if I had children and their toys, I'd probably be more interested in rechargeable batteries.

 

[easysurfer]

Battery Update

I got too impatient to wait for my La Crosse battery charger to finish it's refresh on the eneloop battery which was flagged as defective.

So, I ended up charging the battery for about 30 minutes with the La Crosse at a higher current than usual and put back in the Panasonic white charger.

No, looks like the battery is charging OK. Will see if it finishes charging without a blinking LED.

I've read there folks put identified defective batteries in a dumb charger briefly then try again to charge, and that sometimes works.

Only bad thing is I was eyeing this other smart charger in case my Panasonic malfunctioned. Might still have to do some after Christmas shopping anyhow .

 

[ncbill]

Usually what happens is the smart charger won't charge if the battery is below a certain voltage to protect against the possibility the battery has an internal short.

I find that happens more often with the cheap rechargeable batteries.

The solution is to temporarily connect the 'dead' battery in parallel with a good battery to boost the former's voltage up to the threshold where the smart charger will accept it.

 

[easysurfer]

I actually had tested the voltage of the battery with a digital mulimeter last night and the voltage was over 1.2v as I too was thinking maybe it had a very low voltage.

 

[wmc1000]

I'm far more concerned about baby diapers and the number two thing in the landfills.