November 3, 2015 at 16:51Amazing AA / AAA Battery Testing
After my grand battery test, many asked for the same thorough tests on NiMh batteries. For four months, I tested 198 batteries (44 AA models and 35 AAA models).
Usually, on the Lamptest.ru blog, I talk about testing LED lamps that consume 6-10 times less traditional lamps and can significantly save on electricity costs. Today I want to touch on another aspect of saving - the use of batteries instead of batteries.
The batteries were charged using the La Crosse BC-700 and JAPCELL BC-4001 chargers . Batteries with a capacity above 1500 mAh were charged with a current of 700-800 mA, batteries of a smaller capacity with a current of 500-600 mA.
To determine the capacity, the batteries were discharged using the analyzer Oleg Artamonov . Batteries with a capacity above 1500 mAh were discharged by currents of 500 mA and 2500 mA, batteries of a smaller capacity by currents of 200 mA and 1000 mA.
Basically tested two copies of the batteries of each model. For comparison, I used the results of the worst battery in a pair, if four batteries were tested, for comparison I took the penultimate one in capacity.
Let's start with the simplest - battery capacity at medium currents of 500/200 mA. Of course, it is more correct to take into account the capacity in watt-hours , but on all batteries the capacity is indicated in milliampere-hours, so I will use them, and all the results in watt-hours can be seen in the final table .
As can be seen from the test results, the maximum capacity of AA batteries is 2550 mAh. All batteries with beautiful numbers of 2600, 2700, 2800 and 2850 mAh are just the result of marketing efforts. Their real capacity is sometimes even less than that of batteries of the same manufacturers with more modest numbers. On some batteries with large capacitance values indicated, the minimum capacity is indicated in small print (for example, Ansmann 2700, Panasonic 2700, Maha Powerex 2700 have a minimum capacity of 2500 mAh and their actual capacity is close to this value).
But AAA is honest. The maximum indicated capacity is 1100 mAh and the actual capacity is close to this value.
Duracell 1300 batteries after the first charge-discharge cycle showed very low results, but after several charge-discharge cycles showed the results that I take into account.
One of the four Turnigy 2400 LSD batteries had a capacity 30% less than the rest. I guess this is a marriage. Its result is not taken into account.
Two Camelion 2800 batteries had a capacity of 2270 mAh and 2610 mAh (13% difference). Although the best of the pair turned out to be the most capacious of all AA batteries, I have to use the data of the worst instance, because no one knows which copies can still be caught when buying.
The Chinese batteries BTY AA 3000 and BTY AAA 1350 have such a low capacity that they will only be left in the trash and I will not mention them in further tests.
Unlike batteries, batteries cannot be classified as good / bad simply by capacity, because there are batteries of different nominal capacities on sale. Let's see how the capacity of the tested batteries matches the declared. If not only the nominal, but also the minimum capacity is indicated on the battery, I will proceed from it. For comparison, the data obtained during the discharge with an average current of 500/200 mA are used.
The quality of the batteries can be judged by how the copies differ.
On most batteries, the specimens differ by no more than 5%.
Unlike batteries, batteries almost do not lose capacity at high discharge currents. I compared the capacity at discharge currents of 2500 mA and 500 ma for AA batteries having a capacity of 1500 mAh and 1000/200 mA for AAA batteries and AA batteries having a capacity of less than 1500 mAh.
Some batteries with high currents are capable of delivering even more energy than with small ones (for such batteries, the difference between the capacity at high and low current is more than 100%).
Half of all tested batteries are made using LSD technology (Low Self-Discharge - low self-discharge). These batteries are sold already charged. I measured their capacity immediately after unpacking without pre-charging.
On average, LSD batteries were 70% charged. Of course, their charge level depended not only on the quality of the batteries, but also on the time and conditions of their storage, and the manufacturing date is only on some batteries.
I tested all the batteries a week and a month after charging. Results in a week can be seen in the general table, but the results in a month.
Surprisingly, the Navigator 2100 AA and GP 1000 AAA non-LSD batteries turned out to be one of the best in preserving charge for a month. Most batteries (both LSD and non-LSD) retain 90% of their charge after a month.
I will quote the prices of the batteries on 11/11/2015. Wholesale - wholesale price at Betteris Source, RRP - recommended retail price, Magician - minimum prices in stores and online stores (mainly balances purchased at a lower exchange rate), $ and € - prices in dollars and euros in foreign online stores, rubles - prices in terms of the current exchange rate ($ 1 = 64 rubles, 1 € = 70.5 rubles). In hobbyking.com and ru.nkon.nl stores, delivery is paid, the cost of the cheapest delivery when buying 12 batteries is included in the price in the table.
Recommended retail prices in Russia and prices in foreign online stores often differ by more than two times, so I will make two price comparisons.
The first comparison is at the cost of 1000 mAh based on the RRC and prices in online stores, if the batteries are not sold in ordinary stores.
IKEA batteries are leading, followed by batteries from foreign online stores PKCELL and Turnigy. The most expensive on the basis of recommended prices were Panasonic Eneloop.
Many people buy batteries in foreign online stores, so I made the second comparison at the prices of foreign online stores and the lowest prices that I could find in Russian stores.
IKEA is ahead of everyone here, Panasonic Eneloop is not at all so expensive if they are bought via the Internet, and Fujitsu, produced at the same factory using the same technology, is even cheaper.
For most batteries, manufacturers indicate 1000 charge-discharge cycles; some manufacturers do not indicate the number of cycles at all (Camelion, Turnigy, GP, Varta). Some batteries have only 500 guaranteed cycles (IKEA LADDA 2000 LSD, Energizer PreCharged 2400, Panasonic Eneloop Pro 2450 LSD, Fujitsu 2550 LSD, IKEA LADDA 750 LSD, Energizer PreCharged 800, Panasonic 750 LSD, Fujitsu 900 LSD, Panasonic Eneloop Pro 900 LSD) .
For AA Panasonic Eneloop 1900 LSD, AAA Panasonic Eneloop 750 LSD, AA Fujitsu 1900 LSD, AAA Fujitsu 800 LSD, the manufacturers guarantee 2100 cycles.
The maximum number of cycles of 3000 is guaranteed for Panasonic Eneloop Lite 950 LSD and AAA Panasonic Eneloop Lite 550 LSD AA batteries.
Conclusions:
1. The maximum achievable capacity for AA NiMh batteries is 2550 mAh, for AAA - 1060 mAh. All batteries on which 2600, 2700, 2800 mAh and more are written in reality have a lower capacity.
2. All AAA batteries of famous manufacturers from 950 mAh to 2450 mAh have a real capacity of at least 97% of the specified, all AAA batteries of famous manufacturers from 550 mAh to 1100 mAh have a real capacity of at least 94% of the specified.
3. NiMh batteries, unlike batteries, almost do not reduce the amount of energy given off at high discharge currents.
4. During the month of storage, both conventional and LSD batteries lose 4-20% of the charge.
5. New LSD batteries are usually 70% charged.
All information about the tested batteries can be found in the excel file:nadezhin.ru/lj/ljfiles/accu_ammo1.xls . It contains data on testing all copies of batteries, capacity in watt-hours, weight and initial voltage, barcodes, wholesale and retail prices in rubles, prices in dollars and euros, countries of origin, the results of all tests, including capacity after a week and a month of storage.
Photos of the packaging of all batteries can be downloaded in one archive: nadezhin.ru/lj/ljfiles/accu.rar
Batteries for testing are provided by manufacturers and stores:
Ansmann, Duracell, Energizer, Varta, Robiton, GP, Panasonic - source company Batteris www.istochnik. ru
Camelion, Duracell, Energizer - wholesale company of Energy Systems and Technology est.ru
Ikea - by Ikeawww.ikea.ru
Navigator, Panasonic, Varta - by Battery Team batteryteam.ru
Cosmos - by Cosmos group of companies kosmos.ru
Fujitsu - Russian representative office of Fujitsu fujitsu-battery.ru
Maha Powerex, IMEDION, Fujitsu, Panasonic Eneloop - Internet shop ru.nkon.nl
The Turnigy - e-shop The HobbyKing www.hobbyking.com
I spent four months of testing and three days to write this article. I hope you find this useful.
© 2015, Alexey Nadezhin
Usually, on the Lamptest.ru blog, I talk about testing LED lamps that consume 6-10 times less traditional lamps and can significantly save on electricity costs. Today I want to touch on another aspect of saving - the use of batteries instead of batteries.
The batteries were charged using the La Crosse BC-700 and JAPCELL BC-4001 chargers . Batteries with a capacity above 1500 mAh were charged with a current of 700-800 mA, batteries of a smaller capacity with a current of 500-600 mA.
To determine the capacity, the batteries were discharged using the analyzer Oleg Artamonov . Batteries with a capacity above 1500 mAh were discharged by currents of 500 mA and 2500 mA, batteries of a smaller capacity by currents of 200 mA and 1000 mA.
Basically tested two copies of the batteries of each model. For comparison, I used the results of the worst battery in a pair, if four batteries were tested, for comparison I took the penultimate one in capacity.
Let's start with the simplest - battery capacity at medium currents of 500/200 mA. Of course, it is more correct to take into account the capacity in watt-hours , but on all batteries the capacity is indicated in milliampere-hours, so I will use them, and all the results in watt-hours can be seen in the final table .
As can be seen from the test results, the maximum capacity of AA batteries is 2550 mAh. All batteries with beautiful numbers of 2600, 2700, 2800 and 2850 mAh are just the result of marketing efforts. Their real capacity is sometimes even less than that of batteries of the same manufacturers with more modest numbers. On some batteries with large capacitance values indicated, the minimum capacity is indicated in small print (for example, Ansmann 2700, Panasonic 2700, Maha Powerex 2700 have a minimum capacity of 2500 mAh and their actual capacity is close to this value).
But AAA is honest. The maximum indicated capacity is 1100 mAh and the actual capacity is close to this value.
Duracell 1300 batteries after the first charge-discharge cycle showed very low results, but after several charge-discharge cycles showed the results that I take into account.
One of the four Turnigy 2400 LSD batteries had a capacity 30% less than the rest. I guess this is a marriage. Its result is not taken into account.
Two Camelion 2800 batteries had a capacity of 2270 mAh and 2610 mAh (13% difference). Although the best of the pair turned out to be the most capacious of all AA batteries, I have to use the data of the worst instance, because no one knows which copies can still be caught when buying.
The Chinese batteries BTY AA 3000 and BTY AAA 1350 have such a low capacity that they will only be left in the trash and I will not mention them in further tests.
Unlike batteries, batteries cannot be classified as good / bad simply by capacity, because there are batteries of different nominal capacities on sale. Let's see how the capacity of the tested batteries matches the declared. If not only the nominal, but also the minimum capacity is indicated on the battery, I will proceed from it. For comparison, the data obtained during the discharge with an average current of 500/200 mA are used.
The quality of the batteries can be judged by how the copies differ.
On most batteries, the specimens differ by no more than 5%.
Unlike batteries, batteries almost do not lose capacity at high discharge currents. I compared the capacity at discharge currents of 2500 mA and 500 ma for AA batteries having a capacity of 1500 mAh and 1000/200 mA for AAA batteries and AA batteries having a capacity of less than 1500 mAh.
Some batteries with high currents are capable of delivering even more energy than with small ones (for such batteries, the difference between the capacity at high and low current is more than 100%).
Half of all tested batteries are made using LSD technology (Low Self-Discharge - low self-discharge). These batteries are sold already charged. I measured their capacity immediately after unpacking without pre-charging.
On average, LSD batteries were 70% charged. Of course, their charge level depended not only on the quality of the batteries, but also on the time and conditions of their storage, and the manufacturing date is only on some batteries.
I tested all the batteries a week and a month after charging. Results in a week can be seen in the general table, but the results in a month.
Surprisingly, the Navigator 2100 AA and GP 1000 AAA non-LSD batteries turned out to be one of the best in preserving charge for a month. Most batteries (both LSD and non-LSD) retain 90% of their charge after a month.
I will quote the prices of the batteries on 11/11/2015. Wholesale - wholesale price at Betteris Source, RRP - recommended retail price, Magician - minimum prices in stores and online stores (mainly balances purchased at a lower exchange rate), $ and € - prices in dollars and euros in foreign online stores, rubles - prices in terms of the current exchange rate ($ 1 = 64 rubles, 1 € = 70.5 rubles). In hobbyking.com and ru.nkon.nl stores, delivery is paid, the cost of the cheapest delivery when buying 12 batteries is included in the price in the table.
Recommended retail prices in Russia and prices in foreign online stores often differ by more than two times, so I will make two price comparisons.
The first comparison is at the cost of 1000 mAh based on the RRC and prices in online stores, if the batteries are not sold in ordinary stores.
IKEA batteries are leading, followed by batteries from foreign online stores PKCELL and Turnigy. The most expensive on the basis of recommended prices were Panasonic Eneloop.
Many people buy batteries in foreign online stores, so I made the second comparison at the prices of foreign online stores and the lowest prices that I could find in Russian stores.
IKEA is ahead of everyone here, Panasonic Eneloop is not at all so expensive if they are bought via the Internet, and Fujitsu, produced at the same factory using the same technology, is even cheaper.
For most batteries, manufacturers indicate 1000 charge-discharge cycles; some manufacturers do not indicate the number of cycles at all (Camelion, Turnigy, GP, Varta). Some batteries have only 500 guaranteed cycles (IKEA LADDA 2000 LSD, Energizer PreCharged 2400, Panasonic Eneloop Pro 2450 LSD, Fujitsu 2550 LSD, IKEA LADDA 750 LSD, Energizer PreCharged 800, Panasonic 750 LSD, Fujitsu 900 LSD, Panasonic Eneloop Pro 900 LSD) .
For AA Panasonic Eneloop 1900 LSD, AAA Panasonic Eneloop 750 LSD, AA Fujitsu 1900 LSD, AAA Fujitsu 800 LSD, the manufacturers guarantee 2100 cycles.
The maximum number of cycles of 3000 is guaranteed for Panasonic Eneloop Lite 950 LSD and AAA Panasonic Eneloop Lite 550 LSD AA batteries.
Conclusions:
1. The maximum achievable capacity for AA NiMh batteries is 2550 mAh, for AAA - 1060 mAh. All batteries on which 2600, 2700, 2800 mAh and more are written in reality have a lower capacity.
2. All AAA batteries of famous manufacturers from 950 mAh to 2450 mAh have a real capacity of at least 97% of the specified, all AAA batteries of famous manufacturers from 550 mAh to 1100 mAh have a real capacity of at least 94% of the specified.
3. NiMh batteries, unlike batteries, almost do not reduce the amount of energy given off at high discharge currents.
4. During the month of storage, both conventional and LSD batteries lose 4-20% of the charge.
5. New LSD batteries are usually 70% charged.
All information about the tested batteries can be found in the excel file:nadezhin.ru/lj/ljfiles/accu_ammo1.xls . It contains data on testing all copies of batteries, capacity in watt-hours, weight and initial voltage, barcodes, wholesale and retail prices in rubles, prices in dollars and euros, countries of origin, the results of all tests, including capacity after a week and a month of storage.
Photos of the packaging of all batteries can be downloaded in one archive: nadezhin.ru/lj/ljfiles/accu.rar
Batteries for testing are provided by manufacturers and stores:
Ansmann, Duracell, Energizer, Varta, Robiton, GP, Panasonic - source company Batteris www.istochnik. ru
Camelion, Duracell, Energizer - wholesale company of Energy Systems and Technology est.ru
Ikea - by Ikeawww.ikea.ru
Navigator, Panasonic, Varta - by Battery Team batteryteam.ru
Cosmos - by Cosmos group of companies kosmos.ru
Fujitsu - Russian representative office of Fujitsu fujitsu-battery.ru
Maha Powerex, IMEDION, Fujitsu, Panasonic Eneloop - Internet shop ru.nkon.nl
The Turnigy - e-shop The HobbyKing www.hobbyking.com
I spent four months of testing and three days to write this article. I hope you find this useful.
© 2015, Alexey Nadezhin