<story><title>Great AA Alkaline Battery Test (2016)</title><url>https://goughlui.com/2016/12/19/great-aa-alkaline-battery-test-pt-1-battery-testing-fundamentals/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>dragontamer</author><text>I think the main issue with AA Alkaline is the proliferation of cheap low-self-discharge NiMH cells (aka: Eneloop, but also Energizer and other brands have good LSD NiMH available).&lt;p&gt;A huge number of appliances seem to be designed for the 1.35V NiMH chemistry now. Perhaps a random TV-remote still prefers Alkaline but most seem to work fine with NiMH.&lt;p&gt;-----&lt;p&gt;Buying a pack of 20 NiMH cells and rotating your collection between charging &amp;#x2F; discharging states is cheap enough and effective. Its like you have &amp;quot;infinite&amp;quot; AAs since you can just keep recharging them.&lt;p&gt;EDIT: A few years ago, Alkaline was still needed for TV remotes. But most Low-self-discharge NiMH now lasts for over a year without self-discharging away. Sure, not as good as Alkaline&amp;#x27;s 10-year life span but surely 1+ year lifespans is good enough for your TV remote? Its not that big of a hassle to reach recharge your NiMH once a year is it?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>djrogers</author><text>That works well until you have kids running around...  You going to put rechargeable cells in that Elena of Avalor wand your 4 year old chases the dog with?  And her talking unicorn?  How about all the light sabers?&lt;p&gt;In my experience, most of those types of toys don&amp;#x27;t go through batteries fast enough to justify a NiMH - they&amp;#x27;d be in there for years. Invariably one of the kids will wind up mixing NiMH&amp;#x2F;LiIon&amp;#x2F;Alkaline in a toy, then the rechargeable winds up in the recycling bin a year later.&lt;p&gt;Fast forward 3 years, and your &amp;quot;infinite&amp;quot; AAs are all gone, lost, or in near-permanent use somewhere you can never identify, and you&amp;#x27;ve wasted all that money.&lt;p&gt;In a few years when the kids move out and, and the number of battery powered gizmos is down to a manageable number, I&amp;#x27;ll try it again - until then, Amazon Basics AAA&amp;#x2F;AA are my friend.</text></comment>
<story><title>Great AA Alkaline Battery Test (2016)</title><url>https://goughlui.com/2016/12/19/great-aa-alkaline-battery-test-pt-1-battery-testing-fundamentals/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>dragontamer</author><text>I think the main issue with AA Alkaline is the proliferation of cheap low-self-discharge NiMH cells (aka: Eneloop, but also Energizer and other brands have good LSD NiMH available).&lt;p&gt;A huge number of appliances seem to be designed for the 1.35V NiMH chemistry now. Perhaps a random TV-remote still prefers Alkaline but most seem to work fine with NiMH.&lt;p&gt;-----&lt;p&gt;Buying a pack of 20 NiMH cells and rotating your collection between charging &amp;#x2F; discharging states is cheap enough and effective. Its like you have &amp;quot;infinite&amp;quot; AAs since you can just keep recharging them.&lt;p&gt;EDIT: A few years ago, Alkaline was still needed for TV remotes. But most Low-self-discharge NiMH now lasts for over a year without self-discharging away. Sure, not as good as Alkaline&amp;#x27;s 10-year life span but surely 1+ year lifespans is good enough for your TV remote? Its not that big of a hassle to reach recharge your NiMH once a year is it?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>zwieback</author><text>I agree, rotating collection of charged cells is the way to go but:&lt;p&gt;- need to establish a system of keeping track what&amp;#x27;s charged&lt;p&gt;- train family to participate&lt;p&gt;- train family to stop buying alkaline (mainly because in the 
alkaline recycling process you&amp;#x27;ll lose a lot of your eneloops)&lt;p&gt;- grow immunity against complaints from family</text></comment>