I can't get a rechargeable battery to last in my camera or Walkman. Camera takes four AA size, wife's camera takes two AAs, Walkman is a single AAA. Either camera is good for about 20shots, then the battery indicator goes to low and the thing shuts down before you can take the next picture. The Walkman lasts about 8hours, then within 30seconds goes from full battery indicator to shutdown.
We have tried Energizer, Kodak, and Digital batteries, with no luck.
Is there a good rechargeable that will actually last a useable amount of time in one of these devices?
Both cameras have external power jacks, so I'm about half a step from making external battery packs for them running C or D cells.

 

how old are the batteries?

do you let them run all the way down before charging? rechargables have a "memory" on them. if you charge them when they don't need charging then the charge does not last long.

i use duracell and have had them for 2 years now. we used them in our camera up until recently when we got a new camera. we took about 10k pics and 2500 movies with the camera using those batteries and the sony batteries it came with.

 

What type battery are you using? Li-Ion, NiMH, NiCd, Lithium, what milliamp are they?

A high capacity NiMH will last pretty well in a camera.

There are many, many sites with good battery info, like this one http://www.gardenstatebattery.com/en...d_tips.htm#170

Do a search for rechargeable battery maintenance......everything you want to know about batteries and lot you don't

 

I have used energizer E2 lithium with great sucess. i know they may be expensive but they are well worth it.

 

I found that using the AA adapter for my Konica Minolta 7D was an all-around BAD proposition. The batteries would last for maybe 100 shots, or about 3 days if I was letting the camera sit. Several times I NEEDED the camera and it was dead.

I ante'd up and bought the Minolta batteries. MUCH improved performance. I believe they're Lithium-ion batteries. Same voltage curve, but MUCH deeper current capacity. Strangely enough, the recharge time is about the same, given my rechargers.

The current requirements of a pro-grade digital camera are simply too high for a set of Ni-CD or Ni-MH batteries to provide, especially after a period of non-use. The same generally goes for even a point-and-shoot camera. If the camera has moving parts of any kind (zoom actuators, or extending the lens on power-up), it won't like garden-vareity Ni-CD/MH batteries, even the "high current" (i.e. 2500+mA) versions.

If there's not a manufacturer-specific Lithium battery for your camera, have a flashlight or small motor-driven appliance (i.e. a shaver/trimmer, or personal fan) to COMPLETELY discharge the Ni-based batteries. That will eliminate the "charge memory" and give them some added life. It won't be a permanent fix, though.

A rechargeable battery has a different discharge curve than does an alkaline battery of the same size. They tend to last for about 90% of their charge life at rated voltage, and then drop to nothing almost immediately. An alkaline will slowly drop voltage as the electrolyte in the battery is consumed.

Also, note that devices sense a dead battery by looking at the voltage. An alkaline has a 1.5v nominal charge, whereas a rechargeable only has 1.2v. Straight off the top, the device is looking at only 80% of charge life. So it has that much less time to see a good charge before it's "dead," even though the "dead" battery may power a flashlight for several days.

Rechargeables work well in devices that have low but steady current demands during use, such as handheld video games and audio devices. They do NOT work well in devices that have high transient current loads (such as cameras). If you have a mission-critical situational need for such a device, have 3-4 sets of rechargeables, or one or two sets of alkaline batteries handy.

-blaine

 

I use the Kodak rechargeables. But then again I have a Kodak camera

 

great info Blain...i'm off to drain some batteries in my Mag-lite

 

8 hours from a AAA battery in a walkman is pretty respectable. I only get about 4 hours from my 6 year old mp3 player on 2 AA's... which, incidentally, used to take 2 AAA's and only gave me a little over 1.5 hours... I'd go for the battery pack mod though, just because it's cool.




NiMH batteries lose a considerable amount of their charge if they sit for a few days so charging them up and throwing them in the camera bag so they're ready when needed will ususlly result in nearly dead batteries.

I have a low output charger that doesn't shut off when batteries are charged so I just leave two sets in the charger all the time and they're full when I need them.

 

This is what I use, 2400 mah...
Seems to give me good service and lots of shots.
Sony Batteries & Charger

 

Battery care is a much disregarded and very black art thing. Most batteries lose 1%
a day, So if you are storing your batts you should keep them fully charged EXCEPT the
new lithium based rechargeables they should be stored at 60% or less or else they will
start self discharging and never stop!! And then it is usually toast. The new Nimh are
not supposed to have a memory like nicads do and if you charge and use them and always charge them after using(let cool down first) they will last along time and keep
a good portion of their rated capacity!! If you are going to do the external battery
thing go to a thrift shop or if you have some old cell phones laying around use those
lithium batteries, They are usually 3.7 volts per cell when fully charged and will replace
a 2 aa requirement. They have a high energy density and need to be respected as such. Protect the battery from falls, impacts etc. DO NOT let it discharge to far or it
will be ruined and only use the charger that came with it to recharge or you will have an fire to deal with!! I store and charge the lithium for my helicopter in a coffee can
and inspect it good after every crash. They are being put in everything from cell phones, laptops to childrens toys so they are getting safer and li ion are safer than Li
polymer ones but still deserve respect. Of course for true long lasting power we need
some of those Betavoltaic batteries and you will never have to recharge your devices
again!! IF you have a bunch of un chargeable nicads they can be revamped by blasting them with a 110volt surge, But I am not going to tell you how to do it since it
is dangerous and your homeowners policy won't cover the damage!! The reason batteries fail is because dendrites form from one layer to the next effectively short circuiting the batt from within, That is why you can have a drill battpack have only one
dead cell in it and it kills the rest quickly, either blasting that one or replacing it will
make that pack like brand new. I worked at a company that had like 30 packs laying
around for dewalts ($80.00 each) only about 9 were good to last a full job so I started
pulling packs apart and removing the dead ones and matching the good batteries out
of another pack with the level of the ones and used 3 packs to make a bunch of packs that were close to a brand new pack in the voltage and capacity. So don't throw those old packs away keep them and remove the dead cell and when you get another make a brand new pack. Hobby shops carry the sub C cells that are in most
packs if you want to just replace the dead ones in all your packs.