Rechargeable Batteries AAA
One wonderful technological advancement is that rechargeable batteries work a whole lot better than they did 10
years ago. You used to have to wait until you wanted to use them, then charge them up, then use them for a very
short time, rinse, and repeat. Now, technology allows the batteries to be charged up in advance and then store them
for later use. It used to be that if you did that, the charge would "leak" and it would be pointless to pre-charge
them. Thankfully, Sanyo has made a different breed of rechargeables. They are called the Sanyo Eneloope
Rechargeable Batteries AAA size.
The Manufacturer States the Following:
With normal rechargeable batteries it made sense to charge them just before you wanted to use them. Otherwise,
there was too much risk that the battery would not provide full power when needed due to degradation of stored
power. Therefore there was a checkpoint on every vacation checklist: Charge batteries. Then the endless wait until
the batteries are finally charged...even the most advanced and most expensive chargers typically take at least 15
minutes. This can be very long 15 minutes, if the taxi is waiting at the door.
Now you can forget all this. Charge the eneloop, whenever you have time for it and store them. The extremely low
self-discharge of eneloop batteries saves you from all the charging stress.
When you use eneloop in your houshold equipment, spend some extra money and purchase a set of spare eneloops.
Keep these spare eneloops stored in a charged state and you will always have fresh batteries at hand whenever you
need them!
More Features Than Typical Ni-MH Batteries
The main advantages of Ni-MH rechargeable batteries exist also in the eneloop:
* Approximately 4 time more shots than with alkaline batteries
* High performance even at low temperatures (down to –5 °C) during your winter vacation
* Rechargeable and therefore cheaper on the long run
Given these advantages, there are however also some disadvantages to typical Ni-MH batteries which made
consumers reluctant to exchange their disposable batteries for rechargeables:
* After purchase, rechargeable batteries have to be charged before they can be used.
* Rechargeable batteries lose stored energy quickly
* Continous/frequent charging ( without conplete discharge ) can destroy the battery
* The charging process can take a long time and rapid chargers are expensive
All these negative attributes have one root-cause: self-discharge. Self-discharge means that a charged battery
slowly discharges itself without any equipment consuming any current. This is the reason for rechargeable batteries
being sold in a discharged state. And this is the reason that keeping charged batteries for some time did not make
any sense--When you needed then, the energy was gone.
Immediate Use Like a Disposable Battery
Because the eneloop has a very low self-discharge, Sanyo can ship the batteries to retailers in a charged state.
This means the consumer purchases a charged battery, which can be used immediately. The eneloop is therefore as
user-friendly as any disposable battery.
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