Any recommendations for rechargeable D cell batteries?

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mu1sic2ian3

Member (SA)
Looking to get into rechargeable D batteries for a couple of my boxes. Wondering if anyone has any experience with this, what to look out for, what to avoid ect...

Thanks
 
Transistorized

Transistorized

Member (SA)
Tenergy makes a great Rechargeable D sized battery. The key is to look for a 10,000mAh battery or higher. Then grab a good smart charger. If your radios take as many D's as mine, the Maha PowerEx CM808 is a great charger and will charge 8 at a time.

Tenergy D Rechargeable Batteries
Maha CM808 Charger

Above is my combo. I use these in my radios. I finally retired a set of 10 after 8 years of use. They still charge but eventually lost the ability to supply heavy current on demand (internal resistance has gone up).

The best way to make these last is to never let them completely drain and charge them on a smart charger. Generally, you never want any cell to go below 1.0V. If you use a smart charger and keep them topped off, they will last you many years and they are capable of supplying larger radios for hours worth of use.
 
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Reli

Reli

Boomus Fidelis
If you get the Tenergys, get the Centuras, you can leave them in a boombox for 2 weeks and they'll still hold roughly the same charge. Can't do that with the so-called "Premiums", they need to be topped off every 2-3 days
 
Superduper

Superduper

Moderator
Staff member
I have Tenergy C cells for my flashlights and they are good stuff. Saved me a bunch of money compared to using Duracells and paid for themselves after just a few charges. For AA and AAA, I use the energizer stuff that you can buy from your local stores. I guess they work OK but to be honest, I'd avoid any devices that use AA or AAA if they are hungry.... flashlights etc that use 6 or 9 of those tiny cells are really cheap because it's the batteries that they want to get you on. You used to be able to find C or D cells LED flashlights and they were great but the manufacturers figured out that they didn't make nearly the money that they could by squeezing in a ton of small batteries so they discontinued those and replaced them with new models that looked similar but only had holders that stack tons of the small cells, and you can buy like a pack of 4 quality flashlights for $20. Dang that's cheap. Until you find the batteries don't last long on high, and then you need to shell out through the nose on replacement batteries.
 
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Transistorized

Transistorized

Member (SA)
BoomboxLover48 said:
How about Powerowl? It has got an 8 Bay AA AAA C D charger for $20 at amazon.
Click to expand...
Those will work fine as well. That charger may take a while longer to charge a 10,000mAh battery, but would work great otherwise. Any charger that is a smart charger is the preferred method. It's the old ones that simply charge on a timed circuit and do not monitor individual battery voltages.

The Maha Powerex is likely overkill for some. It offers conditioning and soft / rapid charge options which drive up the cost. While soft charging is better for the battery, a 10,000mAh can take a long long while on a trickle charge (full days charge per batch) which is why I wanted the rapid functionality. When selecting a charger, one would need to factor in whether charge time is important to them. If you don't tend to need your batteries the same day you plan to charge, a trickle charger would be preferred and actually charge the battery better. I am not as patient. I like to start in the morning and be ready with hot off the press batteries by the late afternoon. TBH I really never use the conditioning option. It probably would add more life to my batteries if I did.

As mentioned by Reli, the Premiums do have a faster internal self discharge on the shelf. Mine can be 1.36 to 1.39V off the charger and 2 weeks later they are at 1.26 to 1.30V. However, most rechargeable batteries that have a lower self discharge rate, also have a higher internal resistance. That may or may not matter depending on your application. If you are going to run a M90 or C100 at half volume to full power, you need a battery that has the least amount of internal resistance when the bass hits. If you are running a lesser powerful boombox or not looking to crank it loud and proud, a slightly higher internal resistance battery will not be an issue and a low self discharge battery would be a better alternative. They sell all kinds of battery chemistries depending on your application and what you plan to use them for/in. That being said, technology is always getting better so it may not be as big of a deal these days but it's something to factor into your intended purpose.
 
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mu1sic2ian3

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