Eneloop batteries hi all happy new year to all! Hi all happy new year! I own the eneloop 1900 mAh ni-mh double a batteries for my two canon 600 ex rt flashes.after about 20 bounce...

wer224 Loc: Bergen county NewJersey

Hi all happy new year! I own the eneloop 1900 mAh ni-mh double a batteries for my two canon 600 ex rt flashes.after about 20 bounce flashes the large power consumption the flash uses, I noticed a much longer recycle time as the flash count goes up. Now I just saw eneloop has 2550 mAh batteries just wondering does the extra 600 mAh in these pro batteries help with recycle time for more high power drain with flash in bounce mode ? Does anyone have this combination for a comparison ? Thanks Bill

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Technically you should get about 30% more shots before you get to the same point you do now.
More energy - lasts longer.

Haydon

If you want faster recycle time, look for a reliable battery pack.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Haydon wrote:

If you want faster recycle time, look for a reliable battery pack.

Much easier than swapping batteries.
It's been a while, but I bought 2 Bolt branded battery packs for my Nikon speedlights. Less than 1/2 the price of Nikon and the same build quality. Still going strong.
Look into to these: https://www.amazon.com/CBP-C1-Performance-Compact-Battery-Flashes/dp/B007CB5AFK

orguy

I have been using AA and AAA eneloops for years and love them. Some of them do go bad though... I have a charger which lets me test them. If a device fails earlier than it should I test each one individually. Invariably one has discharged more than others. I toss that one and replace it. They're only a couple of bucks each. But one bad apple in the group will cause premature low voltage although the others are good.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Amazon now sells their own brand of rechargeables that are rumored to be made by Eneloop for them, the price is about 50% of the Eneloop branded batteries. The battery colors, packaging and specs do look a lot alike.
I have enough to do a reload of my flash and battery pack three times. I have never even run out of power more than once, but I have them just in case. Besides it isn't like we don't have a lot of other stuff that uses AAs. I mean, what if the TV/Cable remote went dead. The pain, in my ears, as the family complains that they have to walk 15 feet to push buttons on the unit.

martinfisherphoto Loc: Lake Placid Florida

If you shooting 20 continuous shots at a high power, no AA will hold it to that with out slowing down. You'll need a power pack as mentioned.

Drip Dry McFleye

I have acquired a fair knowledge of batteries from 10 years of flying electric powered R/C airplanes. Eneloops are some of the best cells out there. What I can tell you is that Eneloop batteries are a nickel metal hydride battery and all NiMh batteries are 1.2 volt batteries. Throw away alkaline batteries are rated 1.5 volts when new. So if you use NIMh cells in a 4 cell flash unit you give up 1.2 volts total (.3 volts/cell) over a 4 cell alkaline pack @ 1.5v/cell. In many, if not most, applications this voltage loss is not a problem but when maximum performance is needed that same voltage loss may not be acceptable. This 1.2 volt drop may be affecting the way your flash performs. Another characteristic of NiMh cells is that they tend to perform better when the are cycled (used and recharged) on a regular basis.

pecohen Loc: Central Maine

Drip Dry McFleye wrote:

I have acquired a fair knowledge of batteries from... (show quote)

I have read that NiMh cells should be completely discharged every time before recharging and if this is not done then the battery will deteriorate prematurely - requiring more frequent charging. The better chargers will drain the battery before starting to re-charge.

Lithium cells apparently do not have this characteristic, but long-term it is best to recharge them when the charge drops to about 50%.

bobmcculloch Loc: NYC, NY

robertjerl wrote:

Amazon now sells their own brand of rechargeables ... (show quote)

Your TV's still have buttons, can't find them on ours, and if we do they are not as complete as the remote, remember when the remote did three volumns and off and on?

James Slick Loc: Pittsburgh,PA

pecohen wrote:

I have read that NiMh cells should be completely discharged every time before recharging and if this is not done then the battery will deteriorate prematurely - requiring more frequent charging. The better chargers will drain the battery before starting to re-charge.

Lithium cells apparently do not have this characteristic, but long-term it is best to recharge them when the charge drops to about 50%.

The "memory effect" should not be an issue with modern NiMh cells. Older NiMh cells may have had this problem, But the only time I really experienced it was with archaic NiCad cells (why on Earth do those things still exist? it is beyond me).

James Slick Loc: Pittsburgh,PA

bobmcculloch wrote:

Your TV's still have buttons, can't find them on ours, and if we do they are not as complete as the remote, remember when the remote did three volumns and off and on?

I miss my old Sony DVD player because EVERY function that was on the remote, was duplicated on the unit. Good luck on recent equipment that becomes virtually inoperable if the remote "goes west"!

Notorious T.O.D. Loc: Harrisburg, North Carolina

I have the 2550 batteries. But I also have the Canon Battery pack which makes the biggest difference in my opinion. Not inexpensive, but there are third party battery packs too. The battery pack allows 12 batteries instead of 4, big difference.

Best,
Todd Ferguson
Harrisburg, NC

wer224 Loc: Bergen county NewJersey

Hi all thanks drip dry never thought of the reduced voltage. Lithonia has a recharge able 6volt 4500 mAh ni-mh batt , ? do I be daring and try to experiment making a rig and risk frying my flashes 😭😱 probably NOT! thanks for the replys favoring the packs for double a batteries which that seems the way I'll go 😀 again thanks

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

wer224 wrote:

Hi all thanks drip dry never thought of the reduced voltage. Lithonia has a recharge able 6volt 4500 mAh ni-mh batt , ? do I be daring and try to experiment making a rig and risk frying my flashes 😭😱 probably NOT! thanks for the replys favoring the packs for double a batteries which that seems the way I'll go 😀 again thanks

The voltage may be lower, but the lower internal resistance and higher current delivery capacity will actually recharge the flash faster than a conventional alkaline battery. Recharging the capacitor in the flash requires high current for a short period of time - a different scenario than when running a relatively constant load for a much longer period of time such as an RC airplane. Modern Nimh batteries have little if any noticeable "memory effect" typical of early generation batteries or the older NiCad technology.