Hey all
What rechargeable AAs will work best for my transmitter alkaline,nimh, etc I have found tons online but some say "not good for high draining devices"
any suggestion is more than welcome
thanks
Russ

I wouldn't really consider an RC transmitter a high-draining device.

I would suggest a newer type of NiMH known as low static discharge (LSD). Unlike older NiMH which would lose their charge if you left them sitting for awhile, LSD NiMH can be charged and they will stay charged at close to full capacity for extended periods of time

I use Turnigy LSD AA NiMH in my transmitters and they have worked out well. Sanyo Eneloops are also popular. There are plenty of other brands too, just search for LSD NiMH.

I have not tried the Sanyo's, but I have compared a few store brands and the Turnigy LSD's are far far superior. Lately I have only been running 1-2 times a week for a few hours a trip. Recently I did not charge my transmitter batteries for almost a month and they were still holding almost 10V with this amount of use. Been using them for about 4 months now and I see no noticeable loss in capacity and no increase in self-discharge. The 2000mah Radio Shack NiMh cells are decent, sometimes you can catch them on sale pretty cheap. The Energizer and Duracell NiMh I have used were more expensive, and they worked well for a few months, but after that they would self-discharge to un-usable levels almost overnight. With shipping the Turnigy's can be a bit expensive, but if you order them with other items you will be getting a good deal.

These have worked well for me so far.

http://www.energizer.com/products/re...Batteries.aspx

I'm another that uses the AA Turnigy LSDs and they're a big improvement over ordinary rechargeables. Other than the initial small voltage drop, mine have shown little self discharge. This makes it like using alkalines since the only drop is caused by what I actually discharge. Was part of a big group buy and made S&H insignificant. Just use them to fill your next HK order out to its current weight limit. There are a fee LHS that are selling them I won't use anything else in a radio.

I got some 2500Energizers in a deal, they were supposed to be new, but wouldn't hold charge overnite at all. They got re-cycled.

Picked up some Tenergy LSD NiMh back in January, so far they work really good.

Don’t know how long they will go in our transmitters, never ran them down, I only occasionally charge them before big races just to be sure. But we are using DX3Rs which are real easy on batteries.

Haven’t touched the ones in the remotes, mice, keyboards, etc. They last a lot longer in the kids gaming stuff and a camera than anything I’ve tried before. Not including the Sanyo Eneloops, which by all accounts are excellent, but I couldn’t find them locally. (Edit: haven't tried any of the other LSDs mentioned)

For me they eliminate any need to consider a transmitter lipo, no over discharge or balancing to worry about. Highly recommended. (Edit: meaning LSD in general)

NiCd work great on low drain devices such as transmitters or a tv remote. The car/truck would be considered a high drain device since you drain the batteries in 5-10 mins. If you are using a Spektrum DX radio you can use a 2S Lipo with no problem. Just set the low voltage alarm to 6.5 volts or higher.

GP recyko cells are about a match for the sanyo eneloops and are much cheaper. dunno if they're still cheap outside europe but it's close when you compare HK turnigys + shipping to ebay recykos with free shipping, here. i don't run lipos in anything but imo the LSD nimhs make them pointless in tx's especially the dx3s/r.. why overvolt an expensive radio by up to 50% when 4x cheap lsd nimh work fine?

nevertheless i have an order to do with hk so i'm ordering some turnigys..

look for low self discharge batts.

One more general recommendation: Avoid very high capacity AA NiMh batteries. I've seen a lot of reports and testing of ~2500-2700mAh batteries that have poor voltage and cycle life performance. Like Duster mentioned earlier. Apparently that's pushing the envelope too much.

Stick with AAs in the ~2000-2300mAh range, they seem to perform better and last longer.

Thats been my experience - I bought Powerex 2300mah NiMh based on their winning a camera industry AA battery shootout a few years back. I was using a digital cam and a few diff flash units and these got a work out, normally I was recharging some of them daily. They started fading after 3yrs of steady use. All charging and conditioning was done with a Maha WizardOne Charger Analyzer.

When they 1st started showing some sign of fading, I bought their latest, the 2700mah Powerexs and they've been a disappointment. They never showed more than 2350ish type numbers and after a year or so of use, they've already begun to fade, showing decreased capacity and increased self discharge.

I use LSDs where I have to use AAs now.

I bought 2650Mah Rayovacs from Walmart for $6 a package of 4. I use them in my M11, and charge them everyother weekend (2-3 hours of use) out of a habit. Left them in the radio (i know bad), for 4 months, they still had a full charge when I am came back. They are currently one year old and work perfectly. If they start acting up in acouple of years I will buy 8 more for under $12.

Shawn