# rechargeable batteries w/ wireless



## Oobleck1441 (Jun 1, 2008)

Hello, Hello. Just a quick question...
My budget will open up in exactly one month, and ive started a list of things I would like to have for next year...Searching through a catologue, i saw rechargeable batteries.

My question: Has, or does anyone use rechargeable batteries with their wireless handhelds? Not for musical, or production. Just lecture settings or ceremonies.
Thanks, oobleck1441


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## mbenonis (Jun 1, 2008)

I haven't used the in handhelds, but our new wireless mics do use them for bodypacks. We have Sanyo 2700mAh AA batteries for them - I should know how they'll perform in the next few weeks.


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## BNBSound (Jun 1, 2008)

I've had very good results with the Ni-MH rechargeables from Home Depot (the brand escapes me at the moment). I use them in everything from flashlights to radios, meters, hanging mics that can't get phantom power. While I haven't had a chance to use them in wireless packs yet due to scale (purchasing for a fleet of 16 isn't so much a problem as getting the fleet of chargers) I don't see any reason why they wouldn't work out great. I just wish they fit in my AA Mag, the diameter is just a hair too large.

The initial voltage on a rechargeable is a little lower than from an alkaline right out of the package, but the discharge curve is smoother. With twice as many mAh in them, you should still see extended life out of them before they drop below the low voltage threshold. This would be for packs that take AAs though, 9v Ni-MH aren't available that I know of and Ni-Cads would just be a waste of your time.


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## jkowtko (Jun 2, 2008)

I would be interested in knowing how this works out. We're interested in rechargables too, but in a prior post the general experience wasn't great ... maybe the newer NiMh batteries are doing better?

Fyi, we run 2 Duracell AAs per pack and run them for two shows. Battery check before the second show is usually 1.44-1.45v, between 1.40 and 1.43 I may keep for an ensemble unit, and anything below 1.40 I will definitely replace. I hand out the packs around 60-75 min before curtain, so they run for about 4 hours a show.


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## derekleffew (Jun 2, 2008)

jkowtko said:


> ...I hand out the packs around 60-75 min before curtain...


Why on earth so early? Most AEA contracts only require actors to be at the theatre at half-hour.


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## Raktor (Jun 2, 2008)

derekleffew said:


> Why on earth so early? Most AEA contracts only require actors to be at the theatre at half-hour.



Half hour? I wish. It's generally about an hour and a half - two hours here.


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## Hughesie (Jun 2, 2008)

Raktor said:


> Half hour? I wish. It's generally about an hour and a half - two hours here.



3 hours for me,

my sound checks take ages 

but back to the topic,

i have always loved using non rechargeable because i had bad experiences with rechargeable


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## jkowtko (Jun 2, 2008)

1/2 hr vs. 2+? Sounds like equity vs community theater 

In our community theater (with no equity positions) our "official" call is 90 minutes before curtain, to give the actors enough time for hair, makeup, wireless, costume, and maybe rehearse a challenging scene or two on stage before the house opens (at 30 min prior). After a handful of shows our call slackens a bit and people start showing up closer to 75-60 min before curtain.

If equity theaters really don't have to turn on the packs until 30 minutes prior, then you should for sure be able to get two full shows out of a pair of Duracells or equivalent ... which makes the economics of rechargeables a bit more challenging.


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## Anonymous067 (Jun 2, 2008)

Well, I use nothing but Duracell Procells in my handhelds and packs. I find the rechargeable, while cheaper in the long run they may be, fail over time, give a weaker initial voltage, and drop much faster. They only last half as long as alkaline (again, my observations).

The first time I used rechargers was at church once. Our Priest thought it would be a money-saving idea. He had been on the same batteries all day long (well...afternoon). He popped a "freshly charged" one in his pack (without telling me). It started chopping out horribly about an hour into Easter Sunday mass. Never have I used rechargeables again. I was embarrassed enough to have to change a battery during a service in front of 1200 plus. We deemed it would be too much of a hassle, confusion, and more annoyance than it was worth. We went straight back to buying Duracell Procells in bulk (500 at a time) and we go through about 6-10 per week. 9 volts too. 

Again, my opinion. Don't use if you want reliable results.


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## lieperjp (Jun 2, 2008)

We use rechargeable when the presentation/speaker is less than an hour or two - never for theatre shows.

Hey, we should make a rechargeable thread a "sticky" thread seeing as how many people ask about it.


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## mixmaster (Jun 7, 2008)

We use rechargeable in our wireless comms. We have twice as many as we need so we always have spares on the charger. The batteries are two years old now and are starting to fade if not used straight off the charger, but economics still seems to lean in favor of rechargeable NiMH. 24 batteries per show gets pricey.
9 volts in wireless mics are still alkaline. I tried NiCad battereis once and had to replace them after a single semester. Until they make a high capacity NiMH 9 volt I'm going to stay with alkaline. Ni Cads just don't seem to take as many charges as NiMH and I can't afford to replace rechargeable once a semester.
That being said, my new budget season is coming in July and I would be interested to know where people get batteries in bulk. I'm always needing to shave $$ off our budget and cutting down on battery expenses is as good a place as any.


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## icewolf08 (Jun 7, 2008)

We did a lot of testing with rechargeable batteries when I was in College. We tested a bunch of different brands and chargers. We put them in mics in different noise level environments to test how long they lasted, and all that. The conclusions that we came to were basically like this:

9V rechargeables were not reliable enough to use in wireless mics. They don't come in high enough capacities. We did find that they were reliable enough for the older wireless Clear-Com that we used, so they went to that, and all the wireless mics that used 9V batters still got alkaline.

For mics using AA batteries we found that with a good brand, high capacity rechargeable we got great performance. We certainly had enough usage time to do a sound check and then deploy the mics at half hour. If I remember correctly we got an average of at least 4 hours on the 2700mAh batteries.

The real kicker was figuring out how to deploy rechargeable batteries. We knew we needed the batteries and chargers, and all that jazz. We settled on needing to have a minimum of three sets of batteries. This meant we could have one set in the mics, one set as a backup and one set on charge. It is a little bit of an organization hassle for the techs, but after a while it becomes routine. It is imperative to have everything clearly labeled. You need to have good chargers, they don't have to be super fancy, but it is good to have chargers that condition the batteries every so often. Then of course you have to have space to set up all the chargers and store the batteries. Also, make sure you have some regular alkaline batteries sitting standby for when something goes wrong.

It is a great way to go, and in the end it will save you money, but deploying the system costs as much as a years worth of batteries.


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## airkarol (Jun 8, 2008)

IMO, the rechargeable cost much more than they're worth. They also cost more in time. The first time you use them, the life usually still isn't as great as a new Duracell Procell, and after than they just go downhill.


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## Hughesie (Jun 9, 2008)

What i think most of us are saying is,

that won't be your final solution and will require replacement eventually

especially in high power demand devices such as radio mics


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## satriasound (Jul 25, 2008)

just thought I'd add my 2 cents regarding rechargeables. I've had experience with sanyo 2500mh NiMh, and duracell 2500mh NiMh rechargeables. (and a few stronger than that but yeah). I did a stress comparison in our shure UR-1 packs and our old sony (forget the designations) packs. they're lasting between 6 and 11 hours (yes 11. lol..) it's fairly typical to reach an 8 hour use. enough to get through any of our tech days for the most part. do not use any battery rated under 2500mh at least not the rechargeables.

regarding the duracells... interestingly there appears to be something fishy going on with their chargers. we've noticed their chargers almost appear to "break" the batteries. the chargers begin to report the batteries are failing to charge. but we throw them in the sanyo chargers and they recharge and all is well (we can even put them back in the duracell chargers). charger slots seem fine. I figure it's something to do with the 15 minute quick charge units.

we've now used them in all our shows for about 2 years (same sets of batteries) and have not had any issues with battery memory as long as the batteries are in chargers the night before their use. sometimes the duracells get strange if you pull them fresh off the charge (i suspect their overheat detection circuitry sucks.)

I don't know about everyone else, but NiMh batteries pay themselves off in about 3 days worth of 16 mic shows for us. after that it's all gravy.


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## jkowtko (Jul 25, 2008)

mixmaster said:


> That being said, my new budget season is coming in July and I would be interested to know where people get batteries in bulk. I'm always needing to shave $$ off our budget and cutting down on battery expenses is as good a place as any.



I live in the SF Bay Area and get them from the local Costco:
* AA 36-pak Duracell is about $13 ... two batteries last two shows in our AKG PT80 transmitters
* AAA 48-pak Kirkland Signature (house brand) cost about $12 ... surprisingly, one battery lasts two shows in our Samson AL1 micro clip-on transmitters, and the house brand holds up.

At prices like this it makes the economics more demanding on the rechargeable route ... but ultimately it seems like the rechargeables will work if you buy the right ones and take care of them ...


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## FMEng (Jul 28, 2008)

satriasound said:


> regarding the duracells... interestingly there appears to be something fishy going on with their chargers. we've noticed their chargers almost appear to "break" the batteries. .



I don't think it would be wise to mix different brands of batteries and chargers. The charger's characteristics should be tailored to the battery chemistry.

Also, I suspect that the faster the charge is, you'll get fewer charge/discharge cycles out of the battery. Slower charging produces less heat, which means less damage to the battery lifespan.

As for me, I'd rather have the certainty of an alkaline fresh out of the wrapper for wireless mics. It's hard to beat Costco for buying batteries in quantities.


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## mbenonis (Jul 28, 2008)

Well, it seems like a good time for a status update on our rechargeable AA's.

We bought (with our new mics) the Sanyo 2700 mAh rechargeables, along with LaCrosse Technology chargers. We've used the batteries for all of the shows this summer, and not a single battery has failed to perform for us. Mics are 100 mW models, and run for ~4-5 hours a night. We have two sets of batteries, and batteries are charged on their day off with a 200 mA charge current (the lowest possible), though occasionally we bump it to 500 mA if we know we need to use the batteries again soon.

It is worth noting that the batteries definitely needed to be worked before they performed to spec. The LaCrosse chargers feature a refresh option which essentially charges and discharges the batteries until they won't charge up any more. Most batteries started off with a capacity of 1300-1500 mAh, and refreshing them brought many up to over 3 Ah of capacity. I'm curious to see at the end of the summer how much capacity they will read - I will post once I do a test.

So the bottom line is that, in my opinion, if you use AA mics and do a lot of shows in a short period of time, the rechargeables are by far the best option. If you don't do many shows, or use 9V mics, you're probably best getting lots of ProCells cheap.

For price comparison, we paid $4/battery. The cheapest price online I can find for a ProCell AA battery is $0.30/battery - that comes out to 13 charge cycles on the rechargeables - way below the number of uses we had this summer alone, and the batteries will hopefully last a few years.

FWIW, the chargers we bought (LaCrosse BC-700) were $35/ea - not too bad IMO, especially for the features they offer.


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## jb595 (Jul 28, 2008)

FYI.!!! AKG have brought out a new radio mic with recharger connections on it so all you have to do is drop the mic into the charger and hey presto it will decide automatically whether to top up the charge or drain the battery and charge again. awesome for lectures how you put the charger out, give them the mic and tell em when not in use stick it here. did i mention it had 8 HOURS!! of runtime o yea and it is a SINGLE AA BATTERY!!!. there are lots of other cool features so definetly check it out.

Jake


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## satriasound (Jul 28, 2008)

FMEng said:


> I don't think it would be wise to mix different brands of batteries and chargers. The charger's characteristics should be tailored to the battery chemistry.
> 
> Also, I suspect that the faster the charge is, you'll get fewer charge/discharge cycles out of the battery. Slower charging produces less heat, which means less damage to the battery lifespan.
> 
> As for me, I'd rather have the certainty of an alkaline fresh out of the wrapper for wireless mics. It's hard to beat Costco for buying batteries in quantities.



I agree with that statement. it actually wasn't me that discovered it, it was my board operator who did it without asking me. however, it *did* seem to erase whatever problems the duracell chargers were creating for themselves in the duracell batteries.


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## jkowtko (May 9, 2010)

I purchased La Crosse BC-700 chargers and Sony Eneloop (2000mAh slow discharge). They worked really well on a "review night" show where the transmitters were on for maybe 3 horurs tops each night. But for our longer running musical the battery charge seems to be on the wane as each night progresses. 

The AKG PT450 transmitters have an "hours left" battery meter that show "7h" when we pop in the rechargeables straight out of the charger. By the end of the first night with close to 5 hours of one time, the displays had dropped to "4-5hr". Then back in the chargers for 200A slow-charge overnight until the next performance.

After a few nights the remaining charge showing on the Tx at the end of each night started dropping. After a third night it was showing "1h". So for safety the sound op starting using standard duracells.

We haven't had these AKGs for long so we don't know if the battery meter calibration is just off ... or if the batteries in fact are losing charge capability with the daily recycling. The next test before trying different batteries is to do a discharge/recharge cycle that takes two days, and alternate the rechargeables with regular duracells.

Any thoughts or experiences out there with decaying charge capacity on the rechargeables?

Thanks. John


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## Dillon (May 9, 2010)

PowerEx 2700mAh are the way to go. You'd be surprised at how many high-profile shows now trust rechargeables in their radio mics and wireless com. It takes a bit of time and energy devoted to "battery management", but then again, A2's are always looking for something else to do.


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## MisterTim (May 9, 2010)

We use strictly rechargeables, now on Energizer 2400maH AAs. I'll get 6+ hours out of the TOA handhelds or packs, and 5+ hours (2 AA) out of the Sennheiser EW 100/300 packs. I have 2 complete sets of batteries (by set I mean enough to have every mic operating) which comes to 64 batteries, with 32 charger slots. We use 4 of these chargers. 3 year replacement cycle for the batteries, probably 200 charge cycles over that time. I also keep a 24-pack of alkalines on-hand just in case, which generally gets depleted over the year as I hand them out to people to use in cameras and such. (yea I know, I'm such a nice guy =] )

One thing to keep in mind is that the discharge rate of rechargables is drastically different than alkalines, rendering 'battery life meters' completely useless, because alkalines' voltage droops off slowly as they die, whereas rechargables hold a relatively steady voltage and suddenly quit.


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## Chris15 (May 9, 2010)

I know that in UHF-R there is a menu option to set the battery chemistry so that the reported battery life has some semblance of accuracy.

Remember that there is no right answer, you need to find the best compromise for your situation...


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## firewater88 (May 12, 2010)

I have been using rechargeable batts for about 6 years now. We are a LEED certified theatre, so we don't want to throw away batteries. I went Rayovac line cause they had the 15min charger. I would always buy new every year, regardless of use.
I recently went with a new Rayovac Hybrid battery. Charges like a Lith-ion, holds charge like alkaline.

I recently got the new AKG DMS700 series of mics with the chargers. I also got the AKG IEM that had an older battery pack specifically for them. The new mics come with regular rechargeable AA batts. I can get a good 8 hours out of the Hybrid AA's in the handhelds. A smidgen less in the bodypacks. It is nice at the end of the day to drop the units in the charger and know they will be good for tomorrows gig.


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## DanAyers (May 12, 2010)

Be aware that all rechargables have a life cycle & the total charge starts diminishing to 80% capacity almost immediately. The rate and number of cycles depends on the type of battery.

With Laptop's, Radio's and Cell phones there's been many advances, but lifecycles do exist. Be aware of the lifecycle stage of your batteries you don't want to learn of the shortened life by them dying during the middle of a show. This is one of the main reasons many rental houses, and professional shows use a brand new battery with every performance: reliability & predictibility. They know exactly what to expect every time & They know if the battery is dying during a show, chances are the cause of the problem is not the battery.

That said, you can save a lot of money, and if you know the life cycle & you're not afraid to replace old batteries, go for it. For rehearsals where a dead mic is not the end of the world, this definitely makes sense (and a great way to use your older recharagable's also)


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## n1ghtmar3 (May 12, 2010)

There is an issue with rechargeable batteries esp AA. We used to us rechargeable in our wireless headsets for our crew and had several issues with the clips on the batter covers breaking. If you compare a normal alkaline AA to a rechargeable you will notice the rechargeable is slightly bigger. There was just enough difference that the cover would not seat properly. Since we noticed it about 2 yrs ago we have replaced all of the covers and not had a single issue or broken any more of them.


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## Parker (May 12, 2010)

i can understand your frustration with consumer rechargeables... they are not reliable.

check out this link for some awesome professional grade rechargeable 9V.
we use them exclusively for our wireless gear and I could not be more pleased with them. the overall cost is WELL WORTH IT compared to all the batteries that you would be using once and then throwing out.

iPower PRO Rechargeable 9V Lithium Polymer Battery 520mAh


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## Chris15 (May 13, 2010)

You know that those professional batteries will probably be made in the same factory as the consumer junk, potentially they are just the ones that get through QC...

If you have a system whereby you know the status of every battery, you may well be able to get them to the stage of being able to be trusted for pro grade usage. I'm still waiting to see a show of the grade where key cast are double miced depart from alkaline...


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## Scarrgo (May 14, 2010)

We have 8 shure ULX pack/stick mics, so our needs are not so great (at times) but it pays to buy bulk if you use them in a far amount of time.

I found this place called "Batterywarehousedirect", i think its free shipping, and we paid about .90 ea for Pro Cell 9v.

Sean...


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## zmb (May 16, 2010)

My local PAC always uses rechargeable batteries (not sure what brand) in the microphones. To guarantee that they work on show night, a set just exists for show nights that only gets used a certain number of times before just being used in rehearsals.


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## satriasound (May 24, 2010)

This is I guess the update post to a previous post of mine... (sorry for the wall of text guys, but I figured it might be handy to know.)

you can read the previous post in this thread for full details, but we've been running now since 08 at least on rechargeables for all our shows and techs. the batteries have been more or less faultless. (any batteries showing issues are detected at charging phase so we notice before we put them in the packs).

Those wanting to use rechargeables, the best thing I can say is do your own research. buy a pack of rechargeables and test them on your equipment and see how you like it. it's what I did, and it's what I still do if i need to switch brands to keep pricing good or if there's new technology.

I have now gone through testing with duracell, energizer, sanyo (2500mah and the new sanyo "eneloop" long lifes, and ansman. our initial purchase was sanyo/duracell. energizers I've tested at home. Ansmann were bought to replace the duracells but once we found issues with them, we changed to the sanyo eneloops.

the batteries have been used in Sony's WRT wireless handhelds, and shure's UR1 series lavs. (and misclaneous "non pro" gear)

it breaks down (by brand) ike this for us...

duracell's quick chargers suck. don't get them. they charge too fast and break the batteries (or shorten their life.)
energizer seems good but their life isn't as good as sanyo's series of batteries.

(Note:those 2 make sense, why would the larger manufacturers of alkalines screw themselves by bringing out a product capable of doing damage to their main lines.)

Ansman... if you see these batteries, don't use them in pro gear. they cheat their manufacturing tolerances so they're millimeters too large to get the power output they want. this means they strain the packs and can bend connectors. By the way, this is apparently fairly common, and the reason why i say *test your own systems on rechargables before commiting*. 

There is 1 company I've noticed who's manufacturing tolerances match "real" AA batteries without fault. Sanyo.

Sanyo: 2500 mah and "eneloop" series. of the batteries we've tested, 3 years down the road there are still sanyo 2500mah batteries in service with us. we do 5 plays a year on a roughly 7 month schedule with shows on most days. I've past the "1000 charges" lifespan Sanyo claims they can hold charge for and some have given up, but over 70% of their line has held now 3 years later. they are hands down the best company i've seen with the NiMh batteries so far. 

the eneloop series from sanyo is a relatively new "long life" NiMh. they say the batteries stay charged for over a year without discharging to an unusable state. I've used the eneloops in full runs and techs without any problems. they reliably stay charged for over 3 months and can still pull enough battery life to run a pack for about 4 hours (so if you just need a battery right now to do something fast and you have these in a drawer, the eneloops are fantastic. try not to rely on their "long life" characteristics for show runs, but certainly for rehearsal it is reliable. and at least for me, don't push too much past 3 months before making sure to charge them before use to guarantee their performance. their long life characteristics do not affect their standard "charge and use" for us.) regarding battery life on a full charge, they last over 8 hours a charge for us (eneloop and the older 2500mah AAs). Battery size tolerance seems to match AA alkaline standards exactly.

Others are correct in that the battery life bars of much equipment shows these batteries acting strange. NiMh batteries, as others have said, have a different power discharge curve. As I understand it, no pro gear has a power curve table specifically catered to NiMh (though there was a post on here saying the UR1s do..) test your own equipment and see what the graph does... for us, 5 (full) bars drops to 4 bars pretty fast, and even to 3 still means it has over 7 hours on its life. at 2 bars it means you have between 1-3 hours left, at 1 bar change them out within the next hour or risk failure.

regarding chargers: look around, there are a lot of chargers on the market and as long as you're using a good multi charger, it does not necessarily need to be the same manufacturer. It is much more important *how* the charger charges the battery and what it's protection circuitry does when things get to "full" or don't work. there are good "mass charging stations" out there that can do between 8 and 16 batteries easily with really nice charge and protection circuitry. it's how we know which batteries to watch for. Strangely, while annsman's batteries are absolutely garbage (due to manufacturing tolerance. their life and power usage seems fine), their chargers are not bad and very easy to tell if batteries have problems or if there's an issue with the charger.

9v NiMh batteries are still too costly for their use with us. I replaced our full line of batteries this year with the new eneloops for about 50 bucks and used our multipurpose NiMh battery chargers with them from previous batteries. and they'll hold us for the next 2-3 years on over 150 shows a year, not including techs.

Our present inventory has the eneloops as our "main batteries", all the other batteries from previous years (verified still working) as rehearsal/testing batteries, and a pack of alkaline "oh crap" batteries incase something goes horribly wrong. in 3 years I've dipped into the alkaline stash twice. our board operators forgot to charge the batteries, and put in the alkalines instead of charging them for that night and had the rechargables ready for the next night.

Really sorry for the wall of text guys.. hope the info was at least useful!


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## satriasound (May 24, 2010)

I've noticed some variance in charge based on the quality of the charger in many cases. Haven't had any experience with your particular charger but I also have not had issue with the eneloop batteries. (I have read reports that the "long life" NiMh batteries have less power capability than standard NiMh and am being wary for it though.)

many chargers don't actually "stop charging" when the light goes green, they do a trickle charge that many companies call a "maintenence charge" or something. with regards to the eneloops, they don't seem to need the trickle as much since they hold their charge better over time. So, don't leave them on the charger if you know you won't use them for a while as you'll shorten the lifespan due to the trickle forcing a very slow overcharge on the batteries. that and most of the batteries are rated to charge 1000 times. I begin to watch my batteries once I've estimated 500 charges just to be sure, but in practice I haven't had a single show have issue since we've swapped to them. even on 2 show days where the packs are on for a full 8 hours (4 hours per show pre/post show).


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## NickVon (May 25, 2010)

I'm not a fan of rechargeables as your never quite sure how many "recharges" they've gone through. Costco batteries (Kirkland) brand seem to work great, I've gotten easily 2 full shows out them (2:30 show, on an hour before then 3:30-4 approx 1 show), then they go into the "Used battery Bag of Doom" for use in wireless handhelds or label mics for for 1-2 hour long lectures that we have in our theaters space weekly. Once they get to 2 bars after that. We drop them in the "Worthless Battery Bag of Doom" and drop them off yearly at a safe disposal area. If we have used 9v batt's after show we pass them out to actors and production team and tell them to check their smoke detectors.

Also...

CheapBatteries.Com - Batteries - Duracell Alkaline, Procell Alkaline, Eveready Energizer, Rechargeable Ni-MH, Flaslights, CD's, DVD's, iPod Accessories, & Blank Tapes. (site is a little weird, but i know lots of Sound rental companies that use this site.)


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## satriasound (May 26, 2010)

true, but I got tired of the bags of hundreds of batteries, and the multiple levels of bags of doom as you call them... my chargers warn me if any of the batteries should go into the "of doom" pile, and all the others work fine for me. not saying the solution is for everyone, but options can be handy.


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## AAMorgan (May 26, 2010)

Hi everyone,

*Problem:*
Fully charged 9v rechargeable batteries would read as less-than fully charged on wireless microphone battery meter, leading to early shutdown of microphone.

*Solution *(recommended by a Shure technician)
After using the wireless microphone with a rechargeable battery, *"reset" *the microphone's battery meter by loading a new (full bars) _traditional non-rechargeable battery _(Duracell, Energizer) into the microphone and powering it on and off. Take out the non-rechargeable battery and put in a fully charged rechargeable battery and the meter will now display correctly.

Apparently, this microphone's battery meter has a "memory" that holds onto the information from the last rechargeable battery in the microphone. Resetting the memory with a traditional battery solves the problem. I have been using this equipment for almost a year with no noticeable decrease in battery life or performance:

Microphones: ULX2-J1 Shure SM58 wireless handheld
Batteries: iPowerUS 9v 500mAh Li-Polymer
Charger: iPowerUS 9v Battery Fast Smart Charger for Li-ion + Ni-MH + Ni-CD

Hope that helps!


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## blalew (May 26, 2010)

I second the use of iPowerUS 9V LiPo batts in ULX. Didn't know that trick though, that's handy to know.

We've used our 9V LiPo for about a year now, have had a unit or two die but under warranty, in fact the first one was dead out of the box & they sent us two new ones (about $18 each at the time).

They also fit in the packs fine...


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## blalew (May 26, 2010)

Forgot... they also power our PSM600 receivers.

So about a 100 shows worth, at an average of use of 12 per show has saved us a bunch & we've more than made up our initial cost.

But go for the LiPo, they have equivalent mAh ratings & discharge curve to alkaline (but lower initial voltage)

-B


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## CSCTech (May 28, 2010)

I havnt read every post-

Hey there,

Well our beltpacks use 9 volts and having 10 of them the batteries get pretty expensive so we tried recharables once. Well halfway through a show one of them died after charging over night.
So, we went backs to normal ones ; )


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## MarcusL (May 29, 2010)

We run Sabine 2.4 GHz SW75-T beltpacks and SW70-HD13 handhelds. When we got the units, they came with Tysonic 1.2V 2200 mAH Ni-MH rechargeable batteries and are charged via ports on the microphones themselves with chargers that came with the mics. They have served us very well, lasting 6-8 hours per charge, on the higher end of that spectrum in the handhelds. However, they're almost 2 years old now and we're starting to see a sharp decline in charge time. I'd love to keep running rechargeable, but I'm not sure what my options are for replacement since the chargers are built in and I would like to be able to keep that setup. Anyone ever worked with these mics/would be willing to hazard a guess as to whether they will charge batteries other than the packaged Tysonics? I figured CB would be a good place to ask before I start testing out other brands.


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## blalew (May 30, 2010)

CSCTech said:


> ...halfway through a show one of them died after charging over night.



Just a problem with capacity. That's the "Amp-Hour" (sometimes mAh, milliAmp hour). In my opinion, you need something on the order of an alkaline. Rechargeable 9volts have only recently (last couple of years) had the capacity that the alkalines do.

I'm sure there are others but the iPowerUS batteries are the only ones I'm aware of that have 500mAh or more.

DC9V-500mAh_Li-Polymer_Battery -- iPowerUS.com

Also, some rechargeable 9volts have a higher initial voltage that some devices don't like them, and some have lower initial voltages so that the battery gauge looks low, but still works.


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## blalew (May 30, 2010)

(continues beating dead horse)

Here's an article from tfwm that explains in great detail some of the issues that have been discussed (runtime, initial & cutoff voltage, etc), for both 9v & AA batts:
Technologies For Worship May 2010


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## TimmyP1955 (Jun 6, 2010)

We get Procell or Energizer AAs for $0.35 each. That's $0.70 per actor per show worst case. The used batteries are still good for use during tech rehearsals, or can be given to the cast & crew for use in flashlights, wireless mice & keyboards, calculators, cameras, toys......


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## dstowell (Dec 12, 2010)

MarcusL said:


> We run Sabine 2.4 GHz SW75-T beltpacks and SW70-HD13 handhelds. When we got the units, they came with Tysonic 1.2V 2200 mAH Ni-MH rechargeable batteries and are charged via ports on the microphones themselves with chargers that came with the mics. They have served us very well, lasting 6-8 hours per charge, on the higher end of that spectrum in the handhelds. However, they're almost 2 years old now and we're starting to see a sharp decline in charge time. I'd love to keep running rechargeable, but I'm not sure what my options are for replacement since the chargers are built in and I would like to be able to keep that setup. Anyone ever worked with these mics/would be willing to hazard a guess as to whether they will charge batteries other than the packaged Tysonics? I figured CB would be a good place to ask before I start testing out other brands.


 

go back to the people who sold you the originals...


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## dannymusic (Dec 19, 2010)

Hi,

noob to forum here. I went right to the battery thread to see what y'all use. I have Electrovoice RE-V units with mostly 9V batteries. I'll been using the DIGIMATE brand 280 mAh from eBay. They are $5/ea and pretty much can do an entire 4 hour theatre run. I have 18 units so have 40 batteries 2x10 microprocessor charge units. They have served me well. My originals from 2 years ago are still in service and working well.
I have some AA handheld REV transmitters and now will probably go the recharge route also.

Remember, even if you don't trust NIMH for the show, there are plenty or rehearsals.


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