Haven't seen Aldi rechargeables in the the store for quite some time. Don't have a lot of experience with them but the 8 I picked up a year or two ago are still going very strong. At $1.50/battery I think it's hard to go wrong. Lately Aldi has had a lot of delivery problems with their weekly special buys so it will be interesting to see if these actually appear in the store.
I've had the same experience - switched to LADDAs and Eneloops from now on
I just recently decided to go rechargeable on all the AA and AAA's in the house. Amazing how many there were once I started adding them up. I bought a dozen AA and 8 AAA Ladda batteries from Ikea to go with the 8 Eneloops that I've had for about 5 years. Still think I'll pick up a few of these for those devices that aren't essential and are low draw. Also ordered (not received yet) a Liitokala Lii-600 charger so I can try to do a better job of keeping these all running, find out what the true capacity is of each battery, and possibly try to revive a dead one that my current charger won't touch.
could you mind to list what devices you use these batteries with? For me the only thing requires battery is my remote and my mouse, battery in remote last years and the mouse battery is the only thing that I need it to be rechargeable.
@kaal: Ever since I was a kid all I've got is computer and other consumer electronics, I really didn't had much motorized toys etc….
good to know when I have kid in the future.
@OMGJL: 2 Wireless keyboards -(4) batteries, 2 mice (2), remote weather station (2), 2 clocks (4), Flash for DSLR (4 x 2 sets), 2 Flash triggers (4), Label maker (6), back massager (3), 3 TV remotes (6), Flashlight (4). And that's just those in the house without the grandkid's toys which will take a few more. Campervan: Flashlight (4), TV remote (2), A/C remote (2). And maybe I missed one or two. I wouldn't trust anything but the Laddas or Eneloops for my camera gear but I'm not so picky with everything else.
@jphilsousa: I see, thank you for your input, I wonder if I missed out on some cool gadget hence I asked.
my thermometer + wifi IR remote runs 5v USB,
have no clocks at home (smartphones),
no DSLR,
back massager runs 12v DC (much stronger motor),
I haven't change battery in my TV/Aircon remote for a very long time(at least year and half) and they still works
Label Maker….. I don't have that much stuff needed to be organized with labels yet.
Good to know anyway!
@OMGJL: @OMGJL
handsoap dispenser (Xiaomi 4xAA)
cordless gluegun (Bosch 2xAA)
cordless solder gun (Tradeflame 3xAA)
Mouse (1x AA)
Torch (2xAA)
@medium_tight: Cool,
I use bar soap —— I don't know why but hand wash liquid to me feels slimy and can't wash them off.
gluegun —- I have a 50w 240v one from Amazon.
solder gun — got a solder station from previous banggood deals. (I thought this requires pretty high watts, didn't know they can be battery powered)
mouse — my Logitech G604 and G304 uses 1 each and that's about it.
Torch — smartphones :p
Where did you order the charger from?
@Cappuccino1: Ordered the Liitokala from Ali Express. They have a big sale going on now for a couple more days. Was ready to spend $62 + GST and got it for about $45 including GST.
Liitokala Lii-600 that is one sexy charger. I will not buy it. No. I have a perfectly good Nitecore D4 and a lil' Liitokala.
You can take it one better and get these https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B00WF0V3YU and convert Eneloop AA to C & D batteries. Then you don't have C & D battery laying around not being used.
Didn't know this was a thing. So thanks for this thing.
Agreed. I have crappy Varta rechageables that lasted longer
Aldi (southern hemisphere) consumer batteries are bottom of the barrel in every way. They leak, even the rechargeable ones. And even if stored in a low state of charge.
Avoid like the plague, or everything you leave them in will eventually have their spring terminals eaten away by the leaking acid.
I had one few years ago and still working fine.
Same. Saved me hundreds of dollars in batteries for my kids' toys.
I bought a few of these and they don’t last very long. They all went flat and wouldn’t recharge after a year of usage. I’d avoid them.
I've had a few batteries (not just Aldi) not want to charge (showing null on charger). Sometimes it doesn't mean they're broken, just that they were drained too flat to be recognised.
You can kick charge them by connecting the terminals to a charged battery for a few seconds (with paperclips or something) or putting them in a dumb charger for a bit (like a solar light box), then they charge fine.
Wow, they're back? Awesome
There seem to be the batteries to go for nowadays:
They're not all LSD, are they?
I was under the impression all of those were LSD batteries but I think getting the ones made in Japan are also key as the ones that come out of China are not as good…
When cops pulls me over, i'm going to say, I'm just going to the shops to buy some LSDs……batteries
Can you even get amazon basics rechargeables here? I used them in Canada and they were great.
cheap enough for my solar lights when i don't want to expose my precious eneloops to the elements
And perfect for kids toys too.
"big kids" toys ;)
They're back? I haven't seen them on shelves for like a year :(
They were great, but too late guys, I have a lifetime supply now.
Specials only now.
hmm, wonder if I should give these another go. The old ones from many years which had a reflective silver part of the wrap are still going strong. The ones which had a matte silver I bought later were all noticeably under capacity (all relative to the same Lii-500 test).
Depends if it's the same manufacturer again.
Until otherwise, I'd say though for people wanting to build up a stock of AA/AAAs to cycle through long term I'd pay a little more and go the LADDAs.
what's the best charger nowadays?
maha powerex charger c9000 / MH-C9000PRO (newer version)
I have the c9000 seems a well renowned charger, specially with reviving weak batteries. Had for more than 3 years very capable charger.
Jee I've had my C9000 for maybe a decade now, if ever a gadget could be coined an 'investment' this would be the one! I cant be 100% but I'm pretty sure some of my original Eneloops from back then are still in the rotation and of course the Eneloop 'glitter' style, so fancy!
my lcd is getting pretty bad, can hardly see it. can it be repaired?
Yeh, the Mahas are good or if you want a more budget option the Liitokalas are a good little charger. The Lii-500 or Lii-600, even the Lii-402 does a pretty good job.
If you want to charge 4 2000mAh+ cells at once, I'd recommend a charger that can provide 1A for all 4 slots (all the above do except the 402 which is 2x1A or 4x0.5A)
Thanks for that, would you recommend the Lii-S8 unit? Seems I can charge 4x batteries fast or leave 8 in at a time and let it do is job, also supports 9v which is nice to have for some of the kids toys… I see they don't have AU plugs in AliExpress so just an adaptor should do the job or do you recommend another source for them?
I've also been on the lookout for an 8 slot charger. The S8 looked ok for Li-Ion at 2Ax4 or 1Ax8 but for some reason only charges 8 x NiMh at 500ma so I ruled it out. I don't really have a need for 9V recharging so haven't considered that.
Still haven't bought one (I have a C9000 and SkyRC MC3000 handling the load at the moment) but I had narrowed it down to either the MiBOXER C8 or XTAR VC8 Plus
Both met my requirement of 8x1A Ni-mh, but leaning towards the XTAR.
The XTAR is available with AU plugpack (though can just replace or use adaptor for MiBOXER), has capacity test function, li-ion storage mode, higher amps for 8 x Li-Ion when using DC power pack but also has USB QC3.0 input for on the go (at lower charge rate or less slots). I don't usually charge Li-Ion at more than 1A but will also do up to 3Ax1, 2Ax2, 1Ax4 or 8 (MiBOXER does 1.5Ax4, 0.8A x 8).
There was really only one thing I didn't like about the XTAR being you don't have full individual slot control, settings are applied in banks of 4 so mixing AA's and AAA's or different capacity batteries is probably not a good idea. I believe you can still mix Li-Ion and Ni-Mh in the same bank though. In reality it's probably not that big a deal as likely be bulk charging the same type of batteries.
Hope that helps somewhat. The Aliexpress links were the best price at the time though was a little while ago. Let me know if you come across a better deal.
Incorrect use of neg?
Serious question. Have an elderly relative who uses a lot if batteries. She likes to have flashing gizmos and knick knaks running all the time. I wanted to switch her to rechargeable batteries but am very concerned in her age she would put regular batteries into any recharger I buy for her. She can't distinguish between regular and rechargeable. What can I do? What happens if you put a regular battery into a battery recharger? I'm concerned about it being dangerous? Also what if you put type X rechargeable into a charger for type Y rechargeable?
Make sure all the rechargeable batteries in her house are of the same type and compatible with the charger
Put one (or more, in case one come off) sticker (e.g. a red dot) on each rechargeable battery (or paint a dot on each with something that doesn't rub off easily)
Tell her only put those with the dot into the charger
(Optional) Tell her to keep all used batteries aside for you to sort out when you visit in case one of the dots has come off a rechargeable battery and it ends up in the dead battery pile. (Used batteries shouldn't be disposed of in general waste anyway.) You should find that she'll have fewer and fewer batteries in this pile as time goes on anyway.
I think the hardest part is to convince her to switch to rechargeable batteries in the first instance. A lot of older people just can't be bothered/ don't want to change. Good luck.
I tried the old ones a few years back in AAA and they were DOA, wouldn't charge, but that might have been due to my ancient Sony BCG-34HC charger. Ended up returning without issue, and bought some energizers which are still fine, but were probably a little overkill. Still tempted to give these a go regardless.
These are okaaaay just not great. I have a 20% failure rate after 12-18 months (error when charging) and they tend to have a 10% below stated capacity even from new. However the price is right.
From my experience, these will randomly die and refuse to be charged. Waste of money.
My experience is not as good with the Aldi rechargeable brand. IKEA Ladda is better
Avoid these, their charge doesn’t hold for long
Unless Aldi have out muscled IKEA to get NiMH LSD batteries from FDK @ $1 each, these will be probably be the same variable quality cells from their previous Chinese OEM. Some cells will be below rated capacity, some won't charge properly even with an MH-C9000 and the "Low Self Discharge" means 5% loss per week.
Having said that, these are good burner cells for using in security lights, DECT phones with dumb chargers and anywhere else you don't want to risk your pricey Eneloops and Laddas
If you have a Maha charger it will tell you that these don't live up to their stated capacity even when new and are horribly inconsistent battery to battery. Stick to Japanese eneloop or Ikea Laddas.
I tend to agree, while I use the MAHA to pick out the dud Aldi batteries, if you don't have one of those chargers you will put two or four in a device and it won't last long at all and you might dump the lot.
At this price they seem ok, but they are not the best of even solid LSD's.
I think the older version of these batteries (with the non shiny metallic end) worked well. But those with the shiny end don't seem to hold their charge very long.
Agreed, newer ones are definitely worse. Suspect that's why they stopped selling them. I reckon I had half of my newer ones die (i.e. stop recharging) in the first year.
Also had a few packs where the dimensions were very slightly off, making them a tight fit in some devices.
Except that's the wrong time order, unless they've changed the wrapping in between again. In my experience the older ones where the shiny ones which tested well and still going. The matte ones which were bought years later tested crap (dunno about longevity, I returned them all).
Everywhere I've tried NiMH rechargeable batteries to replace alkalines they've done a dismally poor job because they're only 1.2 V, not the full 1.5V. To the device they look like they're flat. I tried nickel zinc batteries because they were rechargeable and 1.6V, and they just seem to confuse a lot of devices.
If you really need 1.5V I believe there a more lithium ones that’ll do it but they get pricey
Yes. The ones that have USB charging.
But if you use them enough they will pay for themselves…
Thank God they are back. No ikea nearby
I have to hide the eneloops for my own use. It's v abating that teens don't b understand the concept of rechargeable batteries, and are to lazy to put them in the charger, yet toss them in the bin.
i thought i was the only person whose other household members throw rechargeable batteries out without reading that they are rechargeable ……
Aren't the 4 packs normally $5.99?
Yeh, well they were at least and not much stock around these days, though these 8 packs were only $9.99 last year.
For anyone who's experienced these batteries dying, this trick worked for me to revive them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnxidU_F0Vc
Wow that is excellent, thanks for sharing!
My own personal experience with these batteries hasn't been good. Actual capacity that is lower than the rating and high self-discharge. Go the eneloops, LADDAs, or other highly rated cells if you can.
I used these Aldi's for years until I ruined my life on OzB with eneloops. I do recommend the Eneloops even though it is 3x the price. The aldi's are always at 20%-30% storage after 8 weeks. No issues with storage after 6 months on my eneloops!
I bought from ebay Brand: sugdu 3600mAh AAA battery for $1 each. Not sure is it good or how long is the battery life. As I only use for mouse and keyboard.
That'll be Chinese mAh's similar to Chinese lumens using the same 1/10th reality conversion.
1/10th seems about right.
Only good for remote controls for TV etc. Or KB & Mice. Just pray they don't leak. But then I've had Duracells leak once.
I have been buying the odd pack of ALDI rechargables for years and they are rubbish unfortunately.
They go bad when sitting very quickly..
My experience has been mixed, some still work but several of them don't hold charge for long.