Are rechargeable lithium AA/AAA's just not a thing yet? I'm probably going to pick up a g305 on black friday sales, as an upgrade from my G700s. My biggest complaint with G700s is the pitiful battery life, and the weight with a rechargeable AA. I recently discovered it is possible to use a triple A in AA slot, with some tinfoil or a converter, but I'd rather just use a lighter battery tech if possible (Lithium). Does anyone have a source of high capacity rechargeable lithium's in AA format?
Rechargeable Lithium AA/AAA?
- Thread starter mikjames
- Start date
Just so happens I researched this myself for a project recently.
So, not really. I mean, there do exist lithium cells in the same form factor as AA and AAA batteries (called a 14500), but there are a few issues. Firstly, the chemistry of a lithium ion cell makes it 3.7v rather than the 1.5v of an alkaline cell or the 1.3v of a Ni-NH cell. So, if you were to use them you'd likely damage your electronics depending on what sort of voltage regulation they use. Secondly, if you overcharge, undercharge, or overheat a lithium cell, they tend to become damaged or combust spectacularly (ie: Galaxy note 7). I think that the big battery manufacturers won't release consumer Li rechargeables due to the liability of someone sticking one in a Ni-MH charger and burning their house down, or sticking them in some piece of electronics and frying it. (They do sell them wholesale for use in battery packs for power tools etc.) So, a few companies have come up with a solution which is to use a smaller lithium cell and embed charging and voltage protection circuitry inside of the AA or AAA form factor itself (link below as an example). However, since only half of the size is the lithium cell itself, the capacity tends to be half of a decent quality Ni-MH which essentially makes it useless unless you want to take advantage of Li's high current capabilities with a very small capacity.
So basically, the available options are as follows. mah listed at a low load scenario:
Non-rechargeable Li AA - 3000mah 15g
Standard AA - 2300mah 24g
Eneloop AA - 1950mah 30g
Eneloop Pro AA - 2550mah 30g
Lithium rechargeable AA - 1040mah 24g
Non-rechargeable Li AAA - 1300mah 7.5g
Standard AAA - 1000mah 11g
Eneloop AAA - 800mah 13g
Eneloop Pro AAA - 950mah 13g
Lithium rechargeable AAA - 450mah 17g
If you want to run AAAs in an AA receptacle, you can use tinfoil or tape like you say as the length is identical, just a different diameter. As a more elegant solution you can purchase or 3d print a set of adapters. An AAA to AA adapter printed in PLA plastic weighs in at 2.8g per battery.
Rechargeable Li AA - https://www.amazon.ca/Pilot-Automot...9719&sr=1-19&keywords=lithium+AA+rechargeable
AAA to AA 3d printable adapters - https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:946773
So capacity per weight, the non-rechargeable Li AAs are the winners, and at $15/8-pack aren't too crazy expensive unless your mouse burns through batteries quickly. If you want to shave off another 10g, then the Li AAAs with an adapter are the lightest, but are more expensive than the AAs for less than half the life. The overall cost of Eneloop or similar Ni-MH will depend on whether you already have a charger or not.
So, not really. I mean, there do exist lithium cells in the same form factor as AA and AAA batteries (called a 14500), but there are a few issues. Firstly, the chemistry of a lithium ion cell makes it 3.7v rather than the 1.5v of an alkaline cell or the 1.3v of a Ni-NH cell. So, if you were to use them you'd likely damage your electronics depending on what sort of voltage regulation they use. Secondly, if you overcharge, undercharge, or overheat a lithium cell, they tend to become damaged or combust spectacularly (ie: Galaxy note 7). I think that the big battery manufacturers won't release consumer Li rechargeables due to the liability of someone sticking one in a Ni-MH charger and burning their house down, or sticking them in some piece of electronics and frying it. (They do sell them wholesale for use in battery packs for power tools etc.) So, a few companies have come up with a solution which is to use a smaller lithium cell and embed charging and voltage protection circuitry inside of the AA or AAA form factor itself (link below as an example). However, since only half of the size is the lithium cell itself, the capacity tends to be half of a decent quality Ni-MH which essentially makes it useless unless you want to take advantage of Li's high current capabilities with a very small capacity.
So basically, the available options are as follows. mah listed at a low load scenario:
Non-rechargeable Li AA - 3000mah 15g
Standard AA - 2300mah 24g
Eneloop AA - 1950mah 30g
Eneloop Pro AA - 2550mah 30g
Lithium rechargeable AA - 1040mah 24g
Non-rechargeable Li AAA - 1300mah 7.5g
Standard AAA - 1000mah 11g
Eneloop AAA - 800mah 13g
Eneloop Pro AAA - 950mah 13g
Lithium rechargeable AAA - 450mah 17g
If you want to run AAAs in an AA receptacle, you can use tinfoil or tape like you say as the length is identical, just a different diameter. As a more elegant solution you can purchase or 3d print a set of adapters. An AAA to AA adapter printed in PLA plastic weighs in at 2.8g per battery.
Rechargeable Li AA - https://www.amazon.ca/Pilot-Automot...9719&sr=1-19&keywords=lithium+AA+rechargeable
AAA to AA 3d printable adapters - https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:946773
So capacity per weight, the non-rechargeable Li AAs are the winners, and at $15/8-pack aren't too crazy expensive unless your mouse burns through batteries quickly. If you want to shave off another 10g, then the Li AAAs with an adapter are the lightest, but are more expensive than the AAs for less than half the life. The overall cost of Eneloop or similar Ni-MH will depend on whether you already have a charger or not.
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Well. I was going to type up a reply about batteries, but Dustin here just pritty much slam dunked it. Holy crap. Well done dude.
So, on that note...uh. What he said?
(Not to detract, but you can get 1250mAh rechargeable AA lithiums, but were talking a very incremental increase over 1040 compared to Ni-MH at 3000mAh baseline)
So, on that note...uh. What he said?
(Not to detract, but you can get 1250mAh rechargeable AA lithiums, but were talking a very incremental increase over 1040 compared to Ni-MH at 3000mAh baseline)
It's not quite what you're looking for but Ikea actually sells 2450 mAH AAs that are Ni-MH. I've been using them for xbox controller batteries and they've seemed to do pretty well. They're fairly cheap and ikea has a charger that's shaped like a book and will charge 12 batteries at once. I've been fairly impressed with the whole kit.
Thanks mate, that's very informative :thumb:
It looks like the weight benefit goes out the window with rechargeable lithium. Think I'm going to go with a rechargeable high capacity AAA, lithium is just too expensive right now.
Gee thanks, you certainly get the award for missing the objective of the thread entirely. Weight reduction dude, that's the name of the game, Ni-MH AA's are heavy buggers :thumb:
Amazon also has batteries that are rechargeable and at a better price point then everyone else. whether they're better than the Eneloop that set the benchmark I don't know, but doesn't hurt to try, right? 
Amazon also has batteries that are rechargeable and at a better price point then everyone else. whether they're better than the Eneloop that set the benchmark I don't know, but doesn't hurt to try, right?
I've actually located a 12 pack of AA Lithiums for 18$. I've decided it's probably better to enjoy the superior capacity of AA with the weight reduction of Lithium. A single AA Lithium lasts multiple months with Logitech's new Hero sensor, so that's like a $0.50 per month. There really doesn't seem to be a good reason to go wired anymore, the G305 at $60 has a top of the line sensor, and is only a few grams heavier than a G Pro. Once the the G502 is available in wireless, I suspect the market for wired will drastically shrink.
:thumb:
Amazon also has batteries that are rechargeable and at a better price point then everyone else. whether they're better than the Eneloop that set the benchmark I don't know, but doesn't hurt to try, right?
For anyone wondering, from my testing, the Amazon basics batteries have the same initial capacity (+/- a few percent) as the eneloops (as pictured). The difference being after just 25 charge/discharge cycles, the Amz batteries had lost an average of 75 mAh, after 50 cycles they'd lost 110 mAh, while the Eneloops still had their original capacity. [Tested 4 of each, 0.1A discharge, averaged results]
So basically the Amz batteries are perfectly fine for things that only drain a set of batteries occasionally, but I'd stick with Eneloops for devices that are discharged daily/weekly like cordless phones, game controllers and the like.
Initial test.
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