Energizer e2 rechargables+Petzl Headlamps?

— In Yahoo Canyons Group, “davewyo1” wrote:

Hey Hank, > Are the Energizer and Duracell NiMh Rechargables okay for Petzl > headlamps?

Energizer AA= http://tinyurl.com/6paejc

Energizer AAA= http://tinyurl.com/5u4cq9

Duracell AAA= http://tinyurl.com/69cals

Duracell AA= http://tinyurl.com/5p7wsl

> Thanks; > Dave >

I haven’t got a clue what Petzl endorses 😉 (great Ultra headlamp btw), but a few months ago I had to buy about 200 AA rechargeable batteries so I did some (very) extensive testing with 12 brands in identical GPS units.

A while afterwards I found a German test of 35 different AA batteries and 16 AAA batteries. Since my own findings and theirs gave the same ranking (of the 12 I tested) I’m pretty confident that below result is correct (two tests, two very different sources). Testing was done by me for sheer endurance and consistency (quality control) between different pairs of the same brand and type in GPS units. The Germans tested in different appliances and added self-discharging rate after 10 days, announced mAh and actual mAh and took the price into account.

For the AA batteries:

1st place: Varta Power Accu 2700 2nd: Varta Professional 3rd: Sanyo 2700 4th: Ansmann Photo 5th: Hama High Grade 6th: Panasonic Infinium 7th Panasonic 2600 8th: Vivanco Digital Photo 9th: GP 2700 10th: Compit Accu-Batterie

The above mentioned Energizers came in 12th and the Duracells in 15th place (of 35 tested).

In the AAA category Varta’s Power Accu came again as 1st, the Duracells from above as 5th and the Energizers as 8th (of 16 tested).

A few notes (from both my observations and the German mega-test):

– battery life as announced on Garmin GPS units are wildly off the mark, often a unit would give “low battery” after a few hours where another one sitting next to it with the same batteries would give full charge. Both units would quit working with a few minutes difference, about 10 hours later… – with some brands, like GP, quality control is apparently an issue. Some sets of batteries would perform with the best, others would quit 30 to 40 % earlier !?! – it’s not a general rule that one brand “rules”, Varta occupies the two top places but also has a type (Ready 2 Use) on place 26… Sanyo occupies the third spot but also sells a battery in the same category (AA) that self discharges an astonishing 40% after 10 days (Sanyo Advanced, not even the worst in the test). – announced mAh capacity and actual capacity is a different animal… one brand has a 700 mAh difference between announced and actual output. Another very known brand has “2700” in very large letters, when the extremely smal letters on the side says 2500 mAh. It actually has even less. – DO NOT buy into the “not self discharging – ready to use” marketing hype !!! The batteries that fared best in the tests were NOT of the “new” type, and actually selfdischarged far less than the ever-ready-to-use kind.

Hope this helps a bit,

Koen