Rechargeable Batteries for Petzl Duo

O

olly

New member
I have been looking at options for rechargeable batteries for a Petzl Duo.

Is the official Petzl rechargeable cell worth buying over 4 NiMh rechargeable batteries?

According to this web page, http://w01-0504.web.dircon.net/acatalog/Batteries_&_Chargers_for_the_Petzl_Duo.html, the Petzl cell and charger is ?90 compared to ?50 (for branded charger and batteries).

The Petzl cell has 2.7Ah, compared to 2.5Ah for the Energizer ones, so presumably a charge will last for longer.

Has anyone had any experience with this? Any thoughts?
 
I use AA NiMh cells from 7dayshop.com and get 12 hours good light, plus an additional 12 hours on the dimmer setting which is perfectly adequate to get out of the cave on. Prices for batteries and chargers from 7dayshop are much lower than high street, and I have many sets from them which all work fine (capacities ranging from 2000mAh to 2700mAh). On expedition I have 4 of my 6 AA cell flash guns, plus 2 of my 4 cell flash guns, 1 set in my caving light, another set in my camera, and I run my field GPS and PDA combo off another set of 4.  :)
 
I bought 8 x 3000mAh Maxuss Ni-MH from e-bay with a charger for ?15.98
I carry the spare 4 in a sealed plastic bag.
I have never had to swap to the spares but i think the longest use so far has only been 4 or 5hrs with LEDs on the Max setting of my Duo 14.

If you do this, don't forget to regularly top up your spares as they lose charge over time...
 
I looked at the Petzl batteries ages ago but decided it was all too expensive and a much cheaper and far more versatile option is to get a good charger with some decent AA NiMh batteries (2500s will do the trick).
 
I have a free source of alkali's from work but find they don't last long when i'm on halogen. good, branded, properly packaged NiMh ones do well and a proper charger is escential. (not a cheapo wall plug thing) i've tried the cheap e-bay batteries and their quoted capacity is nowhere near reallity.
the top brands don't sell anything over 2700 so i'd be wary of cheap ones claiming 3000.
AAs are less bulky to carry than the petzl one as well but if you drop a cell down a muddy hole you're left with only 3 and no light so carry plenty.
 
Agrophobic said:
the top brands don't sell anything over 2700 so i'd be wary of cheap ones claiming 3000.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I thought about that when i bought them so I bought 8 and carry the 4 spare.
I couldn't find anything on google outing them as fake...

Is there an easy way to test actual capacity in mAh?
Maplins sell a Maha Wizard charger which displays capacity but i'm too tight to fork out ?50...
 
I test em with a voltmeter accross the battery box contacts (not easy on a duo) and leave it swiched on overnight, my voltmeter interfaces to my pc which helps cos it even draws you a graph but if you've got the time just keep an eye on the volts and when it drops to 3.6v (4 cells at 0.9v) your times up. multiply time in hours by current in milliamps (500 for duo halogen) and you've got it. hope this helps.
 
The only advice I have with using rechargables in a duo is to be careful with corrosion on the terminals. If you're good at remembering to take your batteries out after each use and drying the compartment out, good for you (but I'm rubbish!) - I wonder if there's less corrosion to worry about with one of the Petzl batteries. That said, they're far to expensive and I'd still stick with rechargables, they work really, really well and have saved me lots of money.

(Oddly, some brands seem to do better than others for me, my Uniross ones remain sparkly after 2 years while my new Energiser ones have corroded in the 2 months since I bought them and need frequent cleaning. Anyone else noticed this?)
 
Agrophobic said:
I test em with a voltmeter accross the battery box contacts (not easy on a duo) and leave it swiched on overnight, my voltmeter interfaces to my pc which helps cos it even draws you a graph but if you've got the time just keep an eye on the volts and when it drops to 3.6v (4 cells at 0.9v) your times up. multiply time in hours by current in milliamps (500 for duo halogen) and you've got it. hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Thanks, i have a usb oscilloscope I could do this with but i was looking for an easy way...
 
I'm out on a limb here,

WHY BOTHER??

my duo runs reliably for yonks on plain 'ol DURACELLS :tease:
 
Quote from: wormster on Today at 17:37:19
WHY BOTHER??


Long term running costs.
Good alkalines ain't cheap and Ni-MH pay for themseves pretty quickly.
Click to expand...
Agreed. Even if you buy alkalines in bulk it still works out expensive in the long term (which lets face it, most of us are caving for a long time..) And besides that - what of the environmental impact of chucking away alkalines.. :spank:
 
Got worried about the actual capacity of these "maxuss 3000mAh" so...

A decent charger/tester:
http://www.thomas-distributing.com/la_crosse_bc-900_battery_charger.php
8 Ansmann 2850mAh (Definately not fakes!):
http://thomasdistributing.com/shop/ansmann-aa-2850mah-nimh-rechargeable-battery-br4pk-ansmann-batteriesbrincludes-1-free-4-cell-battery-holder-case-p-824.html?SP_id=&osCsid=s2jpu027r9rtnfgk2fohg3h2d4
4 battery boxes and UPS 4-5 day shipping all for $100 (< ?50).

I will test the Maxuss when this arrives and report back...
 
I started out using the Petzl pack (which although lasts longer on one charge, doesn't shine as bright  :confused:) but after plugging the lead from my standard battery charger into the Petzl charger (instead of the petzl lead which looks exactly the same) I inadvertently turned the charger into a mini missile cylo which obligingly launched the 4 internal cells through the kitchen ceiling in the middle of the night  :o  very messy!!!

After this I decided to stick to good old AA's a lot cheaper, a lot safer , a lot easier to carry spares and a lot easier to source AAs in the unlikely event of going out forgetting to charge up your batteries, never happened to me, honest  :-[

I my opinion, stick with good AA's as mentioned in previous replies.
 
WillDeBeast said:
I inadvertently turned the charger into a mini missile cylo which obligingly launched the 4 internal cells through the kitchen ceiling in the middle of the night  :o  very messy!!!
Click to expand...

HAHAHAHAHA, what did swimbo say??
 
Paul_L said:
Got worried about the actual capacity of these "maxuss 3000mAh" so...

A decent charger/tester:
http://www.thomas-distributing.com/la_crosse_bc-900_battery_charger.php
8 Ansmann 2850mAh (Definately not fakes!):
http://thomasdistributing.com/shop/ansmann-aa-2850mah-nimh-rechargeable-battery-br4pk-ansmann-batteriesbrincludes-1-free-4-cell-battery-holder-case-p-824.html?SP_id=&osCsid=s2jpu027r9rtnfgk2fohg3h2d4
4 battery boxes and UPS 4-5 day shipping all for $100 (< ?50).

I will test the Maxuss when this arrives and report back...
Click to expand...

That sounds good paul. ansmann are one of the best and a propper charger makes sure you get the most out of them and they don't shoot through the cieling ha ha.  :clap2:
 
I get by OK with el cheapo NiMH 2200 mAH and el cheapo charger. I testify that at least some NiMH cells do make their rated amp-hours because I have a test; I have a bright light I use for cavediving which I know draws circa 750mA; sure enough the light lasts about 3 hours before going dimmer.The big l.e.d.s continue to glow enough to see by for at least 8 hours though..... I also have a gadget (Battery manager??) which recharges alkaline AA cells fairly well tho they don't last forever.

      cheers,

                    Charles.
 
Paul_L said:
Got worried about the actual capacity of these "maxuss 3000mAh" so...

I will test the Maxuss when this arrives and report back...
Click to expand...

I was right to be worried!, they are only holding 1900 mAh...

Oh well, if it seems to good to be true, it usually is...
 
Paul_L said:
4 battery boxes and UPS 4-5 day shipping all for $100 (< ?50).
Click to expand...

I got stiffed ?13 import duty plus an ?11 "handling fee" by UPS, go for normal delivery!
 
Paul_L said:
Paul_L said:
4 battery boxes and UPS 4-5 day shipping all for $100 (< ?50).
Click to expand...

I got stiffed ?13 import duty plus an ?11 "handling fee" by UPS, go for normal delivery!
Click to expand...

ParcelForce also charge a similar (actually higher last time I got stung) handling fee for goods shipped from outside the UK which incur customs duty. Basically they charge you for invoicing you for the customs fees, and add the charge to the invoice. You get the option to either pay the fees, or else they won't send you the goods. Type 'parcelforce handling fee' into google to find lots of indignant people's rants on this topic.
 
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