Turnigy Low Self-Discharge (LSD) NiMH AA's
 

A couple weeks ago, I picked up 5 of the Turnigy low self-discharge 2200mAh AA cells from my LHS. I really couldn't come up with an ideal LVC solution to use lipo in my DX3r radio, and didn't want to deal with balancing a lipo inside a radio anyway, so I figured I'd give these LSD AA cells a try.

Fresh out of the package, they read ~1.25v each. I used them for about 3 hours total and the total voltage fell only 0.1v over that whole time, which included actual runtime and storage. Normally, after a couple weeks, regular NiMHs would drop down around 0.5v just sitting on my shelf, let alone actually using them.

So, tonight, I decided to discharge them all the way and recharge them to see how much charge they take. Discharging took 470mAh out of the cells before they hit 0.9v/cell on my discharger at 0.5A. From previous experimenting, the DX3r pulls 127mA, so if I ran for 3 hours plus the amount taken out via the discharger, means they came out of the package at ~40% charge. A full charge at 0.3A (3mv delta peak) brought them up to 1.46v/cell, taking a total charge of 2323mAh.

I felt that 5 cells at 1.46v/cell is a tad high (7.3v total) to use in the DX3r, so I bled 100mAh out of them, which brought the voltage down to 6.9v (1.38v/cell), which is what my regular NiMHs came out of the charger at. Instead of doing this rather tedious charge-and-bleed process to keep them at a decent voltage, I think I'm going to go back to using 4 AA cells in the DX3r again. These cells hold more than their rated 1.2v/cell until near the end of their cycle, so I'll set the radio voltage alarm for 4.7v.

In short, these cells do what they say; they exhibit VERY little self-discharge, and charge up to more than their rated capacity. For people not wanting to deal with lipo in their radios, yet still want a fairly flat discharge curve and low self-discharge, these cells fit the bill nicely. Only time will tell about their longevity, but their cost is comparable to regular NiMh AAs, so even if they do have a short cycle life (no data to support this anywhere I've seen), it's no big loss.

I got them for my DX3R when they came out and I also have had very good results so far.

I use them in my Tactic 2.4ghz radios. The work excellent and are suprising how long they last without much drain!

I suppose the only way to charge them is to leave them in the TX and charge thru the TX port?

I use a one of these. I put a Rx connector on this and then just charged them at 1 amp.

I rewired the stock radio jack and charge through that. These cells don't seem to like much more than 0.5A charge rate though; the voltage jumps too high for my liking. I figure 0.3A (~0.1C) is a good rate even though it does take around 7.5 hours. But these shouldn't need to be charged as often. The Spektrum draws 127mA, which means these 2200mAh cells should run it for around 17 hours.

Been using 2700mah Sanyos in my dx3r for 2 years now. they last forever with minimum self discharge. when they die will try turnigys

Sorry to go a bit offtopic but why were you trying 5-cell NiMH for DX3R?

Because 4 cell Alkalines is 6v, the same as 5 NiMH AA's...

Do you know if the DX3R has regulatad voltage for the RF part? Do you get more transmitting power if you have higher supply voltage, like the case is with "old" MHz frequency transmitters?

From another thread:

Anybody using Energizer lithium AAs? I've measured voltage as high as 1.82v on those?? I was surprised - I bought a bunch of them, they seem to last forever in txs and lots seem to be using them for rtr radios instead of fooling with rechargeables.

They're advertised as a 1.5v AA but the 100 I bought have all been much higher than that.

Those energizers are sooo expensive retail.

And with the LSD's, there isn't much "fooling around" anymore.

Guy on RCTechwas selling them brand new for 50cents/ea - all you wanted. Reason I bought 100.

Can I check if using the 4 x AA cells holder and charging it, how do I set the charger to charge them?

AAs don't like high charge rates, they get hot and their life suffers. I charge mine at 0.5a with a peak setting of 3 - 5mv/cell. I've used both 4 cell holder and an 8 cell holder - still charge them the same way, 0.5amp.

0.5amp is considered a slow charge. You can fast charge them at 1amp, just watch how hot they're getting.

Ugg. Is there anyplace in the USA that carries these type of cells at a comparable price to HobbyCity? With all the devices (toys, camera, remote controls, etc) in my house, I want to switch over to these cells but shpping costs for 20 cells is almost the same price as the cost of the cells! It would be sort of ok if I was planning on buying other stuff, but I'm not.

My LHS does carry them, but at 2 something each. After shipping, that's a decent price if getting a few, but any more than that, it gets expensive. We should do a group buy. I'm in for 30 cells. Any others interested? I will work out the details if so.

Count me in for 30 as well, was getting ready to order anyway. LMK

So, that's 60 so far. I don't know when you planned to order but I would think we should wait a couple days to give more people time to see this...

No prob, I wan't in a rush. Worth waiting to see if you can get more involved.

I've got $10 on a gift card I can send through paypal. Can I get 6 for $10 shipped? If so put me down...

all-battery.com has some LSD AA batteries. i have 8 of them in my tx and they are great.

I might be interested in gettin some . How much are they ?.

http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/s...eady_to_use%29

I'm interested in some as well.

I'll buy some also.

I don't know if 8 is too small an amount get in on the bulk buy, but I'd be interested. I would get 10 if that makes it easier to have an even number.

OK, I came up with a spreadsheet that has a listing of the reasonable price rates for EMS shipping. As more cells are ordered, shipping costs go up, but the cost per cell is lower. So, the table below shows the max cell counts for each shipping break, shipping cost, and effective cost per cell. As you can see, the best price after shipping is included, is $1.82/cell, but only if 171 cells are ordered. :oh:

http://scriptasylum.com/forumpics/hc_lsd_nimh.gif

Don't think this is going to happen at that level.......

The table was just to show the values. $1.82 is the best price at 171 cells, but $1.87 for 85 cells is doable from the few responses here and is not much more at all. But really, considering regular AA NiMHs are around $2.75 per cell in the US in stores, any of those prices is good, and the LSD cells are much better for transmitter use.

It really depends on how many people are serious. Another way to make it cheaper would be to get parcel shipping, but that would take forever, and doesn't seem to be available as an option sometimes.

I've been doing some searching for LSD NiMH around in the US and the cheapest I've seen is for Sanyo's Eneloops at around $12 for 4 (shipping included). That's $3 per cell.

We also need to factor in the cost of distributing the cells to all the members after they get to the US. I would assume each person would cover their own shipping to get the cells to where they live, but it will still add to the overall cost for each person.

You can find them on Thomas Distributing for about $10 for 4 - Sanyos or Mahas and some lesser known others. But S&H is almost another $7......no deal there. Thomas sticks you for S&H.

The price per cell shipped drops to $3/cell somewhere between 16 and 20 cells and continues to fall the more you buy. I was looking at the Maha Imedions, they didn't have any AA Sanyos. For 80cells it was $2.57/cell shipped.

A big factor that the HC LSDs have, at least to me - they seem to be proven. The Ansmanns, Nexcells, Imedions, Lexmars LSDs are not a known performer but they might well be just as good. Last time I bought a batch of Maha Powerex AAs, they were listed as 2700s and mine were never more than 2500 and change - felt cheated just a little, they were obviously overrated. Don't want that to happen with these. HC LSDs look like they are underrated if anything.

YGPM about these cells.

Answered your PM hippie...

Your covered .

Guys, I have some of these on the way. I made a decent sized order, so the cells are $1.85ea. I should have somewhere around 60 of them available. If you want any, let me know.

List copy & past so sean can get alist going.

#1 hippie 20 cells
#2 brian g 30 cells

This leaves 70 cells available.

Pm sent
 

you got a PM

With three kids in the house and plus my hobby stuff we use allot of AA & AAA batteries here at the Hill house. We have a box full of the energizer rechargables here already. So why not try these suckers out and see how they stock up against teh bunny's batteries.

Jerry copy & past the list with the number of cells your interested in. So we can keep track of how many are left .

Lsd cells
 

#1 hippie 20 cells
#2 brian g 30 cells
#3 JERRY 30 CELLS