EEVblog #1200 - BUSTED! - Energizer & Duracell NiMH

Are you getting ripped off with Energizer and Duracell D cell NiMH rechargeable batteries?
Why is a D cell NiMh the same capacity or lower than the smaller C or even AA cell?
Teardown time!

#BUSTED #Energizer #Duracell

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[excitedbox]

These 2 brands have built their image on being longer lasting than other brands so it is an obvious scam. A customer won't look at capacity because they assume they will be the longest lasting one. Most people don't know what mAh are or mean and will easily get ripped off.

[nikomo]

New tongue twister: she sells D shells for C cells by the sea shore.

[alexmildenberger]

Missed an opportunity to call the video "The Secret of NiMH"

[paulcalmond]

Would have improved video benefits by dismantling the RS higher capacity D cell

[AlexandreLollini]

There is also the problem of weight : I use to have a huge boombox that used 10 of those D cells, at the time I was using pimary cells, it weight a ton. And the playtime was several days. If I had some NIMH that weighted less and offered me a day of use that could have been interesting. But well, most of the time if you can have max capacity, you'd better get it. I use mostly AA from Ansmann, and those perform as well as primaries. The oldest I have are AA 2100mah that self discharge in two weeks, but damn when those are charged they have good power and capacity. I see no point in stopping using the oldest ones, those are perfect as long as i know they self discharge. Newer ones do not or self discharge in months. Lithiums 18650 are even better but those don't go in the same devices. Really : 20 years old NIMH still ROCKS ! That is renewable engergy guys !

[vertigoalopolus]

Was hoping you would take the RS Components battery apart for comparison.

[mahlapropyzm]

It's left 3/4 empty for future marketing - just add a few more turns on the roll and they can advertise the extra capacity as "New, improved, more bigger".
With all that empty space there are several rounds of pulling the same stunt (with attendant volume and price increases) for minimal changes to manufacturing or technology.
There's a word for that: Ker-ching!

[DrakkarCalethiel]

In that Energizer battery is enough space to fit in a couple of batterizers. gotta get that 800%

[shifter]

Wait, you won't tear apart the RS one? I need closure!

[trevorlambert]

This has been ongoing for at least 30 years. I can remember back in the 80s seeing D NiCd cells with a capacity equal to AA (600mAh). When NMHi was introduced, same thing. They just took the AA cell, stuck it in a D size package and charged a lot more money for it. There was a time when it was pretty common to see AA with higher capacity (2.65Ah) than D cells of the same brand. This was across the board for all NiCd and NMHi cells sold in retail. To get a proper sized C or D cell, you had to get an industrial brand like SAFT. There was another trick they did with 9V batteries, which was to only include 6 cells, giving nominal 7.2V. This was despite the fact there was room for a seventh cell, which would have brought it much closer to the nominal 9V (and give 17% higher capacity). Again, if you bought an industrial 9V, it would be 8.4V. The brand name ones would be 7.2V, plus a piece of foam to fill up the void at the bottom of the battery.

NiMH technology has pretty much stagnated, or maybe it just reached it's physical limits a long time ago. Back in around 2000, you could already get 9Ah D cells. 20 years later, and they're still selling ones with that, or less capacity and it looks like the top hasn't gotten much over 10Ah.

[teardowndan]

2200-2500mAh is in the same ballpark as high-capacity AA cells, may as well get battery size adapters and buy AA. Some D-size adapters allow you to use 3-4 AAs in parallel for higher capacity and current.

[Seegalgalguntijak]

"Buy brand names" they said. "You'll get more for your money" they said.

[TheAnalogKid]

Take apart the RS 8000mAh!!! Bloody amateur!

[ryantoomey]

Might as well just buy a AA to D adapter! You will get same capacity.

[ppdan]

I just use Eneloop AA with C and D size adapter.
This way you only have to buy one type of batteries.

[Gameboygenius]

It's got what batteries crave. It's got electrolytes.

[SkeletonSyskey]

Calls Ni-MH "Old School"

meanwhile,
I still have Ni-Cd.

[KWatson]

D shells over sub-C cells has been happening as long as there have been consumer rechargeable batteries.

[JamesLewis]

It's an industrial "sub-c" cell... they've been doing that for years.

[JoeStuffz]

I used to think that Energizer was the highest quality, but I'm starting to see signs of corners getting cut. The manufacturing for the alkalines is made less and less in the USA. I switched over to Rayovac for alkalines because it's not only cheaper, but Rayovac batteries are USA-made. Duracell's alkalines are often USA-made, but it's getting harder to tell