When it comes to being a great dad, one of the important tasks is keeping all of the children’s toys, electronics, mobiles, music makers, and games stocked with working batteries. Nothing makes this job easier than rechargeable batteries.
With rechargeable batteries, the worst case scenario is that your toddler just has to wait a little while for the batteries to charge. With regular batteries, you might have to explain to your kid that you don’t have the right batteries but you’ll try and remember to buy more next time you have the chance.
Of course, if you forget, then you’ll have to see your child’s look of disappointment that Dad forgot to buy new batteries, and deep down inside, you’ll worry that it seems like you don’t care about things that are important to him.
Trust me, every time you see rechargeable batteries on sale, buy some. Try to shoot for around $2 per AA rechargeable battery and you’ll always be getting a good deal.
Weak Rechargeable D Batteries and C Batteries
There is one thing to watch out for when it comes to rechargeable batteries. Major battery companies have decided to be deceptive rather than make quality rechargeable D size batteries and C size batteries. Whether this near-fraud is due to not wanting to make good rechargeable C batteries because the prices would be too high (maybe $8 or $10 each) or whether it is part of some conspiracy to keep their profits up by making people think that rechargeable batteries aren’t as good a regular batteries, I don’t know.
Look on a AA-sized battery and you will find that most of them have 2400 or 2500 mAh. That means that there is 2500 mili-Amp hours in the battery. It sounds complicated, but basically what mAh means is that if you had something that used up one mili-Amp of power each hour, a 2500 mAh battery would theoretically run it for 2500 hours before running out.
Look at a regular alkaline battery and it will be labeled 2500 mAh or maybe 2400 mAh. Look at the rechargeable AA-size battery and you’ll see a similar number. There is an exception. Some battery companies make different power AA rechargeables which means that a cheapo retailer that doesn’t care about their customers can buy the lower power rechargeables for cheap and then advertise their “great price” without pointing out that you are buying the lower power ones.
Stay away from rechargeable AA batteries that aren’t rated near 2400 or 2500 mAh.
Where it really gets sketchy is with C and D sized batteries.
The regular alkaline D batteries are typically in the neighborhood of 12,000 mAh. But, the rechargeable D batteries are only 2,500 mAh, or the same power as a AA battery!
The worst part is they charge you a lot more even though it is the same battery! Search online and you’ll find that people have cut open rechargeable D batteries to find that what is inside is a AA battery with an outer case to make it look like a D battery.
Technically the battery companies aren’t doing anything wrong, but they sure aren’t going out of their way to point out that you are getting 20% of the full D-size battery power when you buy a rechargeable D battery.
Save your money and instead buy adapters that fit over rechargeable AA batteries and use them for your C and D battery needs instead. Or, go over to All-Battery.com and find rechargeable D batteries that have 10,000 mAh or better in them instead of being ripped off by the brand name battery companies.
I’ve had really good luck with the guys at All-Battery.com for my stuff, including the brand of rechargeables they carry “Tenergy” I think it is. Use the link to try them out. (Yes, I get a teeny-tiny commission of you buy something, but I could get more money recommending someone else. I’ve actually used them and never had anything bad happen 🙂