Rechargable batteries for wireless mics?

[gibbothegreat]

I've used rechargeable AAs now for around 10 years in both Audio Technica and Evolution G3 kit with no problems whatever. It's really not difficult to set up a management regime which is simple enough for anyone handling them to follow,, and interestingly the only batteries I've had problems with were Alkalines (and we're talking a very small number.)

 

On the subject of size, I don't think it's a necessarily just a case of rechargeables vs. alkalines - the latter exhibit significant difference between manufacturers. I first came across this when Head of Sound for the Edinburgh International Festival: we had a sponsorship deal with one very well-known manufacturer, consisting of them supplying our requirements for the whole festival at no charge, only to discover that quite a number of our visiting companies wouldn't use this brand because they were actually marginally smaller than some others, and thus couldn't be counted on to make good contact with terminals in what could be comparatively rough usage conditions.

[DrV]

Does anyone else find it astounding that the size of something as ubiquitous as an AA cell is not sufficiently tightly specified that you can still find cells that are either too wide or too short to fit the equipment for which they are designed??

[fincaman]

Better news from my panto... oh yes there is!

 

I bought four sets of Ansmann 2500mAh cells. The bad news (boo!) is that they don't fit in my Line6 beltpacks so they were all running on the usual alkalines. Instead, I used the rechargeables in four G3 beltpacks with a not particularly well planned out recharging regime. They happily did two shows on one charge on a couple of occasions and got through another after only about half an hour in the charger. Battery gauges spent most of their time on two bars, as expected, but never gave me any cause for concern. Nothing ran out mid show or gave any problems.

 

I didn't toggle two sets, instead choosing to just use them all for each show. This probably made their management a little more simple. I always kept their pairs together; it was interesting to see that the charger sometimes indicated differing states of charge for each cell out of the pairs used together.

 

So that's kept 40 cells out of the recycling bin and saved me a whopping £8.10 which is still less than the cost of the rechargeables though...

 

Question now - are there any rechargeables out there that are the same size as standard alkalines and so fit in the tighter battery compartments?

 

I am still doing my survey on AA batteries hope to have some results soon