They’re Baaaack....Rechargeable Alkaline Batteries

Pure Energy Solutions (new name) is the only company that makes Rechargeable Alkaline batteries in the world. You will soon see them sold under a variety of names but they are manufactured by Pure Energy This company recently merged with Wildcharge of Boulder Colorado. The batteries have been improved numerous times and are available on line.

i see that reuse alkaline batteries require its own charger. why can't manufacturer create a reuse alkaline that can be charged in a universal charger?

I'm using rechargeable alkalines (RAM cells) from AccuCell (and still from Rayovac) in clocks, remote controls and for a garmin geko GPS with a selfmade cable on a bicyle. It seems to be very important that the cells are removed immediatly from the RAM-Charger when reported full. Otherwise they can be demaged (overload) because the charging continous after some time due to decreasing voltage of the cell- thats my experiance

Steve L, it looks to me like DCBaldwin was following-up on the previous post where WOakes endorsed the product but did not know about availability in the U.S. Personally, I have been using the same stash of RayOVac Renewal AA and AAA cells in my low-drain devices since the 90's. Two or three have leaked in recharging and were discarded but so far I still have enough for my clocks, remotes, etc. I had been concerned about finding replacements as I do like the extended service life of these critters -- not to mention the fact that they are free of many of the toxic metals found in competing technologies. I do use LiIon and MiMH for my cameras of course, but for devices where I just go around one a year and swap the cells it's hard to beat the rechargeable alkalines. Given my advanced years, 10 to 50 recharge cycles is plenty for such purposes, even with one leaking and occasionally getting tossed every few years. I'm glad that there are a couple of manufacturers offering them still, and will be ordering some as insurance in order to supplement my stash.

The 2nd generation Rayovac charger could also do AAA and AA NiMH and NiCd. It charged each one individually. I still use mine for NiMH AAA cells.

DCBaldwin, it looks like you can get rechargeable batteries anywhere on the planet. You mentioned a brand without endorsing the product or even mentioning why the one source you named is better than others. This battery brand produces 110,000 google hits. So I can only say thanks for the blog spam.

You can buy Pure Energy alkaline rechargeables and the recharger online from Sundance Solar (store.sundancesolar.com).

I've had great results using Pure Energy alkaline rechargeables for years. They're available here in Canada, but not sure about the US. I've observed that recharging them early and often increases their useable life, as recommended by the manufacturer.

Larry Sears, thanks for the comment. I think the truth about the alkaline batteries is, they're not as exciting as Li-ion cells, so they're not as easy to market to consumers. It's hard to get excited about 10-50 recharges, even though that number would still represent a drastic reduction in landfill matter.

I believe the Gates D-Cells are now produced by Hawker Energy. Good batteries, they have typically lasted 4 to 6 years for me. Only draw back is the terminals sometimes corrode just like car batteries.

As these rechargeables use the same chemistry as standard alkalines, they have the same output voltage of 1.5V. This extra headroom over the output of NiCd and NiMH can be useful and more importantly they do not have the high self-discharge of NiCd and NiMH so you can leave them lying around fully charged knowing that they will be usable when you need them.

Around 1990 I designed a charger for Eveready that was destined to be sold to charge their version of rechargeable alkalines. However they never went to market with their version of the cell; I guess it was a good thing. My charger, of course, was great. Hi Steve.....

What happened to the Gates sealed lead acid (SLA) D- cell battery these things could vaporize a gem clip, had 2 volts per cell, no memory, hundreds of charges and were much cheaper than NiCd?

LarryM: Under no circumstances would I recommend sticking a Rayovac Renewal cell in a NiMH or NiCd charger. If you've only got a few cells, I'd dump them. At best, I'd recommend using the Lenmar Chargeables charger, as both batteries seem to be based on the same alkaline manganese chemistry. But is it really worth it to reuse those few cells?

The RayOVac rechargeable alkaline cells require the RayOVac charger, and are not chargeable in an NiMH/NiCd charger. I have found that regular alkaline cells can be "topped up" in the RayOVac charger but are more likely to leak afterwards.

Okay, I've got a few of the old RayOVac cells--and no charger. I have chargers with NiMH and NiCd settings. Can't decide if either of those is safe to use. Ideas?