Rechargeable AAs

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Colin
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Rechargeable AAs

Post by Colin »

The new Lightspeed headset seems to eat AA batteries. Since it might be a while before I order a DA42 with LELO plugs, are people having good luck with sets of rechargeable batteries?

I last tried them back in the late 1980s and was very unimpressed. It's been a while, I realize.
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Re: Rechargeable AAs

Post by rwtucker »

Colin wrote:The new Lightspeed headset seems to eat AA batteries. Since it might be a while before I order a DA42 with LELO plugs, are people having good luck with sets of rechargeable batteries?
The newer low leakage/low self-discharge Nickel Metal Hydride (Eneloop, etc.) are suitable for some ANR headsets.
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You would want to see how well they perform on ~2.4 volts vs. ~1.8-1.9 typical of alkaline batteries. You can also get rechargeable Li-ion cells but they are a little tougher to configure. I use non-rechargeable Li-ion AA in my older Lightspeed. They last a long time. Is there any chance that your automatic shutoff feature is not working?
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Re: Rechargeable AAs

Post by Enrouk »

my lightspeed head set with blutooth work fo 20 to 30 hours on the 2 aa baterry, my blutooth is alway conected and working with phone music.... if use them just when i need i can go to 40 to 60h of fligh time, when the 2 aa baterry is dead, my head set continue to work, but the noise cancelation systeme and blutooth not work, but still have headset working...
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Re: Rechargeable AAs

Post by BlackMammoth »

I use Energizer Ultimate Lithium (disposable) AAs in all of our headsets (2x Lightspeed Zulu 2 and 2x Bose).

Buy them in bulk (20 pack online) and they are relatively cheap and they last a LONG time. As a bonus, you don't need to worry about charging them or self discharge.

Plus they weigh 35% less than alkaline (for extra aircraft performance) :D
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Re: Rechargeable AAs

Post by Chris B »

BlackMammoth wrote:I use Energizer Ultimate Lithium (disposable) AAs
+1

These batteries also never leak, and shelf life is >10 years. Other than cost (where buying in bulk helps), the only downside is that some devices can't handle the consistently high voltage. These actually stay at 1.5V even under load, so some LED lamps will overheat, while other devices may trip the voltage protection and shut off.

But Phil is right. The lighter weight definitely improves aircraft performance! :mrgreen:

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Re: Rechargeable AAs

Post by Colin »

Thanks for the recommendations. I ordered twenty and I will see how they are.

The strangest Amazon page I have been to recently. Buying two packs was going to cost more than three times as much?
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Re: Rechargeable AAs

Post by RMarkSampson »

I've been using Engergizer rechargeables for a couple of years now. I keep a charger always plugged in at the hangar and have four fully charged batteries ready to go. At the end of a full day of flying I remove them from my Lightspeed and put them back in the charger so they are ready to go the next time. It has worked well for me - always good to go. If I take a trip then I carry an extra set of rechargables to swap out when needed. Plus I always carry a Ziploc with regular AAs in the side pocket of the aircraft that I can use if I need. So far I have not needed them.
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Re: Rechargeable AAs

Post by rwtucker »

As I mentioned at the top, I have been using Lithium AA in my Lightspeed ANR headset since day one and before that in Bose, etc. EverReady does not say but the above cells are almost certainly Lithium Iron Disulfide rather than Lithium Manganese Dioxide, etc. because their nominal voltage is 1.5 rather than 3.0+ volts. Both types are more thermally stable than other chemistries so you have less worry about the possibility of an unpleasant meltdown. In this use (relatively low current drain) these cells will outlast Alkaline cells but to a degree that may not represent a cost per Watt hour difference. The real benefit is having to change cells less frequently. Modern Alkaline cells may leak only if you allow them to become fully discharged while remaining on load or store them for a long period in a fully discharged state.

This said, I think Colin's point was that he is burning through batteries pretty quickly. Given Lightspeed's history of revisions and quality control, I still wonder if he might have a defect worth bringing to the attention of the company.
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Re: Rechargeable AAs

Post by carym »

Not to hijack this thread, but some of you may want to look at the Quiet Technology Halo headset. I have used this headset for more than 2 years (maybe more than 4 years) now and ditched my Bose X for this headset. I have flown up to 8 hours in a day without any discomfort what so ever. It is as quiet as the Bose X, at least in my DA42. And the best part, there are no batteries to worry about!
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Re: Rechargeable AAs

Post by ihfanjv »

I used the Halo for a few years. In my opinion the Halo is better than the Bose X. But, when the Bose A20 came out I got them and stopped using the Halo. The Halo is great and they knock out almost all outside noise. However, the Halos pipe in full volume sounds generated by your airplanes avionics right into your eardrum (think about the KAP-140 disconnect screaming loud tone - that tone hurt my ears with the Halo). Now I fly with disposable foam earplugs and the Bose A20s. So many of my pilot friends are deaf that I am doing my best to preserve my hearing. The side benefit of the earplugs is that when I take off my headset on the ramp and there is a G550 with the APU cranking parked right next to me I don't have to search for earplugs because they are already in.

For AA batteries for the Bose A20s I use Sanyo Eneloop rechargeables and charge them with the Powerex MH-C9000 Charger. Rechargeable batteries are only as good as the charger you use, and the Powerex MH-C9000 is a great charger.

It is cheaper to just buy bricks of AA batteries from a value store. But, I like to have fully charged batteries in my headset all the time. After every few flights I swap out the old set of batteries for a fresh set, then put the old ones in the charger and cycle them once in the charger so they get a full charge. I used disposable batteries for a while, but they would die randomly in flight as the batteries wore out. Now, I always know the batteries are fully charged or only a few flights old.
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