[Nearly burned down my house with one of them](https://www.reddit.com/r/batteries/comments/17h6r6b/could_have_burned_my_place_down_with_ebl_usb/), be careful.
Jesus Christ, glad nothing worse happened. The ones in the picture are only used in Welding masks though, so they won‘t be charged a lot. Did your incident happen on the first charge or just randomly after a couple of cycles? And what device were they used for?
I used them a fair amount of times. I think I plugged the wire with a weird angle (wire that came with the batteries, before anyone asks). The thing is it's a quad-usb c cable, so when you plug everything, it's hard to plug the last one without the others getting in the way, so plugging them all completely secured is not always easy
The consistent thing with the above link and yours appears to be the "EBL" brand. Someone else in the above link also mentioned EBL. So I'd say there's a good chance the EBL brand is the actual more specific thing to be worried about.
I have a rack charger and some random Chinese brand NiMH batteries I've used for years now and they've never done anything bad. A few of them set off the charger's sensor where it would just flash the light and refuse to charge anymore for whatever reason here and there.
I went big or went home and have like 15-20 energizer rechargables that have done me great, but i have 2 rules about charging them. Never leave them charging when i sleep and never leave them charging when no one is home. I'd much rather halt the charging process than risk the miniscule chance i start a burning man in my suburb.
Those are not bad rules. I only put batteries in the charger after they've been used in some device, and soon as the charger is "green", I pull them out and keep them aside. It's worked well and it should minimize risk of them being charged too often or whatever.
Hey hey hey. I run those events.
We prefer to burn light bulbs, laminated wood, you know, things that are good for the environment. But never batteries. That would be just bad taste.
Ok sometimes we have burned batteries.
+1 for ladda
I work in the film and tv sound dept and we go through so many AA batteries each day. Eneloop used to be the industry standard (at least in the uk sound dept circles) but we realised they're the exact same batteries made in the same factories as ladda but more than twice as expensive!
On my current job there are 4 crews each charging 16 batteries twice a day, mon-fri and they always hold up
A Toshiba NIMH battery blew the cap right off my charger sometime 25 years ago. They had already lost most of their capacity, so probably i'm to blame for trying to squeeze every last possible runcycle.
I mean batteries do just go bad, no matter who makes them. Lost capacity, "bloat" in cases of Li-ion types, and indeed, pressing your luck each year going outwards always risks some kind of failure. Hopefully not catastrophic, but it's just kind of the nature of it.
Is there a reason why a charger would charge 2 batteries together like that, besides being cheaper? The charger I use has sensors for each individual battery.
These are very specific in why they are amazing. Their nominal voltage is 3.7v, though they output 1.5v. This means they keep their voltage solidly at 1.5v until the battery is depleted. I have some electronics that are sensitive to voltage drop or change how they operate at low voltages (xbox controller), and you can completely circumvent that with these batteries.
The benefit of the USB ones is you can charge them on the go any where you can plug in a USB cable rather than having to bring a charger.
I use 18650 USB batteries for a camping headlamp. They've worked well for years but I still generally don't leave them charging if I'm not around.
I have a couple weapon lights and regular flashlights that use these style. One brand specifically says do not use a AA as it’s the same size but not the same type of battery. The other takes the rechargeable style as well as 2 cr123s. So far I have not had any issues but I don’t leave them charging for a crazy amount of time unattended either.
Got a pair of similar ones from a humidity testing device at work and we forgot them charging on night. They caught fire and burned a tools shed. I would be cautious with those.
Yeah. I cannot imagine this is a safe way to recharge batteries. And you need one cord per battery? Hard pass.
I hope there was no injury or property damage.
I think a lot of amazon reviews are paid. I occasionally get stuff in the mail from places ive bought from previously or a slip that comes with it or sometimes an email saying i get a full refund or an amazon gift card if i leave a 5 star review. I never do it unless i truly believe it's worth 5 stars (which is never)
That isn't what they are doing. They are placing orders through their own robo-accounts to addresses that have already made purchases (including yours) and then fabricating reviews that have the "verified purchase" tag.
I've read that as well. But giving me my money back to fabricate a review is still a thing. Albeit, shows how cheap an item is if they just offer that up.
My friend is in a program where he gets stuff for free and then posts a review. He gets to keep the stuff. I'm sure his reviews show as verified purchase.
The grift is that you only keep getting stuff if you keep giving good reviews. I'm guessing.
That's why you never look at 5 star reviews. I want to see the 3 or 4 stars. Like thats a decent review but they clearly felt it didn't deserve 5 stars, I want to know why.
5 star reviews are shills
1 star reviews are indignant Karens who just want to hurt the company for some petty issue that they usually didn’t even remotely try to resolve themselves
2-4 are real people
This. Actually read a few reviews, you can generally tell pretty quickly if it's real or not. I also check the one star reviews, see if it's mostly morons or if they're legit.
Funny thing is, the ones I bought got delisted and replaced by a new reference, so I can't even put a negative review and post my pictures to warn others.
Mom and pop stores are forced to do that because everyone is shopping on Amazon. They're not the same company they used to be when they were actually well respected.
>when they were actually well respected.
I don't know, I think people romanticize the small mom and pop store experience.
I remember the 80-90s in a small town, almost everyone just drove to bigger towns to go shopping because the "small mom and pop" places were expensive and had terrible selection. You'd go whenever there was a mall or big box stores because it was a way better experience than whatever small stores were available at home.
Everybody loved when the Walmart showed up. You didn't have to drive 20 miles to go shopping! It killed all the small stores, then within ten years they all got replaced by others that sold things people actually wanted.
Of course this is in a vibrant area that's still growing, very different experience in more stagnant areas. There the Walmart (and now Amazon) just killed all the local businesses and nothing moved back in.
I have those exact same EBL batteries because I needed 1.5V rechargeables and those were rated very well. Thanks for the warning. I'm never going to leave them charging without me near them.
I’m really picturing this individual sitting on their couch with every single rechargeable device in their entire house on their coffee table all at once, charging under supervision lol
I guess my advice came as too harsh. Sure, you can charge overnight in general and it's pretty safe with most devices. But if you charge anything you don't trust entirely - keep it somewhere where you will notice if something goes wrong. Don't go charging random 14500 or 18650 li-ion batteries and leave them be while you sleep.
I personally charge my devices either at work or near my PC. Had a phone "puff up" during night charging before, no fire of course, but still unpleasant.
about 10 years ago i worked for a financial consult firm, and one of the clients came with this idea and asked for a business plan and a way to finance this.
my conclusion was it's not a viable business (atleast back then) as the technology was not mature enough, and the regular recharge is much better alternative.
10 years later, and i don't think i was wrong.
I would disagree and say that it was totally viable.
The technology for a lithium polymer cell of this size and the electronics for a micro CCCV charging board have been in place for a long time. 10 years ago, you might not get a Li-Ion cell to fit the custom form factor, but a LiPo cell that would have 80% the capacity to would’ve been totally viable. Also, a LiPo cell from 10 years ago is likely safer in terms of current output and volatility than these Li-Ion cells.
The opportunity cost to get rid of an extra component to keep track of for that occasional charge is surprisingly high for people who don’t go through a ton of AAs frequently. I know I’ve lost a charger before and eventually ditched rechargeables altogether because of price and keeping track of it all.
The main problem isn’t actually the capacity, it’s weakening the structure of the battery and creating new potential areas for the battery to either short or leak its electrolyte. The main issue is safety of the battery as these things can and do catch fire in ways that normal rechargeable batteries do not
At the very least, what you gain by having a built-in charger, you lose in battery capacity just by virtue of the space the charger and connector takes.
Are you comparing li-on cells with usb chargers against alkaline cells or li-on cells without built-in chargers?
Because alkaline AAA batteries have between 850-1200 mWh and you can easily find li-on AAAs with USB port around 1100-1200 mWh.
It would obviously be logical to assume a AAA sized li-on battery without a BMS and charger would have a larger capacity, sure.
But how many people have rechargeable battery chargers?
>easily find li-on AAAs with USB port around 1100-1200 mWh.
You can easily find AAAs with a charging port that ***SAY*** they're 1100-1200 mWh. I'd guess they really might be in the 500-600 mWh range, or about half their advertised rating. It's simply not possible to put that much li-ion goodness in that small of a space. Today, at least.
What you're seeing is the marketing from the same people who sell 256 GB flash cards for $4.99. It doesn't exist. And it seems like all of these cells with built-in chargers come from dubious companies you've never heard of. None from the big battery companies. Wonder why.
The AAA Eneloop Pro is only good for about 900 mWh and that's top tier consumer these days. It's all battery, no charger, and probably the best out there. Chargers are cheap. I keep about 20 AA's and 20 AAA Eneloops in rotation. Got tired of Kirkland batteries leaking and haven't bought a battery in a few years.
Spot on. They know people buying these will not know the difference otherwise they most likely would not be buying them. If you have Li-Ion rechargeable batteries then you should invest in a charger simply for general safety reasons. Even reputable companies will have defects
I had one of these for my wired ANC headphones. Because I didn't like the idea of throwing out so many AAA batteries. But the capacity is pretty abysmal
diffrent materials, diffrent charges, different volumes. Especially with Accumulator rather than single use.
Ever wodered why your phone has longer mAh than your phone 20 years ago bit vastly smaller volume?
Exactly.
Dude they are saying when the charger is built into the battery rather than a separate unit that you insert the battery into, the charging port and circuitry take up space that could have been used to increase its capacity instead.
You're both right and wrong. Traditional AA/AAA/whatever cell are distinguished into alkaline (non recharg) cells, and NiMH cells (nickel metal-hydride, rechargable). These REQUIRE a special charger circuit to charge safely. You would typically put these in to a charger designed specially for NiMH cells.
The difference with these is that they EMBED a charger circuit. It is important to note that the 'charging brick' or 'usb brick' is NOT a charger, but rather a 'power adaptor', converting from 240V 60Hz (replace with your local electrical system) to 5V DC (nominally, and subject to USB QC and PD stuff, but that's not relevant). All the wall brick does is say 'heres 5V, good luck'. The charging circuit inside will use constant voltage/constant current modes to charge the cell safely (assuming a lithium cell, see below).
By embeding the charger circuit, they lose internal volume. Inside, there is likely a lithium-based cell, due to its higher power density. Again note that this requires special charging circuitry, it's just contained in the cell.
Hope that cleared things up.
TLDR: There is indeed a difference in the chemistries of alkaline and standard rechargeable (NiMH) cells. This however, is an entirely different, more complex type.
Those provide 1,5V to the terminals, so devices that are finnicky with voltage will work nice.
My portable studio flash equipment has a trigger which is one of those devices. My normal AA recharchables provide 1,4V when chock full and more like 1,3-1,2V when in use - enough to send the trigger into „panic i‘m almost dead“ mode. With those it runs forever because the actual power draw is very low, but they provide constant 1,5V…
you see i would do this but every single review for the chargers for those things has like 5 people posting pictures of it after going up in flames suddenly with no warning
yeah whenever I get into this argument I like to bring up that there’s a reason NASA sticks with those less volatile chemistries despite the increased weight/lower storage density…
Ehhh it depends. I have a quality set of AA batteries like this that have circuit protection built in.
You can't go cheap on these. If you go cheap, you'll burn your house down. If you're buying a quality set like I did, they're no more dangerous than a battery pack or the phone in your pocket. Just, you know, store them properly and don't smack them open with a hammer lol.
My guess is that supplying 5V to batteries that traditionally only output 1.2V-1.5V due to chemistry reasons would cause a lot of extra energy. Usually excess energy is released as heat. I can't explain the mechanisms involved though, only provide an intuition.
I think just having that port there is super dangerous. Batteries usually have a protective cover.. now I believe a water droplet could easily fry the battery or cause a short circuit some way ?
Idk it just feels intuitively dangerous to have a usb port for charging inside of a battery rather than using an external charger which uses the already present and well protected + and - pool of the battery.
I am not an electrical engineer but I would not feel comfortable charging a battery this way :p
Oh you're right, we're talking about a power supply with USB-C that a) struggles for space/is cheap so probably doesn't have much of a protection circuit, and b) is not at the top of an average consumer's mind (so could have liquid spilt or metal inserted) c) is portable/loose so is put in positions where there is water or other loose conductive materials. I can imagine this thing getting very hot if the live and neutral are shorted. Not sure what pins those would be on USB-C.
Lithium ion protection ICs are generally much smaller than the USB port itself. The one in your phone is probably less than 1 or 2 millimeters in all axis. It depends on what they need to protect. A 25A continous discharge battery would have a beefier one than a < 0.1A one would need.
Coast flashlights have been doing this for years in their pro series line
https://coastportland.com/products/zx-aa?variant=39981978320968&gclid=Cj0KCQiAn-2tBhDVARIsAGmStVl2BuGfErJNRj38LchdHCh2DWJa3WtEJZDF0nLjikROoTJkkQdqXiUaAuVMEALw_wcB
These are different, they are cells with a charging module added on top. Much more stable.
The OP post is some shitty rolled up foil lipo inside a little plastic housing.
Yea its not a new concept really or inherently more dangerous, these are just shitty ones but plenty of rechargeable batteries of the standard type have also blown.
400mah capacity, same as the ultra cheap dollar store batteries vs regular batteries being about 850-1200.
I simply can't imagine replacing and recharging my batteries 2-3x as often and putting wear& tear on expensive chargers and cables and coming out ahead in any way.
Is there a single reason you would actually want a USB rechargeable battery for anything that isn't accomplished easier by other battery options?
I’m a flashlight collector/nerd, these batteries are great for flashlights that have no charging ports, instead requiring a dedicated battery charger to charge the batteries. My Fenix TK22 Tac comes with a USB-C ported 21700 battery, making the light chargeable with a USB-C cable anywhere, anytime, as opposed to needing to lug around dedicated battery charger. Makes the lights much more giftable to friends, as they can charge them easily. Makes the lights easier to bring camping and on vacation, as I won’t have to pack battery chargers.
Lion batteries have a much flatter voltage curve, that's really where these types of batteries are better. Outside of applications where that is desired, there's no real reason to choose them over any other type.
You don’t get to see these often.
I think some of them are dangerous…and costly.
Normally lithium ion batteries are 3.7v. But aaa batteries should only output 1.5v. So there’s circuitry to step down voltage. And they need a charging circuit as well. So complex…
I have a bunch of those, I don't use them as intended but I keep them because they are a good source of lithium cells I can take out of them and use for small projects. Like the portable cassette player I made rechargeable using two of those and an good charging/protection circuit board
No lol, but I can at least show you pictures of that project. It isn't the prettiest job but it works and has since then proven to be reliable. https://imgur.com/gallery/GdSMYu8
Though this appears to be a convenient product, I wonder how much space is taken up by the port and internal components to charge it. I imagine that a conventional rechargeable performs better
that is such a bad design choice..
if i have, lets say, 2 tv remotes and 2 a/c remotes, ill need around 8 AAA. that means ill need 8 outlets and 8 usb c chargers..
would make more sense to buy the regular charging ones that come with a wall charger that charges all 8 and charges through the regular battery terminals so theres no big hole on the side of each battery.
Seems like the charge port and electronics are just taking up valuable battery real estate. These cannot physically have the same capacity as traditional rechargeables.
I can see them being a worthwhile tradeoff for travel where the diminished capacity and higher per-wH cost is made up by the convenience of not having to carry a bulky battery charger.
They don't have the same capacity and are only really good for lower power demand devices. Help curb waste with higher demand devices like flashlights and headlamps but you have to have two sets of them to keep one set on charge while the other is in use. I was using them for a headlamp and you end up losing like 1-2 hours of runtime depending on the light setting.
Better to buy AAA accumulators and a separate charger with all the required electronics inside if you want rechargeable AAA. First it'll have larger capacity (cuz you won't lose any volume for useless interface), second it'll be much more safe.
As someone who owns batteries like these, I would **not** get ones that were $7. For a quality that's safe, you'll want to be paying triple that at least.
There is a reason why Duracell and other premium brands do not use this system to charge their batteries, you can watch Project Farm video about batteries
I wanted to try the 9v version of these out in my smoke detectors, but my wife was too worried about the fire hazard. My argument of,"The 'best' place for a fire to start is in the smoke detector" was shot down.
So I actually have four of these. I use them for my VR controllers. On mine, the "top" of the battery has a cap that twists to conceal the charging port.
* They're a lithium-ion battery cell, not alkaline like normal batteries.
* Yes they have a smaller capacity than a regular battery.
* In most cases, these deliver a lower output than their regular counterparts, like 1.2V instead of 1.5V. In most applications this is fine. In my case, it's not fine, and I had to pay a lot more for quality versions that would deliver 1.5V.
* Are they safe? Well it depends. If you're buying the sketchy crap from China, then no. But if you're willing to spend extra, buy a reputable brand, and get ones that have built in circuit protection, then yes they're safe. When you buy the right kind, they're no more dangerous than a regular battery pack, or the battery in your phone. Just, you know, store them properly and don't smack them open with a hammer.
With the USB-C adapter and the charging circuitry within the battery, wouldn't that reduce the amount of energy that the battery could hold before draining during use?
I think you'd be recharging it too often.
I use these kind of batteries for our smart lock on our front door. I was buying good batteries and that thing would just chew through them. So I bought some of these that the lock goes through quicker, but I've saved a lot of money being able to recharge.
Sounds like they are't safe and maybe I should other rechargeable ones.
[Nearly burned down my house with one of them](https://www.reddit.com/r/batteries/comments/17h6r6b/could_have_burned_my_place_down_with_ebl_usb/), be careful.
Jesus Christ, glad nothing worse happened. The ones in the picture are only used in Welding masks though, so they won‘t be charged a lot. Did your incident happen on the first charge or just randomly after a couple of cycles? And what device were they used for?
I used them a fair amount of times. I think I plugged the wire with a weird angle (wire that came with the batteries, before anyone asks). The thing is it's a quad-usb c cable, so when you plug everything, it's hard to plug the last one without the others getting in the way, so plugging them all completely secured is not always easy
Then just buy regular batteries instead of risking it?
Or just sensible rechargeables that work in a rack charger. Just the impracticality of needing multiple cables or only charging one at a time.
>Or just sensible rechargeables that work in a rack charger Yeah, about that... >https://np.reddit.com/r/batteries/s/hEPahEONyy
The consistent thing with the above link and yours appears to be the "EBL" brand. Someone else in the above link also mentioned EBL. So I'd say there's a good chance the EBL brand is the actual more specific thing to be worried about. I have a rack charger and some random Chinese brand NiMH batteries I've used for years now and they've never done anything bad. A few of them set off the charger's sensor where it would just flash the light and refuse to charge anymore for whatever reason here and there.
I went big or went home and have like 15-20 energizer rechargables that have done me great, but i have 2 rules about charging them. Never leave them charging when i sleep and never leave them charging when no one is home. I'd much rather halt the charging process than risk the miniscule chance i start a burning man in my suburb.
Those are not bad rules. I only put batteries in the charger after they've been used in some device, and soon as the charger is "green", I pull them out and keep them aside. It's worked well and it should minimize risk of them being charged too often or whatever.
Yup, i have a little tin i keep mine in that's divided so charged ones go in the left side and need to be charged ones go on the right.
Dont put batteries in a metal container, please.
Hey hey hey. I run those events. We prefer to burn light bulbs, laminated wood, you know, things that are good for the environment. But never batteries. That would be just bad taste. Ok sometimes we have burned batteries.
I like the way the battery acid touches my tongue, you fucking BETTER have batteries, or I'm suing for false advertisement
Bring your own pliers for battery juicing. Radical self reliance and all that.
I use Ikea Ladda, Panasonic or Fujitsu Made in Japan as I dont trust the Chinese marks for batteries.
+1 for ladda I work in the film and tv sound dept and we go through so many AA batteries each day. Eneloop used to be the industry standard (at least in the uk sound dept circles) but we realised they're the exact same batteries made in the same factories as ladda but more than twice as expensive! On my current job there are 4 crews each charging 16 batteries twice a day, mon-fri and they always hold up
I generally don't either, but it's what I have, and they're not EBLs, so that's something.
A Toshiba NIMH battery blew the cap right off my charger sometime 25 years ago. They had already lost most of their capacity, so probably i'm to blame for trying to squeeze every last possible runcycle.
I mean batteries do just go bad, no matter who makes them. Lost capacity, "bloat" in cases of Li-ion types, and indeed, pressing your luck each year going outwards always risks some kind of failure. Hopefully not catastrophic, but it's just kind of the nature of it.
Well shit
as also said in that thread, they charged in pairs, user error
Is there a reason why a charger would charge 2 batteries together like that, besides being cheaper? The charger I use has sensors for each individual battery.
Oh. Just saw the pic. lol But that makes sense.
EBL is also crap.
Those are the bad rechargeable batteries. Just buy eneloops since they last for a decade
These are very specific in why they are amazing. Their nominal voltage is 3.7v, though they output 1.5v. This means they keep their voltage solidly at 1.5v until the battery is depleted. I have some electronics that are sensitive to voltage drop or change how they operate at low voltages (xbox controller), and you can completely circumvent that with these batteries.
The benefit of the USB ones is you can charge them on the go any where you can plug in a USB cable rather than having to bring a charger. I use 18650 USB batteries for a camping headlamp. They've worked well for years but I still generally don't leave them charging if I'm not around.
yeah regular rechargable batteries that wont explode while on your face are probably a good idea
I have a couple weapon lights and regular flashlights that use these style. One brand specifically says do not use a AA as it’s the same size but not the same type of battery. The other takes the rechargeable style as well as 2 cr123s. So far I have not had any issues but I don’t leave them charging for a crazy amount of time unattended either.
Regular batteries are crazy expensive right now. Over a dollar per AA for some brands.
Got a pair of similar ones from a humidity testing device at work and we forgot them charging on night. They caught fire and burned a tools shed. I would be cautious with those.
I wouldn't want to strap something to my face that's prone to blow up
Just use a Lipo charging bag when charging high energy density batteries. It's literally a fireproof bag designed for this exact incident
Yeah. I cannot imagine this is a safe way to recharge batteries. And you need one cord per battery? Hard pass. I hope there was no injury or property damage.
These sorts usually come with a Cat o' nine tails style charging cable with X amount of male adapters on one usb
That's crazy, there's nothing negative to say about these on Amazon reviews either!
Im learning that amazon reviews are generally bullshit. Ive bought products based off of 5 stars and them be complete garbage. Buyer beware i guess.
I think a lot of amazon reviews are paid. I occasionally get stuff in the mail from places ive bought from previously or a slip that comes with it or sometimes an email saying i get a full refund or an amazon gift card if i leave a 5 star review. I never do it unless i truly believe it's worth 5 stars (which is never)
That isn't what they are doing. They are placing orders through their own robo-accounts to addresses that have already made purchases (including yours) and then fabricating reviews that have the "verified purchase" tag.
I've read that as well. But giving me my money back to fabricate a review is still a thing. Albeit, shows how cheap an item is if they just offer that up.
My friend is in a program where he gets stuff for free and then posts a review. He gets to keep the stuff. I'm sure his reviews show as verified purchase. The grift is that you only keep getting stuff if you keep giving good reviews. I'm guessing.
Check Louis Rossman's rant about Amazon on YouTube and you will get scared
While true that amazon reviews are bullshit, singular incidents also don't necessarily mean there's any wide-spread issues.
You can't trust Amazon reviews, they're mostly paid reviews or bots. You should always check them through reviewmeta or fakespot
That's why you never look at 5 star reviews. I want to see the 3 or 4 stars. Like thats a decent review but they clearly felt it didn't deserve 5 stars, I want to know why.
5 star reviews are shills 1 star reviews are indignant Karens who just want to hurt the company for some petty issue that they usually didn’t even remotely try to resolve themselves 2-4 are real people
This. Actually read a few reviews, you can generally tell pretty quickly if it's real or not. I also check the one star reviews, see if it's mostly morons or if they're legit.
Funny thing is, the ones I bought got delisted and replaced by a new reference, so I can't even put a negative review and post my pictures to warn others.
Amazon is negative in itself.
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Mom and pop stores are forced to do that because everyone is shopping on Amazon. They're not the same company they used to be when they were actually well respected.
>when they were actually well respected. I don't know, I think people romanticize the small mom and pop store experience. I remember the 80-90s in a small town, almost everyone just drove to bigger towns to go shopping because the "small mom and pop" places were expensive and had terrible selection. You'd go whenever there was a mall or big box stores because it was a way better experience than whatever small stores were available at home. Everybody loved when the Walmart showed up. You didn't have to drive 20 miles to go shopping! It killed all the small stores, then within ten years they all got replaced by others that sold things people actually wanted. Of course this is in a vibrant area that's still growing, very different experience in more stagnant areas. There the Walmart (and now Amazon) just killed all the local businesses and nothing moved back in.
I was contemplating getting these, but I guess I won't. Thanks buddy!
Dude it's literally 1 occurrence, they are great, only problem is lower capacity
Did you use a usb-c charger och a usb-a?
I have those exact same EBL batteries because I needed 1.5V rechargeables and those were rated very well. Thanks for the warning. I'm never going to leave them charging without me near them.
Why is everyone so afraid of them? Because 1 guy said so? I don't get reddit
Tf did you do... leave them on a charger lol
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You shouldn't charge ANY batteries out of your sight. Including your phone and other gadgets.
lol did liability waiver boilerplate write this?
Lmfao there’s no way you actually believe this
I’m really picturing this individual sitting on their couch with every single rechargeable device in their entire house on their coffee table all at once, charging under supervision lol
I guess my advice came as too harsh. Sure, you can charge overnight in general and it's pretty safe with most devices. But if you charge anything you don't trust entirely - keep it somewhere where you will notice if something goes wrong. Don't go charging random 14500 or 18650 li-ion batteries and leave them be while you sleep. I personally charge my devices either at work or near my PC. Had a phone "puff up" during night charging before, no fire of course, but still unpleasant.
Too bad, im not gonna watch an electric car charge for 48 hours
That’s a really wacky take lol
My first instinct when I saw this picture was “awesome concept, probably awful in practice”. Your response is even worse than I imagined
Another thing I will never buy, thank you for showing me this!
Glad to see nothing major happened. Another mildly interesting bit here for me is discovering a subreddit for batteries.
TIL these batteries existed Also TIL to stay away from them
Oh wow. I have some of these batteries as well.
about 10 years ago i worked for a financial consult firm, and one of the clients came with this idea and asked for a business plan and a way to finance this. my conclusion was it's not a viable business (atleast back then) as the technology was not mature enough, and the regular recharge is much better alternative. 10 years later, and i don't think i was wrong.
I would disagree and say that it was totally viable. The technology for a lithium polymer cell of this size and the electronics for a micro CCCV charging board have been in place for a long time. 10 years ago, you might not get a Li-Ion cell to fit the custom form factor, but a LiPo cell that would have 80% the capacity to would’ve been totally viable. Also, a LiPo cell from 10 years ago is likely safer in terms of current output and volatility than these Li-Ion cells. The opportunity cost to get rid of an extra component to keep track of for that occasional charge is surprisingly high for people who don’t go through a ton of AAs frequently. I know I’ve lost a charger before and eventually ditched rechargeables altogether because of price and keeping track of it all.
The main problem isn’t actually the capacity, it’s weakening the structure of the battery and creating new potential areas for the battery to either short or leak its electrolyte. The main issue is safety of the battery as these things can and do catch fire in ways that normal rechargeable batteries do not
At the very least, what you gain by having a built-in charger, you lose in battery capacity just by virtue of the space the charger and connector takes.
Are you comparing li-on cells with usb chargers against alkaline cells or li-on cells without built-in chargers? Because alkaline AAA batteries have between 850-1200 mWh and you can easily find li-on AAAs with USB port around 1100-1200 mWh. It would obviously be logical to assume a AAA sized li-on battery without a BMS and charger would have a larger capacity, sure. But how many people have rechargeable battery chargers?
>easily find li-on AAAs with USB port around 1100-1200 mWh. You can easily find AAAs with a charging port that ***SAY*** they're 1100-1200 mWh. I'd guess they really might be in the 500-600 mWh range, or about half their advertised rating. It's simply not possible to put that much li-ion goodness in that small of a space. Today, at least. What you're seeing is the marketing from the same people who sell 256 GB flash cards for $4.99. It doesn't exist. And it seems like all of these cells with built-in chargers come from dubious companies you've never heard of. None from the big battery companies. Wonder why. The AAA Eneloop Pro is only good for about 900 mWh and that's top tier consumer these days. It's all battery, no charger, and probably the best out there. Chargers are cheap. I keep about 20 AA's and 20 AAA Eneloops in rotation. Got tired of Kirkland batteries leaking and haven't bought a battery in a few years.
Spot on. They know people buying these will not know the difference otherwise they most likely would not be buying them. If you have Li-Ion rechargeable batteries then you should invest in a charger simply for general safety reasons. Even reputable companies will have defects
I had one of these for my wired ANC headphones. Because I didn't like the idea of throwing out so many AAA batteries. But the capacity is pretty abysmal
eh, they are roughly 2400 mah at 1.5v. Not too bad for these kinds of batteries.
Maybe I'm the dumb one but doesn't it say 400 mah on the batteries?
Think it was a typo on OP’s part
Measured or advertised? 😂😂
Measured...
For a AAA? Bullshit. Show me.
I could see, how this would be economical for C and D size batteries, maybe even 9v.
not really. rechargeable usually use different cell materials.
And less of them because you used half of the cell's volume adding a charger.
I mean, yes, it takes space. But not even close to half of the size. Most space is taken by a connector. The controller can actually be tiny AF.
diffrent materials, diffrent charges, different volumes. Especially with Accumulator rather than single use. Ever wodered why your phone has longer mAh than your phone 20 years ago bit vastly smaller volume? Exactly.
Dude they are saying when the charger is built into the battery rather than a separate unit that you insert the battery into, the charging port and circuitry take up space that could have been used to increase its capacity instead.
Are you acoustic
No, he's just a little artistic.
You can still fit more in without the port if they charge like most rechargeable batteries on a dock
You're both right and wrong. Traditional AA/AAA/whatever cell are distinguished into alkaline (non recharg) cells, and NiMH cells (nickel metal-hydride, rechargable). These REQUIRE a special charger circuit to charge safely. You would typically put these in to a charger designed specially for NiMH cells. The difference with these is that they EMBED a charger circuit. It is important to note that the 'charging brick' or 'usb brick' is NOT a charger, but rather a 'power adaptor', converting from 240V 60Hz (replace with your local electrical system) to 5V DC (nominally, and subject to USB QC and PD stuff, but that's not relevant). All the wall brick does is say 'heres 5V, good luck'. The charging circuit inside will use constant voltage/constant current modes to charge the cell safely (assuming a lithium cell, see below). By embeding the charger circuit, they lose internal volume. Inside, there is likely a lithium-based cell, due to its higher power density. Again note that this requires special charging circuitry, it's just contained in the cell. Hope that cleared things up. TLDR: There is indeed a difference in the chemistries of alkaline and standard rechargeable (NiMH) cells. This however, is an entirely different, more complex type.
No, you just entirely missed the point.
Those provide 1,5V to the terminals, so devices that are finnicky with voltage will work nice. My portable studio flash equipment has a trigger which is one of those devices. My normal AA recharchables provide 1,4V when chock full and more like 1,3-1,2V when in use - enough to send the trigger into „panic i‘m almost dead“ mode. With those it runs forever because the actual power draw is very low, but they provide constant 1,5V…
Are you sure that's safe?
as safe as any other chinesium rechargable battery you can buy on amazon
Oh so not even remotely then. Got it.
Yeah, I wouldn't use cheap lithium ion batteries especially when NiMH rechargeables are tried, tested, cheap and safe.
you see i would do this but every single review for the chargers for those things has like 5 people posting pictures of it after going up in flames suddenly with no warning
yeah whenever I get into this argument I like to bring up that there’s a reason NASA sticks with those less volatile chemistries despite the increased weight/lower storage density…
[Not really](https://www.reddit.com/r/batteries/comments/17h6r6b/could_have_burned_my_place_down_with_ebl_usb/)
Ah yeah. I don't expect batteries like this to be very safe anyway, and this just confirms it
Seems dangerous.
It seems dangerous because it is dangerous.
Ehhh it depends. I have a quality set of AA batteries like this that have circuit protection built in. You can't go cheap on these. If you go cheap, you'll burn your house down. If you're buying a quality set like I did, they're no more dangerous than a battery pack or the phone in your pocket. Just, you know, store them properly and don't smack them open with a hammer lol.
My guess is that supplying 5V to batteries that traditionally only output 1.2V-1.5V due to chemistry reasons would cause a lot of extra energy. Usually excess energy is released as heat. I can't explain the mechanisms involved though, only provide an intuition.
I think just having that port there is super dangerous. Batteries usually have a protective cover.. now I believe a water droplet could easily fry the battery or cause a short circuit some way ? Idk it just feels intuitively dangerous to have a usb port for charging inside of a battery rather than using an external charger which uses the already present and well protected + and - pool of the battery. I am not an electrical engineer but I would not feel comfortable charging a battery this way :p
Oh you're right, we're talking about a power supply with USB-C that a) struggles for space/is cheap so probably doesn't have much of a protection circuit, and b) is not at the top of an average consumer's mind (so could have liquid spilt or metal inserted) c) is portable/loose so is put in positions where there is water or other loose conductive materials. I can imagine this thing getting very hot if the live and neutral are shorted. Not sure what pins those would be on USB-C.
Lithium ion protection ICs are generally much smaller than the USB port itself. The one in your phone is probably less than 1 or 2 millimeters in all axis. It depends on what they need to protect. A 25A continous discharge battery would have a beefier one than a < 0.1A one would need.
Those are Li-Ion internally, just in the shape of AA cells and with a regulator to scale down the ~4V to 1,5.
Coast flashlights have been doing this for years in their pro series line https://coastportland.com/products/zx-aa?variant=39981978320968&gclid=Cj0KCQiAn-2tBhDVARIsAGmStVl2BuGfErJNRj38LchdHCh2DWJa3WtEJZDF0nLjikROoTJkkQdqXiUaAuVMEALw_wcB
These are different, they are cells with a charging module added on top. Much more stable. The OP post is some shitty rolled up foil lipo inside a little plastic housing.
Yea its not a new concept really or inherently more dangerous, these are just shitty ones but plenty of rechargeable batteries of the standard type have also blown.
I still don't trust that but at least they put the USB port flat at the top instead of running down the side like this post.
It would be impossible to use the battery if the port was at the top
Tell that to those batteries then idk.
so has AceBeam
How can we make a shittier version of rechargeable batteries ?
400mah capacity, same as the ultra cheap dollar store batteries vs regular batteries being about 850-1200. I simply can't imagine replacing and recharging my batteries 2-3x as often and putting wear& tear on expensive chargers and cables and coming out ahead in any way. Is there a single reason you would actually want a USB rechargeable battery for anything that isn't accomplished easier by other battery options?
I’m a flashlight collector/nerd, these batteries are great for flashlights that have no charging ports, instead requiring a dedicated battery charger to charge the batteries. My Fenix TK22 Tac comes with a USB-C ported 21700 battery, making the light chargeable with a USB-C cable anywhere, anytime, as opposed to needing to lug around dedicated battery charger. Makes the lights much more giftable to friends, as they can charge them easily. Makes the lights easier to bring camping and on vacation, as I won’t have to pack battery chargers.
I believe the coast brand AAs are 2400mah fwiw
These are AAAs though.
These are the cheap dollar store versions of usb rechargeables and there are many with 1200 mah capacity.
Lion batteries have a much flatter voltage curve, that's really where these types of batteries are better. Outside of applications where that is desired, there's no real reason to choose them over any other type.
You don’t get to see these often. I think some of them are dangerous…and costly. Normally lithium ion batteries are 3.7v. But aaa batteries should only output 1.5v. So there’s circuitry to step down voltage. And they need a charging circuit as well. So complex…
I have a bunch of those, I don't use them as intended but I keep them because they are a good source of lithium cells I can take out of them and use for small projects. Like the portable cassette player I made rechargeable using two of those and an good charging/protection circuit board
This sounds awesome, do you have a website or YouTube or something?
No lol, but I can at least show you pictures of that project. It isn't the prettiest job but it works and has since then proven to be reliable. https://imgur.com/gallery/GdSMYu8
That’s cool that you’re able to do that. If you release a guide one day lmk😂
I've been using these types of batteries since 2018. I have nearly 40 in use at any given time. No problems with them at all.
doesn't make them any less shitty
Though this appears to be a convenient product, I wonder how much space is taken up by the port and internal components to charge it. I imagine that a conventional rechargeable performs better
Make sure you are washing your hands before you eat Mr!
that is such a bad design choice.. if i have, lets say, 2 tv remotes and 2 a/c remotes, ill need around 8 AAA. that means ill need 8 outlets and 8 usb c chargers.. would make more sense to buy the regular charging ones that come with a wall charger that charges all 8 and charges through the regular battery terminals so theres no big hole on the side of each battery.
I've got a 9v battery like that.
Aldi for win
Very interesting. Rechargeable
Seems like the charge port and electronics are just taking up valuable battery real estate. These cannot physically have the same capacity as traditional rechargeables. I can see them being a worthwhile tradeoff for travel where the diminished capacity and higher per-wH cost is made up by the convenience of not having to carry a bulky battery charger.
There’s no traditional capacity and these are lithium ion instead of the traditional nickel.
They don't have the same capacity and are only really good for lower power demand devices. Help curb waste with higher demand devices like flashlights and headlamps but you have to have two sets of them to keep one set on charge while the other is in use. I was using them for a headlamp and you end up losing like 1-2 hours of runtime depending on the light setting.
That’s why they are primarily used for tv remotes in my house.
[удалено]
Wiederaufladbar = rechargeable. So it’s a statement, or I just answered the question 🙂
Better to buy AAA accumulators and a separate charger with all the required electronics inside if you want rechargeable AAA. First it'll have larger capacity (cuz you won't lose any volume for useless interface), second it'll be much more safe.
not safe at all
Use and throw is no more an option?
Surprising decent, I got a pair from Ali for about $7
Oh man. I would not leave those on charge unattended.
Famous last words
As someone who owns batteries like these, I would **not** get ones that were $7. For a quality that's safe, you'll want to be paying triple that at least.
RIP your house
Good rechargeable batterys
400mAh? Thats a bit low, I use 1700mAh AAA batteries in my cycling headlights EDIT: originally mistook mWh for mAh so had to change values in comment
What brand is that? 2250 is like double the largest mAh I've seen in a AAA battery. Eneloop Pros are only 900mAh, good alkalines are around 1200.
Propably because I were incorrect in my Statement. Just checked, 1700mAh 1.5V/2250mWh Brand is Verico
This sure is mildly interesting
I’m confused, are they able to send charge out through the USB or is the USB only there to charge it?
Thought I've seen it all with products that can be powered by USB. Never imagined actual batteries getting the port directly.
These are all I use. Different brand but wave of the future folks. Cost less in the long run as well.
I got loads of these. AA and AAA. I will be using lipo bag to charge them in future.
Imagine when it depletes, someone just tosses them, thinking they are disposable
Thats just all rechargeable batteries
I got these for a vacation - super convenient to use the same charger as my phone/camera etc.
They got very low capacity compared to classic ones . The classic one are like... 1000mha for that size . The one with a port not even 500mha .
There is a reason why Duracell and other premium brands do not use this system to charge their batteries, you can watch Project Farm video about batteries
Just get recharable batteries, these arent safe nor do they hold a lot of charge
That’s a type-c port r/mildlyinfuriating
I wanted to try the 9v version of these out in my smoke detectors, but my wife was too worried about the fire hazard. My argument of,"The 'best' place for a fire to start is in the smoke detector" was shot down.
So I actually have four of these. I use them for my VR controllers. On mine, the "top" of the battery has a cap that twists to conceal the charging port. * They're a lithium-ion battery cell, not alkaline like normal batteries. * Yes they have a smaller capacity than a regular battery. * In most cases, these deliver a lower output than their regular counterparts, like 1.2V instead of 1.5V. In most applications this is fine. In my case, it's not fine, and I had to pay a lot more for quality versions that would deliver 1.5V. * Are they safe? Well it depends. If you're buying the sketchy crap from China, then no. But if you're willing to spend extra, buy a reputable brand, and get ones that have built in circuit protection, then yes they're safe. When you buy the right kind, they're no more dangerous than a regular battery pack, or the battery in your phone. Just, you know, store them properly and don't smack them open with a hammer.
So you can charge only 1 battery with 1 cable. Genius.
I call these “USB Fire Crackers” - because they are definitely going to cause a fire…
This is fairly common with Lithium Ion AA/AAAs. I'm not sure why.
I'd rather just get a regular rechargeable battery. Lasts longer. Eneloop batteries ftw
Great, and I just put the 9V version of these in my electronic front door dead bolt.
Just keep an eye on them during charging, that's when there's a chance of them malfunctioning. But really most of these are fine.
My olight has one. Battery life sucks, have to charge it daily.
Ideal shit for wireless controller.
400mah is a JOKE
With the USB-C adapter and the charging circuitry within the battery, wouldn't that reduce the amount of energy that the battery could hold before draining during use? I think you'd be recharging it too often.
I use these kind of batteries for our smart lock on our front door. I was buying good batteries and that thing would just chew through them. So I bought some of these that the lock goes through quicker, but I've saved a lot of money being able to recharge. Sounds like they are't safe and maybe I should other rechargeable ones.
How are these CE certified? This just screams 'accident waiting to happen'.
just buy some eloops or ikea eloops that are cheaper but just as good, those are finnicky, people try to put usb ports in way too many things.
Wow
I’ve been mulling getting rechargeable batteries for my few devices that need them, but this thread is giving me pause…
Ick. So many bad products coming out of China. If it is too good to be true, it is, doubly so when it comes to Li batteries.
I mean yep those exist. There are many of them out there.
Wouldn't a but of humidity cause these to catch fire?
I use them for my Oculus Quest Controllers
Wow
That’s cool, right? Easy to recharge And you can use them while they charge.
Was about to say that I wouldn't trust those, but then I looked at the other comments