Hunting Washington Forum
Community => Trail Cameras => Topic started by: Chet43 on December 27, 2020, 01:14:02 PM
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Have not used t-cams very much in the past but this year got some cheaper ones to learn and play with but also realized the cost of batteries might put me in the poor house.
How good are rechargeable batteries for t-cams?
Do they last/run as long as standard batteries when they are new and also once you begin to recharge them?
Does hot or cold weather affect them more than it does standard batteries?
How many recharges can you do before they have to be replaced? etc., etc.
appreciate all the info I can get before buying rechargeable batteries and a charger for them.
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Lithium batteries are the way to go. And a silica packet.
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My cameras run on AA batteries and I use standard ones. Depending on if you are taking video or pictures and how many pictures you take per trigger will play a lot into battery life. I just take regular pics and can get 10's of thousands of pictures on 8 AA batteries. I get the big packs of them on sale at Costco and feel like its pretty cheap
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Lithium ion all the way. They cost more but they probably last 4 times longer and 1/4 of the weight.
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A battery tester will save you a lot of money. You won't be changing out batteries before you need to.
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There are different capacities in AA rechargeable and the cost goes up quickly for the higher capacity. Unless you are going through a bunch, it will take a while to get your money back.
The Costco AAs are a huge value, not the longest lasting but probably at the top for $/mAhr. If you need the camera to run as long as possible, lithium are the way to go as mentioned.
Lookup Project Farm on YouTube, he does a bunch of AA battery tests that are very useful, both for alkaline and rechargeable.
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I was really into the rechargeable stuff and put a bunch into them. . Maybe I had bad luck but they sucked! I slowly converted , by trial to disposables. and there a lot more dependable at least for me. I started out using the Duracell's but switched to the Kirkland Costco brand. The Duracell's leaked and I haven't had that problem with Kirkland's. I also change them out more regularly and keep records on the cameras(about a dozen).I do keep the used ones around for digital cameras and other devices. I also just threw out all that rechargeable crap about a month ago. Your milage may vary.
Mike
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There's another problem with the rechargeables.
Some, if not most are slightly larger in diameter than normal AA. This does not matter when you toss two in a camera, but when you stack 8 of them side by side, the last one may not fit. Also the voltage is slightly less which can lead to the camera not functioning well or at all.
I have just over $50 in Panasonic rechargables for my Spypoints, that will not fit, and are slightly too less in voltage for my other cameras.
Bummer for me!
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I bought 2 sets of energizer brand 3 years ago that I use in my property cam, they last about a month, less if I swap out the card too often. I guess I average 30 pictures a week, give or take a few.
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Thanks everyone for the information. Will check out the you-tube video and will do some testing before making the plunge. Found out I have friends that use lots of AA's for various things and I can test it out on their stuff and if I don't like the rechargables maybe one of them will buy it from me.
