Rechargeable C batteries for primary dive light

[Sabrawolfy]

Hello All,

I'm new to this forum. I searched and found several discussions on rechargeable AA batteries, but nothing on C batteries. I decided to go night diving, and bought the UK Sea Turtle Pak based on the good reviews for the C4 eLed and Q40 eLed. I've decided to use regular duracell/energizer batteries for the Q40 (my backup light). I haven't bought batteries in 10 years...I hope Duracell/Energizer are still good (they were the best 10 years ago it seems).

I'm thinking about using rechargeable C batteries for the C4 eLed. From some research, it seems the Ni-MH are the best right now. Alkaline, Ni-MH, and Ni-Cd are approved for the C4 eLed according to UK. Is anyone using rechargeable C batteries for their primary dive light? Any experience with brands/etc?

I noticed these:
4X 10000mAh Ni MH C Size 1 2V Rechargeable Battery Batteries Pack M128 | eBay

Normally I would say "ebay batteries from Hong Kong"...next. But this guy only sales batteries and has excellent feedback. And these are 10,000mAh. It seems nobody makes a C size battery with that much capacity. Thoughts?

I might add:
I enjoy solo diving. When I solo dive, I bring a completely redundant tank/regulator system, it's a shore dive, and my max depth is 60ft. I intend to do solo night dives. So reliability is important.

I don't intend for this thread to become a critique of night solo diving (comments are welcome), but are there reliable rechargeable C batteries and which are the best? If not, which alkaline batteries are the most trusted?

 

[herman]

First off 10,000 mHr is suspicious, the largest (common) AA I am aware of is 2500 mHa....these claim to be 4 times that....Hummmm. A quick look around at brand name Cs, they are more in the 5000 range, a lot closer to what I would expect.
In any case, using them creates you another problem, a C charger. I use AAs in a lot of my camera gear, strobes and lights so I already have AAs and chargers. What I do is to buy AA to C adapters ($3ish each) and just use my AAs. Sure they don't last as long but so far I have never had an issue on any night dive with fully charged AAs and if I do, just swap to the backup. If you don't use the entire cap of the battery then what does it matter the size, just recharge more often.....and if you are like me, I am going to recharge between dives anyway. That way I take 1 type of batteries and 1 type of charger.

 

[Doc Harry]

Rechargeable batteries are worthless unless you have a "smart" charger and quality cells. So far I have not found either.

 

[Sabrawolfy]

First off 10,000 mHr is suspicious, the largest (common) AA I am aware of is 2500 mHa....these claim to be 4 times that....Hummmm. A quick look around at brand name Cs, they are more in the 5000 range, a lot closer to what I would expect.
In any case, using them creates you another problem, a C charger. I use AAs in a lot of my camera gear, strobes and lights so I already have AAs and chargers. What I do is to buy AA to C adapters ($3ish each) and just use my AAs. Sure they don't last as long but so far I have never had an issue on any night dive with fully charged AAs and if I do, just swap to the backup. If you don't use the entire cap of the battery then what does it matter the size, just recharge more often.....and if you are like me, I am going to recharge between dives anyway. That way I take 1 type of batteries and 1 type of charger.

Okay that's an interesting idea. What wattage is your lamp? How much burn time do you get with the aa's? I agree with 10000mAh being suspicious.

 

[MRTdiver]

I noticed these:
4X 10000mAh Ni MH C Size 1 2V Rechargeable Battery Batteries Pack M128 | eBay

Normally I would say "ebay batteries from Hong Kong"...next. But this guy only sales batteries and has excellent feedback. And these are 10,000mAh. It seems nobody makes a C size battery with that much capacity. Thoughts?

having spent a few years on the flashlight forums right off the bat I see this eBay seller has a lot of junk Li-ion batteries. I mean the xxx-Fire type. (see here)

Like herman said... this 10 Ah (10,000mAh) capacity for the C size Ni-MH is most likely overrated. I wouldn't be surprised if the wrapping was taken off you would find a AA cell underneath. We've seen this before from other cheap sellers.

However you can find quality Ni-MH cells. Tensai is one I know of for the C & D size. It's been tested and reviewed by a guy named HKJ on the flashlight forums.

Tensai C TR-C4000 - see review (here)
Tensai C TR-C4500 - see review (here)

The problem is where to buy it. It's more expensive and hard to find unless your in Europe.
buy: eBay, EnerDan

These Maha brand may be good. TD. I would consider them.


As herman pointed out... Here are some examples of the AA to C battery adapter/converters: (FT, BJ, TD, LH)

 

[Ketch12]

Given that you're a night and solo diver, and reliability is paramount, you'd be better served by a light from a solid brand that's got an aluminum housing and lithium ion rechargeable batteries.

 

[supergaijin]

I bought these (from a shop in NZ) but haven't yet tried them:

Imedion C Batteries
and the charger


Will try to remember to update when I finally get around to putting them underwater. Maha, Eneloop, Powerex etc. have top of the range rechargeables as long as you understand that they will not give as much initial grunt as an alkaline.

For a (once in a blue moon) night dive, I'd probably justify getting alkalines for a single use.
I night dive too often (once a month) to buy disposables- the carbon imprint is horrendous.

 

[3D diver]

I've been using Tenergy 5000mAh NiMH c-cells in my DRIS 1000 lumen lights (4 each, modified for video). I've learned they aren't enough for two long dives (45 to 60 minutes) so bought a second set to swap between dives.

Alkalines, BTW, were good for 2 or 3 dives...I never ran a set of alkalines long enough to notice any dimming. But I just didn't feel right accumulating bags of partially discharged batteries so sprang for the NiMH batteries.

 

[Doug - aka "Dogfish"]

I have a C4 Led I've used on four Caribbean trips and numerous trips to Catalina Island with regular old Energizer rechargable batteries. Never had a problem.

 

[doctormike]

I might add:
I enjoy solo diving. When I solo dive, I bring a completely redundant tank/regulator system, it's a shore dive, and my max depth is 60ft. I intend to do solo night dives. So reliability is important.

Redundancy is important. One of the most important lines that I remember from my wreck class was: "Three is two, two is one, one is none".

A backup light is more important than finding the best possible rechargeable batteries, since any light can fail, and if it's important, you need it. OK, night diving in a non-overhead environment isn't quite as dependent on light as cave diving, but take a page from their book and get a second light.