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APC 42 Stabilised for Pelagic Trips and Sea Watching? (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter Jon.Bryant
- Start date
Here in the Netherlands, hardly anyone throws batteries in the trash anymore, but they are handed in for recycling. By the way, I didn't know that disposable batteries have a greater risk of leakage.
Still, 'recycling' often has a far bigger environmental impact than re-using/re-charging/...
I'm not familiar with the specificities of batteries (materials, production processess...). But from similar thinking to other types of products, just thinking of the process of dismantling, purging, re-manufacturing, etc., the batteries, including also the whole disposal chain and new selling/supply chain (incl.packaging,transport etc.), I cannot imagine that recycling of disposable batteries would have a similar environmental impact to re-charging of re-usable batteries or anywhere close.
Of course, in some (rare) cases (some specific battery types, not AA, AAA or similar,for specific use cases), one has no choice but to use disposable batteries, and recycling is still way better than just throwing in the general trash! I just try to limit the use of non-rechargeable batteries to those very rare "no-alternative"-situations.
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It’s specific to alkaline batteries, not sure if expensive lithium disposables are also affected. I’ve never had a NiMH leak, whereas alkalines often do after a period of disuse, leaving a crusty mess.
And yes, my grocery and even workplace have battery recycling stations. I do use disposable CR2032, 9V or LR44 button cells as there are no rechargeable options, and CR2 or CR123 rechargeables have many compatibility issues. It’s still very wasteful annd expensive, and I tend to avoid devices using those whenever possible. I had some Bluetooth-enabled thermometers that used crackpot 2477 batteries that I eventually replaced with AAA-powered ones, for instance.
IKEA sells rebranded made-in-Japan Fujitsu AA and AAA NiMH batteries under the LADDA brand. Those are excellent, and from the original Eneloop factories before Panasonic bought Sanyo and was forced to divest the factories by antitrust authorities. Eneloops are now made in China and not as good any more. The AA is available in two capacities, I get the 2450 rather than 1900 mAh one that is like an Eneloop Pro, higher power and capacity but 500 vs 1000 cycles.
The old 1.2V NiCd AA and AAA batteries had many compatibility issues, but modern NiMH Eneloops very seldom do any more. As far as I am concerned, a device that is not compatible with them is defective by design and I will return it.
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Jon.Bryant
Well-known member
Not sure how the batteries could damage the bins (apart from leakage), as I am fairly sure that the output voltage and amps are gge same for disposable and rechargeable.
I was surprised that Duracell 2500mah rechargeable batteries are very slightly fatter than disposable. With the Kite APC the disposable slide in to the battery compartment easily, but with the 2500mah rechargeable batteries they jam part way in. I am sure they would push in, but I think you would have a hell of a job getting them back out when spent, as they would not simply tumble out.
For me I tried rechargeable partly for the environment and partly as I was doing a 15 day expedition with circa 15 hours of daylight each day! I wanted to ensure the IS wouldn’t die on me during the day, by having freshly charged batteries each day. The blurb also suggest 20 hour or viewing, suggesting I could have chewed through circa 7 sets of batteries with 10 hours of viewing each day. I assume the 20 hours is actually with IS working and not just on, as the two sets of disposables and a third set I scrounged, sufficed.
One last minor criticism of the bin. After long use I found my thumbs started to ache. There is no nice thumb notch unlike on my Swarovski ELs.
I was surprised that Duracell 2500mah rechargeable batteries are very slightly fatter than disposable. With the Kite APC the disposable slide in to the battery compartment easily, but with the 2500mah rechargeable batteries they jam part way in. I am sure they would push in, but I think you would have a hell of a job getting them back out when spent, as they would not simply tumble out.
For me I tried rechargeable partly for the environment and partly as I was doing a 15 day expedition with circa 15 hours of daylight each day! I wanted to ensure the IS wouldn’t die on me during the day, by having freshly charged batteries each day. The blurb also suggest 20 hour or viewing, suggesting I could have chewed through circa 7 sets of batteries with 10 hours of viewing each day. I assume the 20 hours is actually with IS working and not just on, as the two sets of disposables and a third set I scrounged, sufficed.
One last minor criticism of the bin. After long use I found my thumbs started to ache. There is no nice thumb notch unlike on my Swarovski ELs.
Yes, I understand. It is of course better for the environment to use rechargeable batteries as much as possible. And indeed, I also recognize the problem of leaking batteries. Especially equipment that you have not used for a long time. That won't happen anytime soon with my binoculars.
