Pale Blue Rechargeables?

Discussion related to the Garmin Oregon 7x0 series GPSr
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stantastic
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Pale Blue Rechargeables?

Unread post by stantastic »

I've gone thru a lot of GPSr's and they can eat up regular Alkalines rather quickly (depending on settings, etc.), but still left with something that needs to be tossed in the landfills. Ni-Mh/Lithiums also need to be tossed (eventually) but at least they're reusable, although I've never found any that recharge as many times as advertised. And I do tend to use rechargeables mostly in my Garmins.

I've also used a variety of brands -- Panasonics and Eneloops (which I believe are mfrg'd by Panasonic as well) are my go-to's, but I've used other less knowns on occasion.

The newer Lithium Ion rechargeables are starting to include their own USB port on the side or the top, and usually come with a charging cable which charges four at a time. If going on a trip (particularly international) and wanting to minimize weight and lugging along different types of plug-in chargers, they do make sense.

I was wondering if anyone here has tried any of those newer models that have their own port. Avoiding the older USB-micro port and moving to the newer/better USB-C ports is preferred. Also I'm seeing advertising switching over from using mAh values to mWh (which although is easily converted using a Google website), throws some confusion into the mix. Most brands are showing 2600mWH (1700 mAh). And, I DO HAVE some 2600 mAh Panasonics that tend to last much longer than my 1700 mAh and 1500 mAh batteries.

I thought I read somewhere that these newer built-in-port models, although they work with many devices that accept standard AA batts, are NOT compatible with Garmin GPSr's. Does anybody have any knowledge of that, or any suggestions as to whether to give them a try or not? Of course Amazon sells so many different brands, but I'm drawn to the Pale Blues, although I don't know exactly why. There are other less known brands that of course cost less, but then sometimes you get what you pay for. My dad always taught me "if it's too good to be true, then it probably isn't any good at all" -- so I do end up paying a bit more and "hope" that it was worth it, compared to saving money and finding the product lasts a day or two then dies completely.
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GPSrChive
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Re: Pale Blue Rechargeables?

Unread post by GPSrChive »

We were considering testing some of these once upon a time, but you just can not get past the simple physics of it. A 1700 mAh battery is not going to outperform any of the batteries already tested on the GPSrChive > Oregon 7x0 > Operation > Power Sources > Battery Test page.

These battery manufacturers have to quote a mWh rating just to try and keep their numbers similar to others using the very well known mAh rating. When you see 'mWh', that should trigger a red flag.

Having said that, these do offer one potential advantage in that they (claim to) provide a full 1.5v from start to finish, which may be beneficial for some heavier use electronic devices.

The only way to find out how they perform in Garmin devices is to test them in Garmin devices.

While looking at the PaleBlue 1700 mAh batteries on Amazon, we also found these Deleepow 2200 mAh Lithium AA's that may be better suited for the job.

If anyone were to send a donation specifically for this purpose, we would be compelled to do that testing and publish the results at GPSrChive.
stantastic
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Re: Pale Blue Rechargeables?

Unread post by stantastic »

Thanks for the response and opinion...
stantastic
Posts: 26
Joined: Sun Mar 05, 2017 8:25 pm

Re: Pale Blue Rechargeables?

Unread post by stantastic »

BTW, I think I looked at these on Amazon as well some time ago. I was a little turned off by the fact they sell 4 batteries and the charging cable only has 2 plugs, so you can't charge all 4 at once. I suppose IF they last as long as they say they do, you could always charge the OTHER 2 while you're using the charged ones. And, if they charge as fast as they say they do, then time isn't a problem. As typical with Amazon buyer reviews, some people give them 5 stars, while others suggest "DO NOT BUY THESE BATTERIES!!" They aren't "that" expensive, so I might give them a try anyway. I'm not an electronics expert, but I could try them out and post my findings -- in general terms of course, no actual volts are watts measurements.
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GPSrChive
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Re: Pale Blue Rechargeables?

Unread post by GPSrChive »

We went ahead and purchased some of the higher capacity (3400 mWh/2266 mAh) USB-C Li-PO Rechargeable Lithium batteries and have tested them in the exact same Oregon 750t as all previous battery tests were performed.

They did not do well.

Quite poorly, in fact.

Head on over to GPSrChive > Oregon 7x0 > Operation > Power Sources > Battery Test to see the results...
stantastic
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Re: Pale Blue Rechargeables?

Unread post by stantastic »

Thanks -- BTW, does the Setup > System > Battery Type > (selection) affect ONLY the number of bars being displayed in the battery power remaining icon? That is, if you insert, for example, a Lithium battery and set the type to Lithium, you would see a certain number of bars after a certain time. If you were to use the exact same batteries (and assume they started with the exact same voltage), and then perform the exact same procedure (walking the same distance, setting the same screen brightness, etc., etc.) over the exact same time, BUT you had the battery type set to NiMH, would the number of bars just display differently? And would the batteries actually have the same voltages and amps regardless of how the battery type is chosen in the Setup menus?

Am I making that clear enough?
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GPSrChive
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Re: Pale Blue Rechargeables?

Unread post by GPSrChive »

Yes, the battery selection is only used to load the correct voltage drop profile so the battery level can display remaining power level correctly.

Does not affect anything else.

The GPSr will continue to run until the installed batteries can no longer provide sufficient current to power it.

BTW, we ran multiple tests. The results displayed were our best result. Some were much worse.
stantastic
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Re: Pale Blue Rechargeables?

Unread post by stantastic »

Thanks for the reply...
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