Which third party battery brands?

[roacct3]

I've heard that Tenergy third party Roomba batteries have a very short overall life even though cleaning time might be good at first.

What about some other third party brands? I know there are Powerizer brands, but I am not sure what other brands might be selling.

Which third party Sub-C battery brands tend to have the longest battery life? I'm not talking about the cleaning power, which I believe is rated by mAh if it's rated correctly.

[roacct3]

So does this mean either that nobody on this forum has that kind of knowledge or that third party batteries just can't hold a candle to the original roomba batteries in terms of overall life?

[vic7767]

I've got some options for ya..... If you want to go the LI-ion route. I just don't recommend the NiMH or NiCD chemistry since I happen to offer LI-ion kits. The batteries I use are rated at 5200 mAH but test out on my loading system to 4700 mAH.

[mfortuna]

Except for vic7677's Li-IONs, I have not tried any 3rd party batteries. I have bought 3 APS packs from either Irobot and Amazon (much cheaper). I also messed around with some old RC racing NICADs I have.

I am happy with vic7677's batteries as well as the three APS packs I have purchased over the years.

The only other batteries I would consider are matched NIMH cells but that will cost more than the APS.

Take a look at www.towerhobbies.com to get an idea for good matched cells.

[roacct3]

I've got some options for ya..... If you want to go the LI-ion route. I just don't recommend the NiMH or NiCD chemistry since I happen to offer LI-ion kits. The batteries I use are rated at 5200 mAH but test out on my loading system to 4700 mAH.

Do you have a price figure for that? Li-Ion is interesting, but the prices I've seen are prohibitive even though they probably last longer than the typical NiMH batteries.

BTW, do you also sell NiMH and NiCD on ebay? I saw a seller with a similar name as yours, but wasn't sure whether it was you or not.

[vic7767]

Nope, I only sell here on this forum, I don't sell on ebay or anywhere else. The batteries I offer are very expensive but worth it.

[derfberger]

There are a lot of third party available including Amazon.

These people will rebuild if you send them the old battery

www.voltmanbatteries.com/

I just purchased a 400 series for $39 + shipping from

http://www.batteryspace.com/?gclid=CIvE ... DQodm1OTGA

[roacct3]

Nope, I only sell here on this forum, I don't sell on ebay or anywhere else. The batteries I offer are very expensive but worth it.

Hi vic. So what would be the ballpark figure for your Li-Ion battery?

Thx.

[vic7767]

roacct3, I sent you a PM with the prices.

[mfortuna]

I just built a new pack using two Duratrax (an RC brand) 1900mah NICADs. I will report on their performance. I'm hoping to get at least an hour run time on carpet.

[derfberger]

two Duratrax (an RC brand) 1900mah NICADs

where did you buy them and for how much

[mfortuna]

This is the pack:

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wt ... LXDND9&P=0

I was hoping to put them in as stick packs but they are too wide. I had to take out the individual cells and use battery bars to assemble them into a 12 cell pack. The cells are mounted 3 to a cardboard tube so I ended up cutting the tube to fit the cells. They had no other insulation.

Cheaper cells can be found. My main intent was to see how well they work both in runtime and longevity. They will probably end up in my dirt dog. The dirt dog battery has tailed off in performance.

I'm first going to run them in a red and evaluate runtime on carpet.

[dave w]

I've heard that Tenergy third party Roomba batteries have a very short overall life even though cleaning time might be good at first.

What about some other third party brands? I know there are Powerizer brands, but I am not sure what other brands might be selling.

Which third party Sub-C battery brands tend to have the longest battery life? I'm not talking about the cleaning power, which I believe is rated by mAh if it's rated correctly.

I have a Tenergy pack (3000mAh) , and do not see a difference in capacity compared to APS original cells (causual observation, no empirical tests). Still too early to compare battery life, I have only had it in service for about 5 months.

NiCADs still have a longer life than NiMH, but have considerably less capacity.

[derfberger]

NiCADs still have a longer life than NiMH, but have considerably less capacity.

could you elaborate i e what is difference between life and capacity

[mfortuna]

Capacity is how many minutes a pack will run per mission before needed to be recharged. Life/longevity is how many charge/discharge cycles the pack will supply before a substantial drop in performance.

[mfortuna]

The 1900mah packs I bought seem to be good for one hour run time on carpet. These will probably find their way into the dirt dog.

[bcm00re]

I have a Tenergy pack (3000mAh) , and do not see a difference in capacity compared to APS original cells (causual observation, no empirical tests). Still too early to compare battery life, I have only had it in service for about 5 months.

How is the Tenergy working out for you these days? About how many cycles do you think it has been through?