minelab explorer 2, which rechargable batteries are good for this beast ?

[vincentvangerven@gmail.com]

Just got a minelab explorer 2, been raining so did not have a chance to go out with it yet.

It came with a battery pack for loose AA'S and with a factory minelab rechargeable battery pack. That factory battery pack has seen better days; won't hold a charge for more then 5 minutes.

I took that one apart and am looking to replace it with rechargeable nimh's.... (there's a youtube vid out on how to do that)

So for a refurb factory battery pack, and for the loose battery pack, which rechargeable batteries are good / do you like?

Thanks!

 

[MikeO]

Save yourself the trouble and purchase a RNB Battery pack with charger. You will get about 30 hrs outta a charge.

 

[JeffInMass]

n/t

 

[Chris(SoCenWI)]

You can buy low self discharge NIMH batteries from a number of companies for about $2 apiece. I have two alkaline packs that I put these in, they will last 15-20 hours of detecting and stay charged for a couple of years. The batteries can be charged hundreds if not thousands of times, so good bang for the buck. My original pack died, or at least got very weak years ago, I tried high power batteries but they self-discharged in a fairly short time.

 

[vincentvangerven@gmail.com]

thanks for the input all, decided to go with eneloops rechargeable's; might be more trouble but i like tinkering and the idea of refurbing the factory pack myself

 

[vincentvangerven@gmail.com]

quick question, since i want to rebuild that battery pack using eneloops (and i want to make sure all is within spec before i start using it) which volt multimeter tool can you guys recommend?

I know it's cheaper just buying a replacement pack, but part of the fun for me is to refurb / tinker with his old pack, but at the same time i don't want to take avoidable risks by just chucking this creation in the detector before knowing what that pack puts out.

 

[diggingFx]

When my old meter stopped working I got a cheapo at the parts store. Works fine. Your 1.2 volt eneloops will charge to around 1.4v and the pack will be in the 11v range.

 

[vincentvangerven@gmail.com]

got it, thanks for the input.

 

[Ed (Upstate NY)]

The RNB Innovations ML-3100 can't be beat. A full charge lasts me a full month and has saved me a ton of money not having to buy AAAs any longer.

 

[Rebound]

I'm glad I happened to run across this discussion. I have an Explorer 2 that hasn't been used at all for three years. The last time I used it the batteries seemed to be running out of gas a little sooner than they did when they were new. In the back of my mind I was thinking about them being replaced. Thanks for the information. I will be doing some research on the RNB's. I have some Enloops to use around the house. Enloops are great batteries and I am happy with them. But at full charge they don't have a high voltage like some other batteries. I have a Teknetics t2se metal detector that takes AA's. I tried the Enloops in it, but the lower voltage even at full charge, was not enough umph. Of course the Minelab and theTeknetics power source needs are like apples and oranges.

 

[vincentvangerven@gmail.com]

installed the Eneloops in the old minelab rechargeable pac; works perfect

 

[Rebound]

installed the Eneloops in the old minelab rechargeable pac; works perfect [/quote
Great. It's good to know that the Eneloops will work for sure.

 

[michael NY]

n/t

 

[DirtFishinPA]

I to use the panasonic eneloop pros. they work great an last awhile. may not last as long as the rnb battery but very good for a fraction of the cost of even a used rnb. eneloops at full charge an 8 installed in pack u will have 11.4v roughly. more than enough to last a full days hunt or 2 maybe more. i recharge every 2 hunts give or take.