Hello all,

I recently purchased a set of the newest generation rechargeable NickelZinc (NiZn) AA and AAA batterys for use in the Lego Technic Powerfunction sets.
They provide serious advantage over NiMH (1,2 volt) and common single use batterys (1,5 volt).

NickelZinc (NiZn) AA specs:

1,6 - 1,65 volt (continuous) / 2500mWh / 1500mAh / max. continuous discharge current 4,5 A (3 Cells, 9 A per PF AA Box) / resistance 30mOhm / weight 25 g / operates between -15° and +50° celsius, unaffected by temperature (!) / very low self-discharge rate / fast-loading capable / at least 70% capacity remaining after 300 loading cycles / environmental friendly in production and recycling (Silveroxide-Zinc) / low price compared to NiMH, LiPo, disposable ZiCo, NiCads and the such

Only "disadvantage": You need a specific NiZn recharging device, which can only recharge NiZn batterys.

I have tested them in various motorized sets with Lego PF battery boxes and they are really worth the buy, 9,6 volts make a difference.
For instance i have a heavy tracked custom vehicle (around 2.5 kg) with one L-motor on each track (slighty downgeared plus wormgear to reduce backslash) and it now operates absolutly smooth and continuously with the 9,6 volts provided by the NiZn rechargeables, and it also gained noteable speed against NiMH AA rechargeables (7,2 volt).
I can`t notice any track/wheel related "stepping", and it climbs obstacles like never before.

In theory (regarding the specs of BuWizz...), a common Lego PF AA battery pack with these NiZn`s has a constant max output of at least 9,6 volts and max current of 9 A (!), which might be way more power you will ever need, unless you put some RC motors (three or more RC motors) to it and throttle up all the way. Be aware that the IR Receivers cut out (and probably damage) long before passing through this current, while SBricks might handle much better. Buwizz can put out 8,3 volts in fast mode, with around 4 Amps (per channel) continuous... oh-oh.

In order not to promote investigate further yourself, there are just a few products available now, at least in the EU.

Link to the reviewed product at "Conrad" , notice below the technical datasheet available as pdf

I hope this was usefull information for one or another forum user! 

Edited March 5, 20195 yr by BrickDabbler
added weight, format, typo, specs corrected, added specs, corrected battery type NiMH, uups, added more detailed info, ZiCo, green highlight

Hi,

Thanks for the info, would you care to post a link to the product please? I wonder how would EV3 handle this very modest overvoltage!

Thanks!

Just now, domleg said:

Hi,

Thanks for the info, would you care to post a link to the product please? I wonder how would EV3 handle this very modest overvoltage!

Thanks!

Since i am a new forum user i guess i am not allowed to promote any kind of product, but you will find immediatly a fitting battery by googling "NiZn rechargeable AA battery", i hope this helps so far...

I don`t wanna upset any moderators, really...

Edit: i have EVEs aswell, but i refrain to use them since i allready got the LiPo packs for them... but i think they work the same...

Edited March 3, 20195 yr by BrickDabbler

Very interesting! Can you post a video with a comparison between normal, alkaline AA and the type you have purchased?

Edited March 3, 20195 yr by emielroumen

1 minute ago, emielroumen said:

Very interesting! Can you post a video with a comparison between normal, alkaline AA and the type you have purchased?

Sorry, "no-can-do" at the moment, for various reasons.

 

13 minutes ago, domleg said:

Hi,

Thanks for the info, would you care to post a link to the product please? I wonder how would EV3 handle this very modest overvoltage!

Thanks!

BTW, there are actually just two or three large well-known companys who provide this type of battery, one in the US, the others in the EU, i am using the type sold in continental europa...

5 minutes ago, BrickDabbler said:

Since i am a new forum user i guess i am not allowed to promote any kind of product, but you will find immediatly a fitting battery by googling "NiZn rechargeable AA battery", i hope this helps so far..

Thanks, I found few batteries but they all appear to be on the market for a few years now. I'm really curious of what you got, I don't think the mods will object to a brand name in a reply, people here recommend useful stuff quite often!

@domleg,

Yes NiZn is on the market since a few years, but basically completly unnoticed by the general public. This technology had recently a huge leap forward since the problem with needle build-up has being solved by sinterfoaming the cell structure.

I bought the cells provided by Ansmann AG, i hope this will not get handled as unwanted advertising...

I have searched the whole forum for NiZn batterys and found not one thread about, so i decided to share my experience here.

Have been using them aswell, although from a different brand. Great stuff, too bad the IR receivers have terrible current cut-out protection, which often causes them to burn (ended up with two that hadn't any control over red port). Lesson learnt, don't use buggy motors on those . My NXT wouldn't boot with those, doubt EV3 would either.

After measuring each of them, the average voltage was between 1'7 and 1'8V. Don't have any way to measure the capacity, but they really last a long time. 

All in all, had Ansmann NiMh before, good quality albeit running stuff on 1'2V was underwhelming, so those NiZns really are a game changer

Will pick up a few next time I'm in Ticino.

I think moderate use of motors per IR receiver isn`t any issue with NiZn, but keep in mind they can have initial 1,8 voltage when fully loaded, this drops then to average 1,65 to 1,6 volts during use... SBrick can handle them easely as far as i have observed...

Ciao tessiner!  

Great find !!  1.6 volts is better then 1.5 or 1.2 volts when it comes to DC motors!!  I went ahead and order this from ebay!!! $31.43 USD and free shippping!! 1.6 volts , 2800mwh !!! and its a 8 pack of batteries and a charger!! great deal!! for your technic models needs.. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/153333718907

 

 

 

Edited March 3, 20195 yr by sirslayer

23 minutes ago, sirslayer said:

Great find !!  1.6 volts is better then 1.5 or 1.2 volts when it comes to DC motors!!  I went ahead and order this from ebay!!! $31.43 USD and free shippping!! 1.6 volts , 2800mwh !!! and its a 8 pack of batteries and a charger!! great deal!! for your technic models needs...

@sirslayer

Indeed, amazing price, there is a company in california who develops these batterys, and as far as i see your find is allready a small step further in performance... I think this will get a lot attention in the future... 

I have also added further info on my first post, just in case...

Edited March 3, 20195 yr by BrickDabbler

Interesting find. I would just like to point out to a almost 10 years old review of what seems like a knowledgeable person:
Amazon review

@teflon, hi there

We have come a long way since ten years, recent breakthroughs in NiZn development have solved the self-discharging issue, as mentioned further above the membrane-piercing needle build-up problem has been solved (sinterfoamed cathode anode) and there are basically no disadvantages left with NiZn, only that they can be manufactured exclusiv as AA and AAA shapes until now... quite good for Lego users... (I think about buying shares of said company now...)

Edited March 3, 20195 yr by BrickDabbler
anode, sorry

I just made this simple video to show a difference in speed as the 12 volts operation should be at least 30% percent faster then at 9 volts..  at 12 volts , The Lego IR receiver will fail and I believe 11 volts is the max volts for your IR receiver voltage input. I believe Bu-wizz is at 11.1 volts on ludicrous mode!!!  using 1.6 volts for a total 9.6 is a small but noticeable gain.. if they are rated at 1.75 volts for a total of 10.5 volts would be nice.. as long its under 11 volts to use the IR receiver with in a safe zone,,  

 

 

13 hours ago, sirslayer said:

I just made this simple video to show a difference in speed as the 12 volts operation should be at least 30% percent faster then at 9 volts..  at 12 volts , The Lego IR receiver will fail and I believe 11 volts is the max volts for your IR receiver voltage input. I believe Bu-wizz is at 11.1 volts on ludicrous mode!!!  using 1.6 volts for a total 9.6 is a small but noticeable gain.. if they are rated at 1.75 volts for a total of 10.5 volts would be nice.. as long its under 11 volts to use the IR receiver with in a safe zone,,  

Nice clip, i guess you are using 6 NiCads for the 9 volt test... I have a 42039 around somewhere, when i get more time i`ll use this to compare, with IR, SBrick and Buwizz when i have them in a few weeks... I hope i can even out the transmissionratio for a faster vehicle and a bit more torque.

11,1 volts on Buwizz`s ludicrous mode sounds souspiciously like 3 x 18650 Lion batterys (3 x 3,7 volts, with 30 Amps continuous max discharge rate... have to take a look inside when they ship to me...) I was tempted to cobble such a battery pack together myself some time ago... That would also fit to the price of Buwizz...