Capacity and self-discharge of batteries «PowerGenix Ni-Zn» - detailed results

Data: Brand / model PowerGenix Ni-Zn Price N/A Alternative packagings — Origin China Store N/A Date of manufacture N/A Condition (age) Tested items are used Low self-discharge (LSD) No Discharge (1-hour rest) 6.70 V 1380 ±1% mAh (≅2.31 W·h)     Discharge (5-day rest) 6.73 V 1330 ±1% mAh (≅2.23 W·h) ~4% self-discharge     Discharge (1-month rest) 6.65 V 1240 ±1% mAh (≅2.06 W·h) ~10% self-discharge Date of measurement Sep 2013

Notes:

These cells are courtesy of dcpower.eu, and feature an unusual chemistry - nickel-zinc. In fact, they don't compare to NiMH particularly well, developing a much higher working voltage, as it can be seen from the charts. A comparison between the different chemistries:

Chemistry	Ustart (per cell), V	Ustart (4-pack), V	Uavg (per cell), V	Uavg (4-pack), V
Ni-Zn	1.80	7.20	1.67	6.70
Carbon-zinc	1.65	6.60	1.22	4.90
Alkaline	1.55-1.60	6.20-6.40	1.25	5.0
Ni-MH/Ni-Ca	1.30-1.40	5.20-5.60	1.26-1.28	5.05-5.15

As it can be seen, the average voltage of Ni-Zn's is higher than what a fresh non-rechargeable cell develops. If the device is sensitive to input voltage, then it will behave as if it is on a pack of brand-new alkalines, all the time, provided that it doesn't smoke out in the beginning. Internet suggests that you don't use this chemistry in a flashlights with bulbs: they aren't calculated for this voltage and die when turned on.

Besides that, the other characteristics of these cells aren't particularly impressive: reports on the Internet suggest that they degrade pretty fast with each cycle; they require a specific, non-compatible charger; and their energy density isn't impressive despite the high voltage: they clock around the average for Ni-MHs, 2.3 Wh.

Test results

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