January 30, 2026
Swap, charge, rage!
Ode to the AA Battery
Team AA vs Team Built-In: swappable power or sad dead gadgets
TLDR: A love letter to AA batteries sparked a fight over dead gadgets with built-in rechargeable cells that fail after sitting unused. Commenters split between swappable AAs and “use it daily and you’re fine,” with toy voltage gotchas and Xbox pack nostalgia powering the drama.
One torn-open soldering station lit the fuse: built‑in rechargeable batteries keep dying when devices sit unused, and the crowd came running with takes. The post explains how some gear lacks a proper battery brain (a “BMS” that stops over‑discharge), turning pricey tools into paperweights. Cue the split: Team AA cheered the old‑school, swap‑and‑go approach with eneloop love, while Team Daily Driver shrugged, saying modern lithium works fine if you actually use your stuff. Klooney had the viral aha: AA rechargeables are 1.2 volts vs 1.5 for disposables — “so that’s why toys won’t work!” Suddenly, childhood mysteries got solved and memes about “toys going on strike” erupted. Insanity pushed back: keep batteries between 20–80% and you’ll be fine, adding their 4‑year iPhone still cruises. Nostalgia rolled in with conception’s Xbox 360 shout: hot‑swap battery packs in two seconds and back to gaming — why did we ever leave that? Meanwhile, amelius groaned about chargers that demand two batteries at once, and Lutzb praised eneloops for not leaking, ever. It’s swap vs sit, simple vs sleek, and everyone agrees on one thing: throwing dead gadgets in the trash is the real loser — recycle or go AA.
Key Points
- •Devices with built-in Li-ion batteries often lack adequate BMS, risking deep discharge and permanent cell damage.
- •Li-ion cells can suffer issues below ~3.0 V and may be permanently damaged below ~2.5 V.
- •Failed built-in batteries, especially in devices using uncommon cells, frequently lead to disposal rather than repair, contributing to e-waste.
- •The author favors AA/AAA devices and uses Panasonic eneloop NiMH AAs (~2000 mAh, 1.2 V) for swappability and longevity, reporting strong reliability across 128 cells.
- •Workbench example shows standard batteries powering test equipment (Fluke and Craftsman meters), reinforcing the value of replaceable cells and avoiding leakage by not storing batteries in tools.