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Tired of expensive disposable batteries and rechargeable AA suck. So I made a 10k mAh pack for my deadbolt.
(sh.itjust.works)
Eneloops would only last about 3 weeks. And disposable last 2 months. This door is used a lot and since it has Zwave and a door open sensor it sends info on every open.
Bonus, since it can handle the lipo AA batteries that put out 1.8v and it gives the motor more oomph I made the battery pack give 7.2v and it never sticks anymore.
This is a garage-door so its not critical access but is used a lot.
I had a similar failure rate then changed my charger and haven't had a battery fail since. My original charger was Energiser branded, which is the most common battery where I live so I thought it had to be fine. I replaced it with an eneloop BQ-CC55. I don't love it - it's a fast charger and it makes batteries uncomfortably hot, but it was able to charge batteries to full health that both my energiser and trickle charger thought were dead dead. That includes energiser batteries!
Thanks for the recommendation. If somehow my li-ion batteries die, I may try again (I couldn't make myself throw out the Eneloops after spending so much, even if they wouldn't charge, so who knows...).