# Rechargeable AA battery question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 9, 2020, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rechargeable-aa-battery-question/853475 "2020-05-09T15:54:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2020, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rechargeable-aa-battery-question/853475/1 "2020-05-09T15:54:24Z")
Hi all, In our backyard we have three different types/vintages of solar-powered yard lights. They all take one AA rechargeable battery each and it is time to start replacing them. Four lights take 3.2 v AA 600mAh; Ten take 1.2 v AA 150mAh; and One takes 1.2 v AA 350mAh. IANA electrician or electrical engineer or anything of that ilk, so I would like to know how critical the voltage and mAh distinctions are. I don’t really anticipating waltzing into Home Depot, or Rona etc and finding a vast selection of all three kinds. Any advice in the next hour or so would be greatly appreciated, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2020, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rechargeable-aa-battery-question/853475/2 "2020-05-09T16:14:48Z")
You have to keep the same voltage as those are not interchangeable. The milli amp-hour is how long the battery will last and those are interchangeable. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2020, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rechargeable-aa-battery-question/853475/3 "2020-05-09T16:34:22Z")
It should also be mentioned that the mAh ratings of off-brand batteries are often exaggerated. If you’re shopping on Amazon and see a battery with an extremely low price and/or an extremely high mAh rating, there’s an excellent chance the capacity is bogus. Sometimes the claimed capacity is more than double the actual. I just looked up “18650 battery 5000mah” and found some that were badged as “Amazon’s Choice”, even though 18650 batteries normally top out around 3600mah ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2020, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rechargeable-aa-battery-question/853475/4 "2020-05-09T16:39:58Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > You have to keep the same voltage as those are not interchangeable. The milli amp-hour is how long the battery will last and those are interchangeable. If I were to use the wrong voltage what would the consequences be? If I used only 1.2 v batteries in the 3.2 v lights, would that simply be no light? And in the reverse would there be a rapid burnout of the light? I assume the lights in our fixtures are LEDs of some sort. In general they are all variations of the sort of thing at the link: [https://www.rona.ca/en/solar-pathway-light-led-pack-of-6-black-84565148](https://www.rona.ca/en/solar-pathway-light-led-pack-of-6-black-84565148) Thanks ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2020, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rechargeable-aa-battery-question/853475/5 "2020-05-09T17:06:36Z")
The 3.2 V one sounds like Li-ion in a AA size, not the same as a regular rechargeable. If you do the lights may be dim, may not last as long due to different charging characteristics, or open random nearby gateways to the nether. The 1.2 v ones are all standard, perhaps NiCd or Nimh, and are very low, you could replace them with any 1.2 v battery.