When doing the Testing, and thinking and discussing the results since, I came to a few conclusions:

a.. Although I didn't spend money to buy more Alkalines and used what was new or newer, I do have experience with three V-540's from before and they ate through a wide variety of Alkaline batteries. I then used the supplied Minelab NiMH to save $$$.

When Testing what I had, I also used the same NiMH Charger from Minelab that came with the V-540 for all of the NiMH batteries I have.

b.. I have both some Blue and some White's Panasonic Eneloop NiMH and they both gave a little longer Run-Time with the V-540 than I got from the Minelab-labeled NiMH batteries that came with the V-540. And remember, I charged and tested 4-Batteries two times. I have sold a few of the White Eneloop batteries in the last few years before I made the change to go away from Alkalines.

c.. Also, since January of 2015 until I decided to go rechargeable full-time a year ago, I have had a lot of Varta NiMH that came with various Nokta or Makro detectors. Now, I sure wish I had them back! Those Made-in-Germany NiMH Rechargeable batteries have worked very well for me in different detectors, and now that I have done some side-by-side comparisons with a lot of constant EMI noise with the same battery-gobbling detector, the Varta batteries definitely stood out. I'm going to keep a watchful eye for any good deals to round up more Varta's.

d.. For the $$$, the very long Full-Bar and 2-Bar battery Run-Times with the RnB Lithium rechargeable battery, in that power-hogging Vanquish, sure makes them worth the cost. I will use NiMH in my other AA-powered units, but I am very satisfied to have an RnB in my personal Vanquish 540 as well as an RnB in my Loaner-Unit V-540. That way friends and family will get some good hunting out of it without pestering me should it die in a day's hunt.

Monte

"Your EYES ... the only 100% accurate form of Discrimination!"
Stinkwater Wells Trading Post
Metal Detector Evaluations and Product ReviewsI'm now 'back home' in Farr West Utah monte@ahrps.org ... or ... monte@stinkwaterwells.com 503-481-8147Detector Outfit: A selection of my chosen makes and models, with the best coils mounted for the tasks I'll take on.F-19 .. Racer .. Vanquish 540 .. FORS Relic .. Legend .. Silver Sabre µMAX .. Bandido II µMAX .. XLTPinpointers: Garrett AT Pro-Pointers .. Headphones: 'Hornet' .. MS-3 Z-Lynk .. ML-80 *** All working well today to make memories for tomorrow. ***