I'd like to buy another set of batteries for my WS-1400-IP, but Ambient Weather's website has been showing "out of stock" for what seems like months. I can't seem to find rechargeable alkalines
anywhere. I find plenty of non-rechargeable alkalines, lithiums, NiCds and NiMHs, but no rechargeable alkalines. I found an interesting article on rechargeable alkalines here...
http://michaelbluejay.com/batteries/rechargeable.htmlAccording to the author, RAMs first appeared in 1992. Rayovac discontinued their "Renewal" series in 2004 followed by a couple other brands around 2011. Two brands were mentioned as of the date the article was written (March 2015) that were still around, but now those appear to no longer exist as well.
Ambient weather suggests replacing the batteries in the sensor array every 2-3 years. I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that the reason they stopped selling the batteries is because they know the sensor array probably won't last last long and that people will either discard the system or buy a new sensor array that includes new batteries.
I emailed asking if they if other battery types would work. Their reply was, "Please call 480-346-3380 when you are ready to place your order and we can add 1 in stock for you." I take this to mean that if you want to buy replacement batteries they have to "pull" some from a stock dedicated to installation in new sensor arrays and "put" them in salable inventory.