Anyone know of a 'slimline' AA rechageable battery?

[StephenFord]

The standard diameter of an AA battery is 14.11mm, I have 3 x brands of rechargeable (including Duracell) and they are all 14.35 mm. Not a big difference and for most applications, totally irrelevant, but I have a stair light which takes 4 x AA batteries and the rigid case size just will not take the rechargeable sized ones, one battery sits too high as there is not enough space, and you won't get the lid closed either. Is there such a thing as a slimline rechargeable?

[unofix]

Hi Stephen, the problem is caused by the way the rechargeable batteries are manufactured. They are in fact double skinned which may seem odd but they do it because the positive and negative ends of the rechargeable cell are actually the wrong way round. So they place a very thin outer jacket around the cell with false end caps to make the battery appear normal. This practice of double skinning the cells and turning the positive / negative ends around is now used on some alkaline batteries and so they are also slightly bigger in diameter. (just for your own amusement try pulling apart a regular alkaline Duracell battery to see how it's made).

Industrial grade Nimh batteries are normally the smaller diameter because they are not usually double skinned and have solder tags on the ends, which can with care be removed.

OR

You could just use 2 LI-ION batteries (3.6V each) and do a little re-wire of your light

[StephenFord]

I have just solved it! I woke up with the idea, amazing what a nights sleep will do! Got a Dremmel tool and gently filed the 2 x edges of the inside of the case down, testing frequently for battery fit. Eventually, got all 4 batteries in, and got back closed. Quite chuffed with myself now, though I was intrigued with your proposal of the LiIon batteries!