Batteries

BUDFORCE

BUDFORCE

BUDFORCE

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Meant to post this ages ago.

Happy for the thread to open up to a more generally discussion on battery types, but what I am mostly interested in is the difference between types of AA/AAA batteries.

I know there are different chemistries, some are marketted as heavy or super heavy duty, some marketted as long life. NiMH, Akaline, Zinc Carbon etc

But are best for what type of use?

Specifically what I am interested in, is the best type of AA batteries to use in devices that dont use much power, but ideally need to last as long as possible, EG TV remote, locking system on a safe, powering a CT clamp or similar monitoring device. Are some brands better than others for this?
 
Bulk buy low self discharge Nimh rechargeable batteries. Almost all of them are low discharge these days.

Alkalines leak, no matter the brand, often before they are even flat enough to cause an issue.

Nimh are not expensive, I have them in clocks, remotes, almost everything.
 
Looking at that YouTube linked above seems like the lithium one beats everything by a mile.

Thing is, for things like a CT clamp or safe lock, you'll want it to last as long as possible as I can be a pain in the ass if they fail, so worth the money.

Doesn't really go into the chemistry though, and what are best for what type of use
 
For my weather station, I used to use Energizer Lithium batteries. They were the only ones that would last longer than 6 months in the remote sensor.

Sadly Energizer seem to have stopped these, so I will be trying Energizer's Max Plus next, which appear to be Alkaline.
 
NiMH - 1.2V work in most things, rechargable. Low self discharge should retain > 80% at 2 years post charging if not used.

Alkaline - Risk of leaks, some difference in performance but mostly comparable. +/- 10%

Zinc Carbon - utter trash, 10% of Alkaline capacity, pound shop blister card fodder

Lithium - great capacity, long storage life, cope well with high drain (camera flash etc.) - Expensive

As per previous post, I'd just throw NIMH in there and replace with freshly charged batteries every 12m.

Only place I use Alkaline are the smoke alarms, and those are changed every 12m regardless.
 
I bought some energizer ultimate lithium AA batteries the other day to power an emergency torch in the car. The best before is 2042 and they are supposed to be resistant to cold and hot extremes.
 
I have found that a lot of devices do not like rechargeable batteries i.e. remotes etc as they only output 1.2 volts
just my experience but ymmv :)
 
I was having a read on batteries the other day. I'll watch that above video as be nice to learn some more.

Batteries (integrated specifically) seem to me a step backwards currently from where we should be with them. The lithium AAs etc are great and worth the cost when talking about clocks, remotes and the like, they simply last forever. Then rechargeables for products that frequently drain batteries quickly, game pad etc.

I don't think there's much place for the alkaline or zinc batteries anymore, they just don't last long enough. But the cheapest supermarket available alkalines are good for kids toys that they frequently leave on.
 
I have a device that has a low current draw but runs for extended periods permanently on. By FAR the best cell I have found is the "Constant Power" range from Procell (nee Duracell).

They are alkaline cell batteries, therefore not rechargeable. I was told rechargeable cells don't generally like like long low current discharges.

The Constant Power ones seem to last roughly twice as long as the conventional high end none rechargeable cells.

Why do I call them cells and not a battery? Because I can still recall the clips round the ear from my physics teacher. "Wilson, a battery is a pack of cells, the chance of you passing your physics A level is damn near zero". (I got an A to spite the barsteward). ;)
 
ANDARIAL said:
I have found that a lot of devices do not like rechargeable batteries i.e. remotes etc as they only output 1.2 volts
just my experience but ymmv :)
Click to expand...

Lithium rechargeable sort this issue out. They don't work well with the battery indicators though as they give a flat 1.5V until almost empty.
 
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ANDARIAL said:
I have found that a lot of devices do not like rechargeable batteries i.e. remotes etc as they only output 1.2 volts
:)
Click to expand...

Chris Wilson said:
I was told rechargeable cells don't generally like like long low current discharges.
Click to expand...

See this is my thinking as well, its hard to get solid test results though because the timescales involved can be a long time.

But from my experience, putting something like a 1500mah rechargable nimh vs a similar (or even lower) rated Alkaline, the rechargeable nihm only last like one third of the time of the Akaline, even though on paper they have the same capacity.

For something like a CT clamp, TV remote etc - very low and infrequent draw.

Goes without saying if you have something like a remote control car or any similar toy/high ish draw device rechargeable nihm are a no brainer, or go further now as I can see you can get rechargeable AA lithium - all be it expensive.
 
BUDFORCE said:
See this is my thinking as well, its hard to get solid test results though because the timescales involved can be a long time.

But from my experience, putting something like a 1500mah rechargable nimh vs a similar (or even lower) rated Alkaline, the rechargeable nihm only last like one third of the time of the Akaline, even though on paper they have the same capacity.

For something like a CT clamp, TV remote etc - very low and infrequent draw.

Goes without saying if you have something like a remote control car or any similar toy/high ish draw device rechargeable nihm are a no brainer, or go further now as I can see you can get rechargeable AA lithium - all be it expensive.
Click to expand...

Yeah the issue with rechargeables in low drain devices is that the self discharge is likely as high as the actual usage.
Things like Tv remotes I use them as its 30 seconds to change them over. Anything thats more painful gets alkaline.
A few things although not many dont like rechargeables as not enough voltage.
 
BUDFORCE said:
See this is my thinking as well, its hard to get solid test results though because the timescales involved can be a long time.

But from my experience, putting something like a 1500mah rechargable nimh vs a similar (or even lower) rated Alkaline, the rechargeable nihm only last like one third of the time of the Akaline, even though on paper they have the same capacity.

For something like a CT clamp, TV remote etc - very low and infrequent draw.

Goes without saying if you have something like a remote control car or any similar toy/high ish draw device rechargeable nihm are a no brainer, or go further now as I can see you can get rechargeable AA lithium - all be it expensive.
Click to expand...

Low self discharge NiMH have largely fixed this issue haven't they? I use NiMH in everything these days apart from the odd fussy device that gets LiON.
 
@BUDFORCE if you don't mind me asking in this thread, as it's semi related, but does anyone have a recommendation for storing said AA rechargeable? I had a few plastic cases which each held four of my eneloops but i've got way more batteries now and want something neat and tidy for storing my AAs, AAAs, rechargeable and alkaline alike.
 
Minstadave said:
Low self discharge NiMH have largely fixed this issue haven't they? I use NiMH in everything these days apart from the odd fussy device that gets LiON.
Click to expand...

I dunno, maybe the ones I have are not low self discharge, they are Energiser 2300mah/2450mah rechargable, to be fair they are a good few years old now.

@Kol crack on, I said on the very first post happy for this to become a wider topic on batteries in general.
 
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Alkaline is ideal for low power use for a long period of time.

The useful energy you can get out of them is quite high if the current draw is miniscule. If you start drawing entire amps the amount of useful energy you get before it goes flat is poor and it is not ideal.

They also have really low self discharge which is important for leaving it for a long time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-discharge

Between those two things an alkaline cell will run over other common cells except a lithium primary cell (not a rechargeable one) when it comes to powering a low current circuit for a long period of time.
 
Kol said:
@BUDFORCE if you don't mind me asking in this thread, as it's semi related, but does anyone have a recommendation for storing said AA rechargeable? I had a few plastic cases which each held four of my eneloops but i've got way more batteries now and want something neat and tidy for storing my AAs, AAAs, rechargeable and alkaline alike.
Click to expand...

If you have a 3d printer there are a huge number of designs out there. I use a beer crate like design which has variations for many different types, of which I have aa, aaa and 18650

I also have a self built charger (designed by bigclivedotcom) to trickle charge my eneloops. Because they take so long to charge in it, you could say it's used as storage too :)


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