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Batteries
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Paul Blundell
As our "toys" use batteries, what experiences do we have with various brands / types and what is the best "value for money", recharables or alakalines?
Paul |
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Russ Edmunds
Avoid Duracells. Too many of them leak prematurely and do damage. This may be due to reports of quantities of fakes circulating worldwide, but I've not learned of any way to tell them apart. At one point I sent them a complaint. I got back a letter sort of
apologizing but including coupons for more Duracells which weren't used.
Russ Edmunds WB2BJH Blue Bell, PA Grid FN20id From: main@UltralightDX.groups.io <main@UltralightDX.groups.io> on behalf of Paul Blundell via groups.io <tanger32au@...>
Sent: Thursday, December 10, 2020 7:46 PM To: main@UltralightDX.groups.io <main@UltralightDX.groups.io> Subject: [UltralightDX] Batteries As our "toys" use batteries, what experiences do we have with various brands / types and what is the best "value for money", recharables or alakalines?
Paul |
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Richard Allen
I’ve had the exact same problem with Everyready and Rayovac. None are immune from leaking. I’m sure none I’ve purchased are fakes or counterfeit. All are prone to leaks at some point, even the rechargeables.
The best advice is to remove them when not using the receiver. Richard Allen. ,_._,_ |
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Paul Blundell
Thanks Russ. Up until recently one of our supermarket sold 4 X AA rechargeables for $8 a packet, at this rate they were worth using, even if they were replaced every 12 months. They have now stopped selling these so once my current batch die, I will be looking at repalcing them. On Fri, Dec 11, 2020 at 11:50 AM Russ Edmunds <wb2bjh@...> wrote:
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Paul |
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Paul Blundell
I have started doing this after my last AR-1733 died, in part they think this was due to the batteries getting too flat.
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Paul |
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radiojayallen
I agree that Duracells have been widely known to have leakage problems for at least the several past few years but I have not used them so cannot attest to that from my own experience.
As far as how good other alkalines are the major companies redo/upgrade their formulations all the time so specific tests of one brand versus another can change over time and can even be different for AA's vs AAA's vs D's. I have used Energizers with good results and also for many ears I have been buying my alkalines in bulk at the warehouse clubs and have had great results with them. I also have had no problems with Amazon Basics batteries...they seem like a good deal to me. Jay |
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Peter Laws
I have had very good experience with Eneloop (from Panasonic) brand AA
NiMH cells. When I was taking my radio scanner to work I was regularly cycling some through that but now that I work from home (since March) I basically go to work in my radio room, so ... not so much battery stuff. Regardless, no leakage. I charge them in a MAHA 4-cell charger so no over-charging. The cells are of a design that has very low self-discharge so when you get them, they are usable and if you let the sit for months (as I have been doing lately!), they retain a more than usable charge. -- Peter Laws | N5UWY | plaws plaws net | Travel by Train! |
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Phil Pasteur
I agree about the Eneloops. I have (literally) 18 radios that I keep Eneloops in. 12 of those live mostly in their cases in a drawer. I take those out every 6 months or so and cycle the batteries for freshly charged Eneloops.
A coup[le of those radios are in excess of 15 years old. I have never had one of the batteries leak. In fact, even with frequenting places that discuss batteries often, I have never yet heard of a NiMH battery leaking. That doesn't mean that they don', but I think it is exceptionally rare. I do find that I get slightly less runtime out of them versus a fresh set of alkaline batteries. But it is not a real problem, as I always keep a charged set on hand. I have gone through and replaced nearly all of the AA cells in all my devices with the NiMH cells. I have gotten real tired of going to use a device and having to clean it up, or discard it dues to cell leakage. I have tried all of the major brands and had all of them leak. I think that Duracell are the worst, with the "Kirkland" batteries from Costco coming in a very close second. |
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Peter Laws
On Fri, Dec 11, 2020 at 12:50 PM Phil Pasteur <ppasteur@q.com> wrote:
A coup[le of those radios are in excess of 15 years old. I have never had one of the batteries leak. In fact, even with frequenting places that discuss batteries often, I have never yet heard of a NiMH battery leaking. That doesn't mean that they don', but I think it is exceptionally rare.I think that's right - surely there is a situation where they will leak, but it appears that you have to work at it to get any damage. :-) Yes, pretty much any rechargeable cell will have less run-time than a fresh alkaline. But you don't throw away your investment at the end of the cell's life, you pop it in the charger and go through it all again. And again and again. Cheaper in the long run for you, not nearly as many cells in the landfill for your grandchildren to scavenge and barter to Jeff Bezos' robot replacement for food pellets, many hours of listening without running to a store (assuming you have more than one set of NiMHs, which you should). Eneloops aren't the right answer for every type of device but they sure work swell in radios. -- Peter Laws | N5UWY | plaws plaws net | Travel by Train! |
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Paul Blundell
Thanks for the replies. I have heard a lot about those, do they have a lower mAh rating due to this? On Sat., 12 Dec. 2020, 05:10 Peter Laws, <plaws0@...> wrote: I have had very good experience with Eneloop (from Panasonic) brand AA |
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Peter Laws
On Fri, Dec 11, 2020 at 2:10 PM Paul Blundell <tanger32au@...> wrote:
Who knew there was a fan site for Eneloops? Not me. https://eneloop101.com/batteries/complete-lineup/ No idea what "generation" mine are old enough to be Sanyo branded (Panasonic took a controlling interest in Sanyo a few years back) and made in Japan (China production is more recent). I think all of mine (I should check!) are "HR-3UTGA" and rated at a "minimum" of 1900 mAh. -- Peter Laws | N5UWY | plaws plaws net | Travel by Train! |
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Carl
Kirkland alkaline batteries are made by Duracell. Watch for fake
duracells. There are many out there. They do leak!
Tips to identify authentic Duracell Batteries: - The label on authentic Duracell batteries will not peel off. If the label peels off, you have a counterfeit battery. - Authentic Duracell batteries have a batch number laser-etched or stamped into the plastic label. It is rough to the touch -- not printed. - Duracell uses recycled paper in their packaging. If you look at the back of the package, the card-stock should look dull, or similar to a newspaper. If it's bright white, it's suspect. - Duracell batteries are packed flush to the bottom of the card-stock. You should be able to stand authentic battery packs upright without them falling. - Duracell states that authentic batteries may be manufactured in Belgium, Germany, China and the United States. - Other possible signs of counterfeit batteries include spelling errors on the package or poor picture quality. On 12/11/2020 Friday 1:50 PM, Phil
Pasteur wrote:
I agree about the Eneloops. I have (literally) 18 radios that I keep Eneloops in. 12 of those live mostly in their cases in a drawer. I take those out every 6 months or so and cycle the batteries for freshly charged Eneloops. --
“Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.” ― Winston S. Churchill |
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Richard Line <radioman@...>
I’ve seen leaky Duracell’s too but if that’s all you use you won’t see another brand leak ! The Costco batterie’s are made by Duracell, much better pricing for probably the same thing.
Rich |
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Paul Blundell
Thanks Peter. The batteries I use are 2000 or 2200. On Sat., 12 Dec. 2020, 07:33 Peter Laws, <plaws0@...> wrote: On Fri, Dec 11, 2020 at 2:10 PM Paul Blundell <tanger32au@...> wrote: |
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gordrstaples
My experience is that Duracell used to make good batteries years ago but recently found they are quite prone to leaking. Would not use them anymore. I have found Energizer batteries on the other hand to be leakproof. Never had one leak yet. On Fri, Dec 11, 2020, 7:15 PM Richard Line <radioman@...> wrote:
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hamrad45
I too have have had problems with Duracell in the past year with leaking. I bought a box of batteries about a year ago and needed to replace some batteries in a radio. The batteries had only been in the radio for a couple of months and the radio had been off most of this time. When I looked in the box, some of the batteries in the box had leaked. I did a video of this situation on my YouTube channel and someone commented that Duracell will replaced anything that was damaged. So I send Duracell an email and within 24 hours they sent me a credit for the price of the radio that was damaged and a coupon for a replacement box of batteries. This was about a year ago and since that time I have stopped using Duracell. I now remove batteries from device that I don't use often, especially expensive radios. I have been using the Amazon batteries with no problems for over a year now. They probably have many different companies make their batteries so I would not recommend them. I do use rechargeable a lot now and I use the brand Eneloop (from Panasonic) sold by Amazon and never had a problem so far.
Tom Stiles |
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Paul,
Eneloops are rated at a minimum of 1900 MAH. Some of their lines are rated higher (min 2200 MAH I believe), but the trade off is that they self discharge a bit faster and do not give as many cycles. Self discharge is not an issue if you just top them off before use, or use them within a week or so of charging them. Most alkaline batteries are around 2500 MAH. But the voltage on alkaline cells drops faster with charge level and will nosedive under high current drain. . Meaning that they also are pretty bad for anything that draws much current. Often the NiMH batteries actually last longer in any given application. BTW, there are many brands of NiMH cells, often cheaper, but fully serviceable. Many manufacturers of alkaline batteries also have a line of NiMH cells as well. It seems that most of the test/review sites rate the Eneloops at the top of their lists. http://www.greenbatteries.com/battery-myths-vs-battery-facts-1/#:~:text=For%20example%20AA%20alkaline%20batteries,or%20four%20times%20as%20long. "Battery capacity ratings are meaningless when used to compare different types of batteries or to compare the capacity of batteries powering different types of devices. This means that you may not be able to predict how long your electronic device will run just by looking at the capacity rating of a battery. For example AA alkaline batteries typically have a capacity rating of over 2,500 mAh and AA NiMH batteries have rated capacities of only 1,200 to 1,900 mAh. But when it comes to actually powering an electronic device like a digital camera, the NiMH batteries will often run the device for three or four times as long. (for an explanation see Battery FAQ, Why do my alkaline batteries run out so fast?)" |
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Paul Blundell
Thanks for the information, that makes sense. On Sun., 13 Dec. 2020, 06:41 Phil Pasteur, <ppasteur@q.com> wrote: Paul, |
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Paul Blundell
That is good to know, I have not used them for years, mainly using rechargeables or cheap one from Kmart or Jaycar. On Sun, Dec 13, 2020 at 6:20 AM hamrad45 <hamrad@...> wrote: I too have have had problems with Duracell in the past year with leaking. I bought a box of batteries about a year ago and needed to replace some batteries in a radio. The batteries had only been in the radio for a couple of months and the radio had been off most of this time. When I looked in the box, some of the batteries in the box had leaked. I did a video of this situation on my YouTube channel and someone commented that Duracell will replaced anything that was damaged. So I send Duracell an email and within 24 hours they sent me a credit for the price of the radio that was damaged and a coupon for a replacement box of batteries. This was about a year ago and since that time I have stopped using Duracell. I now remove batteries from device that I don't use often, especially expensive radios. I have been using the Amazon batteries with no problems for over a year now. They probably have many different companies make their batteries so I would not recommend them. I do use rechargeable a lot now and I use the brand Eneloop (from Panasonic) sold by Amazon and never had a problem so far. --
Paul |
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David Smith
If you live near an Ikea, their Ladda 2450 mAh AA batteries are made in same factory as Eneloop Pro’s.
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73 David On 12 Dec 2020, at 19:49, Phil Pasteur <ppasteur@q.com> wrote:
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