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#143684 - 08/11/08 04:12 PM Re: Best AA battery [Re: Eugene]
Fitzoid Offline
Enthusiast

Registered: 08/23/05
Posts: 289
Loc: WI, MA, and NYC
Yeah, figured there must be. But with so many junk batteries on the market, I doubt all manufacturers pay close attention to it. I wonder how strictly govt contractors adhere to it.
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#143785 - 08/12/08 12:52 AM Re: Best AA battery [Re: comms]
SolidVFR Offline
Newbie

Registered: 06/23/08
Posts: 26
Definitely spend the extra money and use Energizer Lithium primary cells in critical equipment. The last thing you want is leaky alkaline cells. It is a matter of "when" they leak, not "if".


Edited by SolidVFR (08/12/08 12:53 AM)

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#143836 - 08/12/08 11:41 AM Re: Best AA battery [Re: SolidVFR]
adam2 Offline
Addict

Registered: 05/23/08
Posts: 474
Loc: Somerset UK
For long term storeage or safety critical equipment I would recomend the Energiser L91 litium AA cells, AFAIK the makers hold a watertight patent on this type of cell and no one can make a generic equivalent.

If you use a fair number of AA cells normally, then I suggest any reputable brand of alkaline cell, the lithiums are too costly for everyday use.
Here in the UK lithium AA cells are at least 4 times the price of alkalines, and in a typical flashlight or radio they dont give 4 times the service (they would probably give 4 times the service in very high drain applications such as digital cameras, or in extreme cold)

In a prolonged blackout, would you rather have 20 lithium cells, or 100 alkalines? the cost in £ or $ would be similar.
The 100 alkalines would give more hours light or radio listening.

If you use lots of batteries frequently, then any of the better brands of rechargeables are worth it, but remember to keep a stash of disposable cells in case grid or other power is not available for recharging.

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#143837 - 08/12/08 11:43 AM Re: Best AA battery [Re: adam2]
Fitzoid Offline
Enthusiast

Registered: 08/23/05
Posts: 289
Loc: WI, MA, and NYC
I agree with L91 AA recommendation, and those are what I use. It used to be close to impossible to find lithium AAs in the UK. Glad to hear that's changed!
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"When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading." Henny Youngman

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#143839 - 08/12/08 12:25 PM Re: Best AA battery [Re: adam2]
Rodion Offline
Enthusiast

Registered: 04/29/08
Posts: 285
Loc: Israel
Originally Posted By: adam2
If you use lots of batteries frequently, then any of the better brands of rechargeables are worth it, but remember to keep a stash of disposable cells in case grid or other power is not available for recharging.


I do keep a bunch of Duracells around (you never know), but wouldn't a solar charger solve, or at least mediate this problem?
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#143840 - 08/12/08 12:33 PM Re: Best AA battery [Re: SolidVFR]
KenK Offline
"Be Prepared"
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 06/26/04
Posts: 2208
Loc: NE Wisconsin
Originally Posted By: SolidVFR
Definitely spend the extra money and use Energizer Lithium primary cells in critical equipment. The last thing you want is leaky alkaline cells. It is a matter of "when" they leak, not "if".


Be sure to do a little research (owner's manual or home page) to make sure that the device can use lithium batteries. Garmin GPSMAP GPS's and several headlamp/flashlight manufacturers (Streamlight, Petzl) specifically state that lithium batteries should not be used in their products.

On the other hand, I use lithium AA's in my small Nikon point-and-shoot camera, and will never mess with alkalines for that use again. Sooo much longer usage time between battery changes.

I agree that alkaline battery leakage is a major problem. I make sure to take batteries out of flashlights and other devices that are not in immediate use. I just store the batteries near them. I've lost several flashlights and at least one radio (FRS) to battery leakage.

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#143842 - 08/12/08 12:37 PM Re: Best AA battery [Re: Rodion]
Eugene Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 12/26/02
Posts: 2995
I used to buy the sams club packs of lithium but when since testing eneloops I've stopped buying them. I've put lithiums in a battery pack for a radio and eneloops in that sat for a year and had the same run time and I top off my eneloops ever 6 months now. I also have 10 year old traditional NiMH batteries (sanyo 1600mAH) so I'm confident that the enloops can match the 10year shelf life of lithiums. I'm testing my gear every 6 months if it doesn't get used (sring and fall) so my rechargeables get topped off then so if anything happens I get the same run time as lithiums but can recharge. I use chargers that can be powered by 12v so hook them to the truck or solar or whatever and I can re-charge and keep going.
Even if you only use lithiums or alkalines or hand crank whatever you should check/test/rotate supplies at regular intervals, medications, bandages, etc all need roatated too. So its a simple matter to top off the rechargeables or every couple years do a refresh cycle on the maha c9000 to check them for capacity. If you do keep alkailin backups buy a bulk pack every 6 months or so and rotate them out as well, thats how I minimize chances for leaks.


Edited by Eugene (08/12/08 12:41 PM)

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#144018 - 08/13/08 06:57 AM Re: Best AA battery [Re: Rodion]
adam2 Offline
Addict

Registered: 05/23/08
Posts: 474
Loc: Somerset UK
Originally Posted By: Rodion
Originally Posted By: adam2
If you use lots of batteries frequently, then any of the better brands of rechargeables are worth it, but remember to keep a stash of disposable cells in case grid or other power is not available for recharging.


I do keep a bunch of Duracells around (you never know), but wouldn't a solar charger solve, or at least mediate this problem?


Cheap solar chargers for AA cells are in my experience of very limited use, especialy in winter which in the UK at least, is when they are most needed.

The PV module in such units often only puts about 80ma into the cells and would require 30 hours or more to fully charge high capacity cells, and remember thats 30 hours of bright sun, which might be a month in the winter.
I suspect that the cheaper chargers would never fully charge high capacity cells in winter, the losses and the input are probably about equal!

One could of course use a large PV module, charge controller and a 12 volt deep cycle battery, to power an "in car" type charger, this should give results just as good as grid power.
The investment however would be several hundred pounds or dollars.

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#144024 - 08/13/08 10:44 AM Re: Best AA battery [Re: adam2]
Art_in_FL Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 09/01/07
Posts: 2432
Alkaline Duracells, primary batteries, are my usual AA batteries. The are very cost effective and more reliable than most other brands in my experience.

For critical applications or where weight and bulk are an issue lithium cells are the way to go. They are so reliable and have so much capacity, even in extreme cold, that in some cases I have eliminated the backup set.

I never got into the rechargeable batteries but I may have to look into them. The ability to recharge off a small solar panel or vehicle charging system could be an advantage.

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#144025 - 08/13/08 10:49 AM Re: Best AA battery [Re: adam2]
Eugene Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 12/26/02
Posts: 2995
Originally Posted By: adam2

The investment however would be several hundred pounds or dollars.


It wouldn;t be several hundred dollars, you can get a 12v SLA battery for $50, charge controller for $50 and panel for $100 that will give enough power to run a small 12v in charger.

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