Vacuum sealing CR123s?

Um...?

Newly Enlightened
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Dec 10, 2008
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Where I lay my hat...
Hey all, new here and learning tons...

I just recently purchased a bunch of CR123's from BatteryStation for my new Christmas 'toys', and am now trying to figure the best way to store them.

I see that many say to put the cells in a ziplock and throw them in the refrigerator, but I was wondering if it would be equally/more beneficial to vacuum seal them into useable packs (was thinking 4 packs) and storing them that way. The only real drawback that I was thinking is that because of the venting, the vacuum seal may not be as effective after a while. The flip side of this is that the packs of vented batteries shouldn't be too hard to spot! :D

Thoughts?
 

MorePower

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Nov 4, 2006
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Hey all, new here and learning tons...

I just recently purchased a bunch of CR123's from BatteryStation for my new Christmas 'toys', and am now trying to figure the best way to store them.

I see that many say to put the cells in a ziplock and throw them in the refrigerator, but I was wondering if it would be equally/more beneficial to vacuum seal them into useable packs (was thinking 4 packs) and storing them that way. The only real drawback that I was thinking is that because of the venting, the vacuum seal may not be as effective after a while. The flip side of this is that the packs of vented batteries shouldn't be too hard to spot! :D

Thoughts?

There is no reason to store them in the fridge, or in vacuum bags (unless you're really concerned that the cells will vent, which is unlikely). Shelf life is around 10 years at room temp.
 

StarHalo

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The only reason for putting the cells in Ziploc bags is to keep moisture out - you could vacuum seal them , but it seems like a lot of extra work for the same result.

And I would definitely put them in the fridge after they're bagged/sealed, every extra little bit of runtime helps.
 

Fallingwater

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There is no reason to store them in the fridge, or in vacuum bags (unless you're really concerned that the cells will vent, which is unlikely). Shelf life is around 10 years at room temp.
The oft-quoted 10 year shelf life of lithium cells must be considered in many cases in the same way we consider the "100'000 hours" claim for LED lifetime. Cheap cells, especially, often don't last more than a few years. Putting them in the fridge can only benefit them (it's not like they take much space).
 

MorePower

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The oft-quoted 10 year shelf life of lithium cells must be considered in many cases in the same way we consider the "100'000 hours" claim for LED lifetime. Cheap cells, especially, often don't last more than a few years. Putting them in the fridge can only benefit them (it's not like they take much space).

But more important, in the case of CR123A cells, is the oft-quoted "don't buy cheap cells," so a 10 year shelf life is really pretty reasonable...
 
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