Do I really need more expensive Alkalines

I am referring here to the use of low powered devices that hardly consume any power such as a CMOY AMP. My Q here is that there are many types of Alkaline batts out there for eg you will get the normal Duracell Alkaline and than the Procell Alkaline which is the one above or shall I say their top end model and obviosuly it costs bit more to, but so speaking am I wasting my time and money putting more expensive Alkalines in my CMOY amp or any low consuming electronic device than just using normal Alkalines.

From your previous thread, I figured you had jumped on the Procell batteries, since they are industrial batteries and not normally available to consumers (at least at B&M stores).

In low drain devices that I still use alkaline cells in, I just use Kirkland (Costco) AA (rumoured to be made by Duracell) or Rayovac AA & 9V.

Black Rose said:

From your previous thread, I figured you had jumped on the Procell batteries, since they are industrial batteries and not normally available to consumers (at least at B&M stores).

In low drain devices that I still use alkaline cells in, I just use Kirkland (Costco) AA (rumoured to be made by Duracell) or Rayovac AA & 9V.

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No I did not buy the Procells to be honest.

I buy the cheapest cells I can find and I get the bulk packs as well. It is my understanding that there are very few manufacturers of batteries and many different rebrands, so it is likely the cheap batteries are just the same thing rebranded. I don't have problems with Rayovacs or the cheap rebrands either. In fact it is the more expensive Energizers I had problems with, such as one cell out of the same pack dieing before the others in the same device.:shakehead

The "big brand" batteries, like Duracell and Energizer are more costly because they spend on advertising and the assumption that higher price means better quality works on consumers. You get what you pay for doesn't awalys apply to batteries.

I have yet to run into a really crappy cheapo alkaline cell.:twothumbs

I use ray-o-vacs in my cmoy amps. I get the two packs at the $ stores.

kramer5150 said:

I use ray-o-vacs in my cmoy amps. I get the two packs at the $ stores.

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Mind if I ask what CMOY you have?

The most economical use of alkaline batteries is to buy the cheapest ones you can find. Cheap alkalines give you about 80% of the capacity for half the price of the more expensive ones.

I think Kramer must live near expensive dollar stores. It used to be that I could get four packs of AA or AAA for 99¢ with a brand like Sanyo, Panasonic or Fuji.

The big problem with alkalines is they can leak, whether cheap or expensive. So you have to watch them like a hawk and never leave them in a device unattended.

You are wasting money not as much by which alkalines you use but rather using any at all instead of NiMH.

J_C said:

You are wasting money not as much by which alkalines you use but rather using any at all instead of NiMH.

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So your saying I am better off using NiMH eg Eneloops. This may be true but I also noticed that the NiMH did not last as long as the Alkalines, eg the Alkalines would last say 3 weeks and the Eneloop 1.5 or 2 weeks, though the bonus was all I had to do was to put the Eneloops back into my Maha C9000 charger and after 20mins they were charged up again.

The Eneloops over the long perioud of time would save money for sure.

Also the other thing here is the Eneloops or most NiMH batts are 1.2V (AA I am referring to, not 9V) and have to make sure that the Opamps minimum V requirement will accept 2.4V in total.

Suppose I can experiment and like they say trial and error is the best way sometimes.

If you have an Ikea near you their AA cells run about $0.20. Not a bad bang for the buck.

Given the desire to locate the cheapest batteries, it may be worthy to note that unless your battery holder is isolated away from the rest of the assembly, I wouldn't go too cheap.

Duracells had a batch of copper tops where the crimp failed if inserted into a holder too tight and would leak within hours afterwards. Be advised what you buyin bulk, it could either mean bulk savings or bulk trouble.

Duracell ultras never had this problem, but its not the best battery for low drain applications:devil:

Albinoni said:

So your saying I am better off using NiMH eg Eneloops. This may be true but I also noticed that the NiMH did not last as long as the Alkalines, eg the Alkalines would last say 3 weeks and the Eneloop 1.5 or 2 weeks, though the bonus was all I had to do was to put the Eneloops back into my Maha C9000 charger and after 20mins they were charged up again.

The Eneloops over the long perioud of time would save money for sure.

Also the other thing here is the Eneloops or most NiMH batts are 1.2V (AA I am referring to, not 9V) and have to make sure that the Opamps minimum V requirement will accept 2.4V in total.

Suppose I can experiment and like they say trial and error is the best way sometimes.

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You didn't specify exactly what this "CMoy" amp is, and most CMOY amps do not run off 2 x 1.5V cells. Therefore, I have to assume it has a boost circuit so it depends on what that is, but it would be a poor design if it has to use 2 x alkaline cells... but it is a poor design anyway, you don't want a low budget, low component switching boost circuit as the supply for an analog amp, particularly one without a buffered ground channel.

So, ultimately if we consider what is best, best is replacing the headamp... unless it is not much of a similarity to a CMOY.

Albinoni said:

Mind if I ask what CMOY you have?

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It was a DIY build from another forum member on an audio forum. Its thru-hole, single sided PCB with a socketed OP amp. I still have the amp but never use it anymore. I can't recall the specifics of it, but I think it uses an OPA2107 and two 9V cells. But I can't recall if the cells are in series or parallel, I think the former.

I don't recall it costing me much, in the neighborhood of $20 for the stuffed PCBA and $30 for the enclosure + hardware. I got the OP amp for free, working in the electronics industry.

Are you sure you have a cmoy? Most cmoys are designed around a 9V input (to give the circuit the +/- 4.5V swing).

OPA2107 does need a bit more voltage than many opamps used in audio, given a careful design with good decoupling it will work down to 9V and a bit lower but probably series cells as it is usually advised to keep the voltage higher than that regardless of the swing needed to drive any particular cans, I mean if it is directly driving rather than a buffered output which can lower voltage requirements a little more.

I just picked up a pack of 24 AA Endurance batteries at Advanced Auto for $7.94 ($7.49 + 6% tax), the batteries are made in china tho...

I've used the D-size Walgreens Alkaline Supercells and have never had any problem with them. Made in Japan. They're usually on sale every other week or so.

If the battery's location makes leaking not a big problem to deal with, it shouldn't matter too much. But if it was in the barrel of a flashlight, for example, then no, you would want to use quality alkalines, lithiums, or NiMH (not necessarily in that order though).

However, ProCells are quite a bit cheaper than the regular coppertops, so those have become my standard use alkalines...

vivid said:

If you have an Ikea near you their AA cells run about $0.20. Not a bad bang for the buck.

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20c "heavy duty" batteries are a no no for me. they'll leak and you 'd end up losing more(your device) than you would save. And also an AA low quAlity cell would have about 400 mah when good quality alkalines or nimh would have around 2000 to 2500. If you're going to use the device a lot, I strongly recommend the rechargables.

It doesn't really matter with the voltages because an alkaline battery would go doown from 1.5 volts to 1.3 very rapidly then it will last longer and have a more steady drop once it reaches the 1.2 mark.

Hmmm... I was under the impression that the duracell pro-cell is nothing more than a copper-top that has been packaged in more convenient boxes with a different name. Regular coppertops are sold in resale oriented blister packs with the cardboard backing. A box of 144 procells is small, easy to ship, easy to unpack, and ideal for industrial applications. The procell, as I understand, is just being marketed towards high volume use rather than retail.

As I understand, things like electronic thermostats often come with pro-cells installed or included, probably just because they are more convenient on the "assembly/packaging" line.

I bought such a box of 144 AAs from batteryjunction a couple months back for halloween flashlights, I think with shipping it was about $60, less than 50 cents a cell, not too awful but not as cheap as you can get. the packaging definitely saved me a ton of time for loading up the ~70 or so 2xAA flashlights. The batteries performed just fine but I don't have any reason to believe that they are "better" than a store-bought copper-top.

Anyone have conclusive evidence that the pro-cells are "special" in some way other than packaging?

Eric

I've actually noticed a significant difference with regards to battery life in Alkies. The cheapest ones die way too fast. The cheapest I use are Ray-o-vac brand. (Which really isn't all that cheap compared to what's out there).

I just prefer spending a little bit more to get a ton more battery life, when using alkies. It's actually cheaper that way. I guess you could call it the difference between value vs. ultra low price.