what is the best alkaline battery

Duracell Energizer Rayovac?? Who like what and why?

I'm also curious to know what other CPFers think on this subject.

It seems that who's best is only temporary and it changes every few years. For example Ray-O-Vac was an also ran for many years. Now they are manufacturing some good cells. Often there's so little difference in performance that price should dictate your purchase. When they're cheap, buy a bunch.

Consumer Reports also indicates that "Who's On Top" is ever changing.

Buy the freshest batteries you can, providing there's an accurate date or code. Widely fluctuating storage temperature seems to shorten batteries life too.

Others may have more experience but that's been my observation.

For *most* uses, I don't think the differences are very great. It's widely accepted that the "ultra" premium alkalines are not worth the extra cost. I just buy whatever is on sale. When you can get drugstore brand batteries for half the cost (or even less) of duracells, you still come out ahead even if they only last 75% as long. Obviously there are always exceptions, in some cases where weight and space is a problem (eg backpacking) you may be willing to pay a significant premium to get longer lasting batteries.

I personally have Energizers and Duracells with some rayovacs (1 industrial AAA cell and 6 D cells) here and there.

AA and AAA's are Energizer. I have a 16 pack of Duracell AAA's with a date of 2009 I bought a few weeks ago for like $8.

I prefer Energizers.....

IMHO rechargeable alkalines are the best. A fully charged set will beat heck out of any other brand that you've been using for a while, and you can always have a fully charged set in your flashlight every time you leave the house. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

-Cougar :{)

Most of my lights use CR 123's.

The only lights I have that uses alkalines are my Arc AAA, Energizer 4AA folding 2 LED lantern type thing, and my mini mags (well not anymore I run Energizer lithiums in there.)

Not suitable items for rechargables because I use them once in a blue moon and can't have a dead cell because they self discharge.

I currently run 4 NexCell 2100's mAh in my Canon Powershot A10 though. (Lenmar Pro451 charger.)

Rechargeable alkalines have the same shelf life as disposable alkalines. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

-Cougar :{)

I purchase Duracells and then Energizers, nothing else in Alkaline that is...

i usually get rayovac maximum plus AA 24 pack for $8-$9 at lowes. ive had pretty good luck with them.

Bob

Panasonic has been a reliable battery and they have good capacity. On sale with a rebate, they cost 15 cents each for AA & AAA. I haven't come across that deal for awhile, however. Ray-O's can be had at regular price for 30 cents each; a tub of 30 is $10 at large stores. 50 cents is too much, even C & D's can go for less than that on sale.

I no longer use rechargeable alkys; they have less capacity, less voltage, less current, they leak, they're expensive. For what the charger & cells cost me, I could buy sale priced, regular, alkalines cheaper & they out performed the rechargeables. Unless there have been recent, major improvements, avoid rechargeable alks.

Maxell has been a disapointment too. They make better recording tape than batteries.

I don't do any documented runtime stuff, so this is PURELY just my OPINION...

I like Rayovac cells a lot! I Have only had batts leak in three lights, an EnergizerAAA in a Solit@ire, Rayovac non Alk Ds in a Find Me light, and Duracell Ds in a M*g.

I can buy the Rayovacs cheaper by far, and so far have found NOTHING not to like about them.

That said, I bought a 48 pack of Maxxell Alk AAs at Frys....

Hey, You don't even have to buy dedicated rechargeable alkalines. If you don't discharge them all the way to dead you can partially recharge regular alkalines. That is good to extend their life by 2 to 3 times at least.

Dear PlayboyJoeSchmoe,
Please let us know,
Do the Max's give good throw?
For how much $ did they go?

(I flunked poetry class - guess I lacked class)

Anyhoo, please do let us know if the Maxs perform ok. I've been buying 20-packs for the past few years for $5 at Fleet Farm. At that price they're a fair value. They didn't last as long as other brands and provided less current to a load, however. Maybe I was getting old stock that was improperly stored. If you find that the Max aren't up to snuff then I'll know it's not just my experience.

Thanks Joe.

Yesterday, I bought 16 Dorcy Mastercell alkalines at the Home Hardware store in Kentville, NS. They were only C$5.99, which is about US$4.50. The Rayovacs were C$9.97, so it's quite a saving. Package says they're made in China. Visually, they appear quite nice and are the same as the ones they ship with their flashlights.

[ QUOTE ]
Steelwolf said:
Hey, You don't even have to buy dedicated rechargeable alkalines. If you don't discharge them all the way to dead you can partially recharge regular alkalines. That is good to extend their life by 2 to 3 times at least.

[/ QUOTE ]

True, but it makes them much more likely to leak. Also they seem to self discharge faster & faster each time they are recharged. Are you charging them on a charger designed for Alkalines? I have always just used a simple charger @ 50-100ma, and gotten about double rated capacity with about 2 recharges. Recharging seems to work best if you do it before they get down to 1.35v no-load, IMO.

I don't know how I will be able to prove or disprove if Maxxells are any better or worse than any other brand.

But if I find any issues I'll be sure and report...

<edit - whoops! It was a 20 pack! and the cost was $8.99 - edit>

I think the apparent disagreement about rechargeable alkalines is really a matter of how different people use them. Most of the time it's convenient for me to swap my batteries for a freshly charged set before they get depleted much so rechargeable alkalines work well for me. If it's more convenient (or essential) for you to run your batteries way down every time you use them I think you'll be better off with disposables or NiMH.

-Cougar :{)

I have used rechargeable alkalines before, but I had various problems including leaking cells (both in the charger and in storage, but not usualy during operation) cells that would die without reason, and overall low output current capability. I accidentally shorted out a stack of 8 with an ammeter, and got only 2A of current.

I think they would be suitable for low-current uses (TV remotes, handheld games, graphing calculators, etc.) but I would never use them for higher current applications, even your average consumer flashlight.

Almost all of my battery applications use either disposable alkalines in low-drain applications, or NiMH cells in more demanding applications. I remove and recharge them before they are completely dead however.

I'm a bit disappointed with my rechargable alkalines. My UK400's bulb is not supposed to be orange. As for Ray-O-Vac's disposables, I've no complaints.

The Duracell vs Energizer debate was decided for me twelve years ago when a used Energizer AA beat a new Duracell D on the Duracell tester.

As for favorite brand, right now it's a tough choice between Kodak and Ray-O-Vac because I got so many for free. I just went into the 1 hour photo and asked for used disposable cameras.

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Ferrous said:
I just went into the 1 hour photo and asked for used disposable cameras.

[/ QUOTE ]

I've been doing this recently also. One time I got a 223 battery that I opened up to get the 123 cells. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif