Alkaline Battery Shoot Out

[PlayboyJoeShmoe]

Very nice!

I use NimH in EDC light, lithium in lights that either get much brighter with them, or that I really want to work next year. And alkalines in most everything else.

I really need some 3AAtoD holders in series and in paralel, but alas /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/broke.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/broke.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/broke.gif

 

[Lynx_Arc]

I wonder how long a lithium battery would work in my remote control.... a zillion channel changes? would the battery die of old age or run down first?

 

[jayflash]

Thanks so much for spending your time on this helpful project.

It confirms my non-scientific experience, closely. Ray O Vacs are cheaper than the big "Two" and often on sale, thus making them a good value.

 

[flashlight]

[ QUOTE ]
koala said:
Wow you and your west mountain cba really did the job well. Thanks for sharing.

[/ QUOTE ]

 

[PeLu]

[ QUOTE ]
jtr1962 said: At 3 amps the D cells have less capacity than most AA NiMHs!

[/ QUOTE ]

The best D cell tested comes to 2.1 Ah at 3A. Show me an AA cell which can do that!
But basically you are right.
Next step could be testing various NiMH cells. All of mine are highly overrated.
If I could get such a CBA device (maybe there is one inexpensively available somewhere in the world .-) I promise to sacrify one or more of these valuable LiSO2 D cells, maybe even a LiSOCl2...

 

[radellaf]

Wow, great to have that data, proving that the 30 for $10 RoVs are a good deal, and that the $$ lithiums are a decent value even at 500mA.

I'll second the suggestion that Duracell Ultra cells should be worth including.

 

[SilverFox]

I have been out of contact for a few days.

As far as testing other cells, I will make a list and see how much budget I have. If anyone wants to send me a couple of cells I would be happy to run them through the test.

I have also noticed that Energizer e2 cells are supposed to be higher capacity and I may have to take a look at them.

The Kodak cells were marked USA on the packaging. The fine print on the cells listed that they were Kodak. I don't believe they are the same as the oxy cells.

Tom

 

[Mark2]

Great and much needed work, thanks!

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Doug S,

Thanks for catching the errors. I believe I have everything corrected, but please check again.

The 0.5 Amp Rate on the D cells provided more data than could fit into an Excel spreadsheet. I split it over two sheets and made an error in transferring data from the end of the first sheet to the beginning of the second one. The Wh value should be correct for the Duracell D now. I was close, the Ah and M values were correct, but I fouled up on the Wh column.

Tom

 

[SilverFox]

Hello PeLu,

You have peaked my curiosity. I will have to see if I can come up with a D LiSO2 cell to test. Where did you get yours from?

Tom

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Filament,

It is hard to do an economic break down because of the wide variety of sale prices. I decided to present the data in terms of performance and leave the rest for others to do.

I suppose a performance per unit price comparison could be made, but I think the best performance comes from the lithium cells, as you have discovered.

Tom

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Kill-O-Zap,

I guess I will have to get some Duracell Ultra cells and do a chart comparing them to the Copper Top cells.

I suppose the Kodak cells could be done in a similar fashion.

Tom

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Xenopus,

Welcome to CPF.

I got the Energizer Industrial cells from hardware stores in Ketchikan and Juneau Alaska. They had just arrived in time for winter.

Tom

 

[SilverFox]

I found some Duracell Ultra AA's and added a comparison chart to the end of my original post.

It appears we have a new winner. The Ultra AA's beat everything else, so far.

Tom

 

[Ginseng]

Tom,
I just found this thread. I don't use alkies too much but I certainly appreciate the hard work you put into this and the data. Very comprehensive and nicely controlled. High quality information.
Thanks!
Wilkey

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Wilkey,

Thanks.

I should also point out that Alkaline cells seem to have a bit of life left in them after the test. I did a second run on a Duracell Ultra after testing it to 0.5 volts at the 0.5 Amp Rate. After letting the cell rest for a while, it gave another 20 minutes of power. A third test showed another 5 minutes of run time, but it dropped off pretty fast.

Tom

 

[jamaica]

[ QUOTE ]
SilverFox said:

I found the Panasonic Power Edge cells very interesting.
[snip] They must have a bit different chemistry because
they were able to keep the voltage up until they died out.

Tom

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks loads -- I've often longed for exactly this kind
of data.

The Panasonic Power Edge voltage does stand out, and
the cell *is* different -- OxyAlkaline.
Imaging Resource - Product announcement

That the Panasonics hold up their voltage better
might catch the interest of folks using direct-drive
(DD) or resistors in their lights -- my cells measure
1.7v fresh out of the package. The voltage drops with
time of course, but it does give a number of my lights
a noticeable boost.

Thanks again!
Jamaica

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Jamaica,

Thanks for the link.

To get a 43% increase, the camera must shut down at around 1.1 volts per cell. I believe most cameras run close to the 1.0 Amp Rate with everything turned on.

Tom

 

[R983]

It seems like with everything someone has to bite the bullet and do a lot of research to find the truth about something, but in the end it usually pays off in a big way. I probably speak for everyone here in the fact that it was great to be able to finally cross reference our own battery tests and preconceived notions with some hard data.

If there's any device that burns up AA cells it has to be my Olympus digital camera. Regular Duracell and Energizer batteries are all but completely dead in about an hour of usage. The Ultras and E2 last quite a while longer, but the best results I've encountered are with the Ray-o-vac maximum plus. I now use these batteries in pretty much everything, plus they're sometimes less than half the cost of the ultras and e2's.

To keep this thread going, what does everyone recommend for CR123A's? I know the Surefires are quite good; I've had good luck with Duracell Ultras, but just recently had some bad Energizer photo E2's so I probably won't buy those again. Not to mention the photo E2's are 6 and change a piece even at my local Wal-Mart. I actually just had to settle for a pair of the Browning Black Ice 123's because the store was out of Surefires. I got a 2 pack for 5 bucks which I wasn't going to argue with. They seem plenty powerful to start off with in my Scorpion, we'll see how they last.

Rich

 

[jamaica]

Tom,
The link was my pleasure, just to show the Panasonics
were oxyalkalines. I've seen more informative press
releases, but can't recall where.

Except in emergencies, I only use NiMH rechargeables
in digicams. I keep a set of the Panasonics handy in
case I get caught with flat NiMHs, as they will go just
sitting for a few weeks after charging, but otherwise
it's NiMH for me.

You're right about the digicams. Of mine, one draws
600mA powered up with the LCD on, 90mA active but with
the LCD off, and a whopping 1.1A peak when writing an
image to flash. The other draws 740mA /100mA /1.2A,
respectively. Tough numbers for alkaline cells, as
your graphs amply show. (though if I refrain from
using the LCD these cameras can do pretty well from
alks, in a pinch.)

Thanks again for the great data!

Cheers,
Jamaica