Carbon Zinc Batteries?

[John N]

In some threads about 3rd world travel I recall there was some discussion about some regulated lights like the Newbeam being able to make good use of even carbon zinc batteries.

Which makes me wonder about a few things.

- What is the self life of a carbon zinc battery vs a alkaline?

- What are the capacity differences between them?

- What are the performance differences?

Thanks!

-john

 

[KevinL]

Much shorter shelf life. The Eveready "super heavy duty" carbon zincs I have here have an expiry date of 3 years compared to the 7+ years for alkalines, that's why I'm in a hurry to burn them up.

They have higher internal resistance and thus deliver less current in a resistored/DD light. Capacity is significantly lower. The thing I like about them is that they are significantly lighter especially when you are carrying a 4D Wak-a-Lite as it's been called on CPF /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif nearly 50 grams lighter per cell, that's 0.44 pounds when you add it up..!

Datasheet for Eveready 1250 carbon zinc
Datasheet for Energizer E95 alkaline

 

[idleprocess]

The capacity of carbon-zinc cells is typically about half of alkaline cells. I'm sure manufacturers make a killing on them since they're cheaper to make yet tend to cost only a little less than alkalines.

They're definitely lighter than alkalines.

 

[greenLED]

Depend on what country(ies) you're calling 3rd world, alkies should be readily available. More expensive than what we're used to paying in the US but available nevertheless and the exchange rate may play in your favor.