Good CR2016 Lithium Batteries???

[Beaver_2]

Where is a good place to buy CR2016 batteries? There is a ton of different kinds out there and I have no idea if the more expensive ones are any better than the cheaper ones. Any suggestions?
Thanks, -Beaver_2
P.S. Happy New Year!

 

[Sub_Umbra]

A couple years ago I bought enough CR2016s and CR2032s to last about 3.7 lifetimes. I ordered from batteryspace.com and paid around 34-37¢ for each one. Not bad. They looked clean. They work well. They didn't kill me on shipping.

I went to a coin dealer and bought glass coin tubes for nickels - they are perfect for bulk storage of 2016-2032 cells and they take up much less space than blister packs.

 

[Burgess]

Do you put some type of insulating material between each cell ?

_

 

[Sub_Umbra]

Do you put some type of insulating material between each cell ?

No. It's just like having a light with multiple cells stacked up and the switch off -- except there's no switch that can be turned on unintentionally on the tubes. The tubes are glass with plastic screw tops and even if the tube were only half filled with cells and got jostled enough to completely flip a few over I don't see much chance of accidental discharge.

 

[eebowler]

DO NOT buy any of the chinese made 2016 cells. A couple years ago I bought from china some 2X2016 lights to sell and within a couple months the cells were dying (lights getting dimmer and dimmer.) I bought a batch of 50 cells from another supplier and NOT ANY PAIR of them would power the lights properly nor would they give me flash amp readings of over 50mA.

I bought 40 more from Amondotech and they were just as bad. NONE of them proved to be good. In fact, the first set of cells (straight from China) don't even make a blip on the DMM now while the amondotech cells give flash amp readings of <20mA.

Locally, I tried to purchase Maxell and GP 2016 cells (at US$3 ea,)and they too turned out to be crap as well. I see that batteryjunction has energizers for $1.05. I'll try them out soon because I have a bunch of unsold lights collecting dust for the last 2 years.

As a reference, I have an OLD GP 2016 cell home which I took out of a watch or something and it gives me flash amp readings of >200mA. Putting any of the 'new' cells into a light would produce a dim glow which I'd say is 1/10 their max brightest.

Ok. This is a rant as well.

 

[Fallingwater]

DO NOT buy any of the chinese made 2016 cells. A couple years ago I bought from china some 2X2016 lights to sell and within a couple months the cells were dying (lights getting dimmer and dimmer.)

Are you aware that CR2016 cells last for a pitifully short time at full brightness in such lights?
They're being used for current draws they were never meant to handle, and as a result slump *really* quickly.
This causes those flashlights to last a few minutes, if that, at full power, and then several hours at severely reduced - but still useful - brightness.
Even if you don't use the flashlights that often, but keep them in a place where they are likely to be pushed by other stuff, they can turn on without you noticing and waste lots of battery life.

My personal advice for people requiring decent numbers of CR2016 cells is to order a few of these. They only cost $23.5 each, they come in sturdy plastic packaging and as a special deal you get one free white LED every two cells.

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Eebowler,

You and I have had several discussions about your dismal record with the coin cells you have tried to use. I find this very interesting...

Coin cells have been around for a long time, and I understand that they are a very mature technology. The only thing that comes into question is the gasket and the purity of the components used.

I have shied away from testing them simply because there are too many sizes available, and I don't know what sizes are "most popular." I use 2032 and LR44 cells, but haven't done formal testing on them.

I may have to see if I can find the time to revisit this, and perhaps do some testing...

By the way, the ZTS tester evaluates the 2016 cell with a pulsed load of 0.014 amps. I am not sure your flash amp method is the best way to go. Still, you put the cells in a light and it was dim.

I just checked the Energizer data sheet. Their cells are rated at 90 mAh with a current drain of around 100 mA. The internal resistance of these cells is nearly 20 ohms. Note that this is not milli ohms, but ohms.

Tom

 

[Beaver_2]

Thanks for the advice guys, I'll just be using these batteries maily for keylights. I went to buy about 25 at battery junction for $10...but when I went to checkout shipping was just as much as the cost of the 25 batteries! That's ridioculous.
I'm leaning toward getting some LED keylights off DX since they have free shipping. Any other suggestions that aren't Chinese?

 

[Burgess]

Here's a suggestion . . . .


Buy something ELSE at Battery Junction.


Let's say, uhmmm, er, howbout' a flashlight or two ?


Next, add the Energizer Lithium coin cells to yer' order.


See, they don't add much to the shipping charges now, do they ?

_

 

[JCup]

My personal advice for people requiring decent numbers of CR2016 cells is to order a few of these. They only cost $23.5 each, they come in sturdy plastic packaging and as a special deal you get one free white LED every two cells.

Wow. Let me think, I ordered 20 of these keychain lights last week, I knew it was a deal...and then...I was in Fry's last Saturday, picked up two Chinese 2016's (thinking of my IR thermometer), got the cheaper ones, and they were $1.49 each. It did not occur to me as I was browsing in the store.

It continues to amaze me just how inexpensive Chinese merchandise can be.

 

[cave dave]

I've gotten the cheapy coin cell lights before and when I opened them up the cells had leaked. They had Chinese characters on them

So yes there are poor quality coin cells out there.

 

[TorchBoy]

My personal advice for people requiring decent numbers of CR2016 cells is to order a few of these. They only cost $23.5 each, they come in sturdy plastic packaging and as a special deal you get one free white LED every two cells.

OK, I'll ask. Do you mean $0.234 each?

I have shied away from testing them simply because there are too many sizes available, and I don't know what sizes are "most popular." I use 2032 and LR44 cells, but haven't done formal testing on them.

I may have to see if I can find the time to revisit this, and perhaps do some testing...

My vote would be for CR2032 and LR44, followed by 23A and 27A (12V piles of 8 tiny cells), then CR2016 and LR41.

 

[Beaver_2]

Here's a suggestion . . . .


Buy something ELSE at Battery Junction.


Let's say, uhmmm, er, howbout' a flashlight or two ?


Next, add the Energizer Lithium coin cells to yer' order.


See, they don't add much to the shipping charges now, do they ?

_

Sorry I got Battery Junction and Battery Space mixed up. Battery Space has inflated shipping prices. I don't know about Battery Junction.

I bought 40 more from Amondotech and they were just as bad. NONE of them proved to be good. In fact, the first set of cells (straight from China) don't even make a blip on the DMM now while the amondotech cells give flash amp readings of <20mA.

If batteryjunction's CR2016 batteries are just Chinese batteres; what's the difference between them and DX?

I've gotten the cheapy coin cell lights before and when I opened them up the cells had leaked. They had Chinese characters on them

So yes there are poor quality coin cells out there.

Where did you get those batteries from?
Thanks again for your advise guys.

 

[Fallingwater]

Wow. Let me think, I ordered 20 of these keychain lights last week, I knew it was a deal...and then...I was in Fry's last Saturday, picked up two Chinese 2016's (thinking of my IR thermometer), got the cheaper ones, and they were $1.49 each. It did not occur to me as I was browsing in the store.

Hehehe. That made me laugh a bit.

OK, I'll ask. Do you mean $0.234 each?

Yup. Sorry, my mistake. There's a reason why I didn't take an engineering university course.

 

[eebowler]

LOL Fallingwater. I actually meant that the NEW and unused lights were noticably dimmer a couple months later. In fact, when I received them, out of 100 lights, 9 of them were dead. Believe me, I'm aware of the 15 min runtime of these lights.

SilverFox: Yeah. Our many discussions. :shakehead When the ZTS told me these cells were good, I gave it away.

I just checked the Energizer data sheet. Their cells are rated at 90 mAh with a current drain of around 100 mA. The internal resistance of these cells is nearly 20 ohms. Note that this is not milli ohms, but ohms.

When the 'new' cells were received, NONE of them gave me readings of over 100mA.

 

[Beaver_2]

Thank guys, I bought some cheap keylights from DX. If they don't turn out well its not like its a big loss. I'll let you know how they perform.
-Beaver 2

 

[Fallingwater]

Keep in mind that one or two lights every ten-pack are usually duds. They can be repaired though.
I had two duds; one needed the led contacts and battery terminal cleaned, the other resumed working after I applied enough percussive maintenance.

 

[paulr]

I've bought a lot of fauxtons and haven't had shelf life probs with them AFAIK. Their runtime is pretty good too. Maybe not as good as energizer cells, but these aren't heavy duty lights. If you want a high usage keychain light you're better off with an Arc AAA or something similar. I sometimes scrounge batteries out of fauxtons to run my LRI lights, digital watch, etc. No probs so far. Fallingwater's experience is about the same as mine that one or two lights per 10-pack is a dud (not all of them are fixable). The rest work ok.

 

[eebowler]

I took some pics last night. In Picture one, I choose two random old (unused) lights and put the new one in the middle.

In Picture 2, I took two 'new' titanium cells and put them into the light on the right. Judge for yourself the results.

Curious picture of the cell I always use for reference. It's red because my finger was covering the flash (intentionally).