Good things to drain alkalines?

[tnforever]

Hey all, I'm just curious since I have a bag of dead alkalines lying around.

What would be good devices that can really drain AA and AAA batteries?

I used to have a little Game Boy that I have lying around for that, and now I've found that a NiteIze Luxeon drop in for my minimag and the Fenix L2D will both light up when my Minimag LED's "dead", but I actually use my L2D and keep my minimag NiteIze in the car, so neither are good for keeping dead batteries in.

Not limited to lights, btw, appreciate all of your imput!

 

[PEU]

if you want to entertain yourself with a DIY project, build this: http://www.emanator.demon.co.uk/bigclive/joule.htm

they will extract the last drop of juice of your batteries


Pablo

 

[nzbazza]

Fenix E01 for AAA's. IIRC the E01 can light it's LED from only 0.5V.

 

[davidefromitaly]

take care when deep drain alkalines... sometimes they leak or in the worst case can explode... usually i use a cheap chinese light so if the acid corrode the inner i don't mind...

the worst brand is duracell in my experience, but also some energizer have leaked, but not exploded. duracell instead a pair of them, if i remember well, are exploded even if with no damage... only a big BANGGGGG!!!!

 

[Illum]

My Cell drainer rigs are Max756 Boost circuits with contact leads soldered to tiny square NdFeB mangets, which allows me to drain cells while they are resting inside plastic bags. while existing plastic holders are nice, very few are able to withstand alkaline residue on contacts without corroding beyond repair.

Max756 set on 3.3V I get to run AAs, AAAs, C, Ds, even Fs down while using a 5mm or two as nightlights.

I even managed to get a few to become reverse biased after clipping AAs, AAAs, C, Ds in series regardless of battery types. Understand that this is not the safest method to go forth nor will it be recommended...

 

[Marduke]

Anything you drain alkalines in, be prepared to ruin the device when they eventually leak.

 

[Mr Floppy]

if you want to entertain yourself with a DIY project, build this: http://www.emanator.demon.co.uk/bigclive/joule.htm

they will extract the last drop of juice of your batteries


Pablo

I've built this. I put this into a cheap 1 AA plastic torch that you see in $2 shops. Kind of like this one:
http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/51672905/1_AA_Torch.html

It is easy enough to replace the bulb from it with a nice LED. They are cheap enough to throw away.

Until Fenix releases an AA version of the E01, I might try and fit the E01 head into one of these but the above circuit works well. The E01 has a better moon mode though. Around 0.6V, the joule thief stuggles to light up words on a page.

 

[Kestrel]

That's a pretty neat project. How does the joule thief compare with the E01 for output (with depleted cells)?

Anyone ran the j.t. on a new AA cell for a runtime test?:huh:

 

[Mr Floppy]

I dont know how the nichia GS in the e01 compares to the sort of led's I use (solar garden light ones) but the e01 seems brighter and consistantly brighter.

You're probably looking for numbers arent you.

 

[Calina]

This thread has a few more circuits that you could use: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=225483

 

[stefanj]

I use my Peak Pacific! I toss in dead alkelines when I want to just race the light on the ceiling (you know- laying around at night with nothing better to do) BUT I always remove these cells as I don't want a leakage issue with my beloved Peak.

 

[Black Rose]

Best thing to drain alkaline AAs is a wall clock.

Those things manage to sap every usable ounce of energy out of them.

 

[Kestrel]

Best thing to drain alkaline AAs is a wall clock.

I've got one right by by desk, 1xAA. I'll try to remember to check the current draw on this guy tomorrow...

 

[Mr Floppy]

Well, heres what I use to drain AA's. Excuse the crappy photos. Only had a mobile phone camera. It starts off as one of these $2 plastic torches:

Using the joule thief circuit from above, you can tuck it all under the head of the torch:

Here it is action. Unfortunately, I didnt have any good LED's. This one was the best I had and it came from a solar garden light.

Beamshots, taken at 90cms or around 3 feet. Here is original bulb:

Its pretty useless and its a new battery too.

Here is the modded torch, with a fresh battery:

Theres a spot on the lens of the torch that has a bit of a diffuser. Its not bad. Theres enough light, especially if its dark.

Here is an E01 with a battery at just over 1.0V:

Everyone knows how good they are.

Here is the modded torch with a battery at around 0.9V:

Stuggling now but good for reading a book. It'll light up a full page. As the voltage drops though, it only lights up the line you're reading

Ideally I want to get some Nichia GS LED's but until then, I might remove the pill from an E01 and try and stick it in the $2 thing. I wish Fenix sold just the E01 pills. The regulation is much better than the joule thief.

 

[Russel]

Best thing to drain alkaline AAs is a wall clock.

Those things manage to sap every usable ounce of energy out of them.

That is what I use. When the second hand stops, replace the battery and you shouldn't have a problem with leaking batteries. I actually have a small stockpile of alkaline batteries that are more than half depleted for use in wall clocks.

These days, every AA or AAA cell, powering stuff that I have, is being systematically replaced with Eneloops.

 

[KD5XB]

When I was in the Air Force, working in a battery shop, we used nothing more than a 28 VDC landing light to drain 24 VDC batteries, both lead-acid and ni-cad. Once the voltage was down below about .2 volts per cell, we then used a direct shorting bar across each cell. Very simple, and very effective.

I suspect you could do the same thing with AA's and AAA's.

 

[Illum]

Once the voltage was down below about .2 volts per cell, we then used a direct shorting bar across each cell. Very simple, and very effective.

I take it even with spent batteries you can still heat your canned coffee on the shorting bars?

I find if you drain a near zero AA/AAA in series with a nearly full C [in a home remedied blast tank] you can force certain cells into reverse bias of up to 2V...which is kinda cool...except just about any load sends it to zero. don't giggle about the blast tank...these things can go under pressure very easily...and that basic acid isn't the best of things to clean off surfaces

 

[KD5XB]

I take it even with spent batteries you can still heat your canned coffee on the shorting bars?

Well -- this was with ni-cad batteries that are made up of replaceable cells. The shorting bars didn't get too hot if the voltage was down low, however don't even THINK about shorting a charged cell, it will weld the bar! Check this one out, it's similar.