Rayovac Alkaline: any good?

[viorel00]

They claim to be as good as Energizer Max or Duracell Coppertop. I am not a big fan of alkaline, but once in a while I need alkaline for "emergency" situation (*) or when 1.5V is just better than 1.3 I get fro HiMH. One example would be a 2AA Braun toothbrush, It came with Alkaline Duracells and those laster for about 2 months, than I put in some 2650 HiMH Duracell that dies within a week, I guess high self discharge, next I put in some fresh Hybrids and those are OK except the speed is a little slow, I just put in some fresh Alkaline and the toothbrush spins very fast.

So, the question was if Rayovac Alkaline are any good. Our local ShopRite had them on sale and I bought a bunch, but I can return them if I change my minds. Thanks.

EDIT: (*) I forgot to mention, the other day my wife bought a new toy for out 2 year old son, and it required 3 AAA which I had but they were in another device, and he was so excited that I had to use alkaline to let him have some fun

 

[WildChild]

I buy them over Duracell and Energizer because I'm pretty sure they are about the same quality but they are a lot cheaper. They also have the same "if they destroy a device, we replace it" warranty! Out of the 24 pack I bought 2 years ago, I had 1 leak slightly (not enough to damage the spring of the light) but the light was left open and all 4 batteries were dead... The leaking one was probably overdischarged... I got under 1V on a DMM. Overall, I like them.

 

[Marduke]

Personally, I have found them to have a good bang-for-the-buck. They perform almost as well as other brands, but are usually found for a fraction of the cost.

Comparison of numerous brands can be found here:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=64660

 

[mdocod]

I use them for my alkaline needs almost religiously. They work fine.

 

[Flying Turtle]

They've always done fine for me. There doesn't seem to be much difference between any alkaline cells.

Geoff

 

[VidPro]

Personally, I have found them to have a good bang-for-the-buck. They perform almost as well as other brands, but are usually found for a fraction of the cost.

Comparison of numerous brands can be found here:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=64660

me too, and slightly less bang for even less bucks them Kirkland things are rather amasing. before we switched more things to rechargable , we ran hundreds of kirklands without one failure. and if i remember rite, silvers test of them Rite-Aid turned out great too.
think Fresh, i think the fresher the alkies are the better, get them all dusty off some store shelf that has been sitting there, and even dura-sells were a bit weak (they are dated).
a deal on fresh good cells is a deal, a deal on some old junk somone is trying to get rid of isnt.

 

[viorel00]

well, sounds like I did score a good deal. The 4D, 4C, 2x9V, 12 AA and 12 AAA packs were 99 cents each. Normal price was $5.49.

I found out later there are some Rayovac coupons good for $1.00 off any alkaline pack purchase, see for example http://www.thecouponclippers.com/ and search for Rayovac if anyone is interested. had I known about these coupons then, I would have gotten the batteries for free (almost, I would have had to pay for coupons).

 

[swampgator]

Wallyworld has AA & AAA 36 pack for $11.96, or 33 cents each. I've used them exclusively for the past year, mainly based on info received here.

 

[TPA]

I tend to have bad luck with anything man-made, batteries being no exception. I had 2x 24-packs of AAs in my hurricane stash from 2004, BOTH packs developed leaking batteries inside their retail packaging! Granted, both were probably from the same batch, but they've always been kept indoors in air conditioning, away from water. I also have had EVERY brand of alkaline battery leak in devices over the years. Doesn't seem to be a winner on that, except for the rechargable batteries which haven't ever leaked on me. Just the bad Energizer 2500 batteries which don't work worth a damn after 3 days.

 

[thezman]

I'll never buy Rayovacs again.

I bought some AAA's at Big Lots for cheap and put them on the shelf for later.
Well, later came and I opened them up and did an open voltage test on them and they were all over the place. Some were over 1.5v and some were around 1.3v and a good many of them showed signs of leakage. I looked on the back of the package for contact info so I could let them know something wasn't right and there it was in small print.
These batteries have been tested and were proven to perform as well as new batteries. This may not have been a direct quote, but the wording implied that they were used batteries that were repackaged.

I let them know through an e-mail that I was not to happy about this and they graciously offered to send me some new cells. They sent me AA's instead of AAA's.

 

[n4zov]

I use AA Ray-O-Vac's all the time, and have never had any problems. They perform as well as the more expensive Energizers or Duracells in my experience.

 

[Marduke]

I'll never buy Rayovacs again.

I bought some AAA's at Big Lots for cheap and put them on the shelf for later.
Well, later came and I opened them up and did an open voltage test on them and they were all over the place. Some were over 1.5v and some were around 1.3v and a good many of them showed signs of leakage. I looked on the back of the package for contact info so I could let them know something wasn't right and there it was in small print.
These batteries have been tested and were proven to perform as well as new batteries. This may not have been a direct quote, but the wording implied that they were used batteries that were repackaged.

I let them know through an e-mail that I was not to happy about this and they graciously offered to send me some new cells. They sent me AA's instead of AAA's.

I think you are misinterpreting their business moto on their packages. Something to the effect of "Proven as good as other name brand batteries". I just checked my package of 12 AAA's from Big Lots, all were from the same lot, and has voltages of 1.580 +/- 0.001 volt (1 millivolt).

Rayovac Alkaline Batteries Lasts as Long as Duracell® CopperTop® and Energizer® Max®. Independent industry-standard testing proves it and we guarantee it!

If for any reason you don't agree that Rayovac Alkaline Batteries last as long as Duracell and Energizer, we'll refund your money. It's that simple. We're so confident in the performance of our batteries, it's guaranteed.​

Not only do Rayovac Alkaline Batteries perform as well as Duracell and Energizer, they're the better value because you get more power for your money every time you choose Rayovac.

-Rayovac Website

 

[thezman]

I think you are misinterpreting their business moto on their packages. Something to the effect of "Proven as good as other name brand batteries". I just checked my package of 12 AAA's from Big Lots, all were from the same lot, and has voltages of 1.580 +/- 0.001 volt (1 millivolt).

No, the wording wasn't comparing them to other brands of batteries, it was as I stated. Tested and proven to be as good as new batteries.
I read it a bunch of times because I couldn't believe what I was reading.

 

[jayflash]

Like TPA, I've had every brand leak over the past 40 years. Ray O Vac seems to offer a better value at normal prices and more so when discounted. They have equal or better short circuit amps than Duracell or Energizer and similar capacity - at lower cost.

Sometimes poor batches get to store shelves and Ray O is no exception, but no worse. It's the brand I use most often.

 

[NeonLights]

I use the ROV's most of the time when I need alkalines. I've had Energizers and Duracells leak in lights before, and the ROV's have performed as well as those for me, at a lower price. Unless I get a killer deal on Energizers or Duracells, or buy a product that comes with them, I typically use ROV's anymore.

 

[Schuey2002]

I've been using ROV Max Plus almost exclusively these days without a single problem. I can't say the same thing for Duracell Coppertops or that Bunny brand... :sick2:

 

[thezman]

Here's roughly what my battery package said. And yes, this is a Rayovac package.
I wasn't too far off in my interpretation of what was quoted. It's been at least a year since I had these.

CLICK FOR MORE INFO

 

[Marduke]

I guess the moral of the story here is to make sure you're buying cheap, but not used. I wonder if the cheap Duracell packs that Big Lots sells are used also.

 

[thezman]

Yeah, good advice.

I would suspect that this is indeed a rare occurrence, but one to keep an eye out for none the less.

 

[MorePower]

Rayovac doesn't sell used batteries, but it appears that Big Lots does. The picture posted (albeit from Canadian Tire) shows Rayovac batteries, but the package itself doesn't have any Rayovac contact info, which would be on anything packaged and sold by Rayovac.