Updated Energizer L91?

[rookiedaddy]

Saw this 2-pack Energizer Ultimate Lithium at a pharmacy, I'm immediate intrigue by the sticker word "IMPROVED!", but what exactly has Energizer improved? No idea! They never say anything about the improvement on the package itself. Sigh!

Well, since I also have plans to test the new Olight Li-FeS2 (OFLB-AA) Primary Lithium AA, I might as well do it together to find out. But before that, let's take a look at the "UPDATED!" datasheet from Energizer, shall we?

http://data.energizer.com/PDFs/l91.pdf

WoW! WoW! WoW!
1st WoW: 2.5A Continuous Discharge (up from 2.0A)
2nd WoW: 4.0A Pulse Discharge (up from 3.0A)
3rd WoW: If I'm reading that discharge graph right, it looks like 3400-3500mAh (up from 3000mAh)!!!

Using my trusty old C9000, I perform a 500mA discharge test on the following cells...

and my results...

For L91 with Expiry 2025:

For L91 with Expiry 2034:

For L91 with Expiry 3036 (IMPROVED! version):

For Olight Primary Lithium AA (OFLB-AA):

For easier reading, I have put the results in a table...
Update 2016.09.19 (added 1A discharge results):

So, there are indeed capacity improvement! This alone has got me so excited that I went back to the pharmacy and bought the rest of the available packs.

About that Olight Primary Lithium AA, the datasheet states that these are 2900mAh cell, so it's good to go, but from my search around the online retailers, these are not very competitively priced when compare to Energizer L91. In fact, what I found is these Olight Primary Lithium are slightly more expensive than Energizer L91 (and L92). So, I think I'll stick to the proven and higher capacity Energizer L91.

:kiss:

 

[StandardBattery]

Interesting but those changes look pretty small, part of the difference is accounted for in the age of the cell and some of it is likely cel-to-cell variation. I would not assume the Olight is identical to the older Lithium Ultimates even if they are being made in the same factory.

Looking forward to any additional info.

 

[THE_dAY]

Thank you for the testing!

Curious, how much was the two-pack "improved" energizers?

 

[THE_dAY]

double post

 

[rookiedaddy]

first post updated with 1A discharge results:

Interesting but those changes look pretty small, part of the difference is accounted for in the age of the cell and some of it is likely cel-to-cell variation. I would not assume the Olight is identical to the older Lithium Ultimates even if they are being made in the same factory.
Looking forward to any additional info.

thanks for the feedback mate. :thumbsup:
yes, cell age does play a part in the discharge difference. Of the 30+ L91 cells that I've tested for past 6 years, so far have not had one that exceed 3100mAh even when fresh (within 12 months of their production date due to shipping and distribution time), both US- and Singapore-made were tested.


To clarify, the Olight (OFLB-AA) is most definitely not made in the same factory as they are made in China while the Energizer L91s are either US-made or Singapore-made. There are quite a number of these China-made Li-FeS2 cells of various brand popping up over the past few years (e.g. Philips, Ansmann, etc.), so far, my sampling of them (very small sampling/testing, ~60+ cells of various China-origins) do not hold as good as the Energizer L91/L92. However, they do provides cheaper alternatives (exception to this Olight OFLB-AA :shrug: ).

Common issue with the China-made Li-FeS2 cells I've experienced:
- self-discharge is higher compare to Energizer
- Voltage sag is higher under load compare to Energizer
- lower capacity
- higher chance of DoA (specifically those un-branded type)


for the "IMPROVED!" L91, I'm glad to see my second most used battery (next to Eneloop rechargeables) has made some improvements, for me, that improvements is significant as this is the first time a primary Lithium AA has exceeded the Wh of a CR123A cell, based on conservative capacity of 3200mAh x 1.5V vs 1550mAh x 3.0V.

Thank you for the testing!
Curious, how much was the two-pack "improved" energizers?

the two-pack is selling at normal retail price. but that particular pharmacy store is doing a season sales, so I got it off @ 25% discount.

 

[StandardBattery]

Thanks for the followup. That does sound good, i can understand your excitement better now. Not everyday we get that kind of improvement. Also seems like the military has reduced CR123A usage and with rechargables solutions around we can see them declining in availability and that may push up prices.

 

[Kurt_Woloch]

What I'm noticing here is the much lower drop in capacity as the load increases. With the previous models, you lose about 125 mAh when going from 500 mA to 1 amp, but with the improved version there's only a loss of 34 mAh, which is less than 30%!. I think it would shine even more at higher loads in comparison.

 

[Burgess]

VERY interesting ! ! !


Thank you for Posting this !


lovecpf
_

 

[xxo]

Thanks for the test!

Where were the L91's you tested above made?

 

[Wendee]

[...]for the "IMPROVED!" L91, I'm glad to see my second most used battery (next to Eneloop rechargeables) has made some improvements, for me, that improvements is significant as this is the first time a primary Lithium AA has exceeded the Wh of a CR123A cell, based on conservative capacity of 3200mAh x 1.5V vs 1550mAh x 3.0V.

I don't know very much about batteries but...A couple of days ago ordered three packs of "AAx4" Engergizer L91 batteries from Amazon on sale for $10.99 Canadian $$ (each). I'm going to put in our vehicle flashlights this winter (after finding out about them on CPF).

They haven't shipped yet. Should I cancel my order and look for the "improved" version? Are they that much better?

Edit: I think I'll be too late anyways. My order says "Preparing for shipment, arriving Friday". The ones I ordered are "Energizer L91BP4 AA Lithium Batteries" and they don't say "improved" on the package.

 

[StandardBattery]

I don't know very much about batteries but...A couple of days ago ordered three packs of "AAx4" Engergizer L91 batteries from Amazon on sale for $10.99 Canadian $$ (each). I'm going to put in our vehicle flashlights this winter (after finding out about them on CPF).

They haven't shipped yet. Should I cancel my order and look for the "improved" version? Are they that much better?

Edit: I think I'll be too late anyways. My order says "Preparing for shipment, arriving Friday". The ones I ordered are "Energizer L91BP4 AA Lithium Batteries" and they don't say "improved" on the package.

No worries, it's not the type of improvement you need to worry about for winter lights. We're into the fine details here.

 

[Wendee]

No worries, it's not the type of improvement you need to worry about for winter lights. We're into the fine details here.

Thank you StandardBattery. I had my Amazon account open with the order pulled up, in case someone said to cancel. I'll stick with these then, since they're just for the cars. Thanks.

 

[rookiedaddy]

Where were the L91's you tested above made?

Made in Singapore. See below pic.

I don't know very much about batteries but...A couple of days ago ordered three packs of "AAx4" Engergizer L91 batteries from Amazon on sale for $10.99 Canadian $$ (each). I'm going to put in our vehicle flashlights this winter (after finding out about them on CPF).
They haven't shipped yet. Should I cancel my order and look for the "improved" version? Are they that much better?

yup, Standard battery is right, no worries for your purpose.
that "IMPROVED!" wording is a sticker, so you may still be getting the latest version even without the sticker. More importantly, the downloaded L91 datasheet PDF properties says it was last modified 29th April 2016, I could be wrong, but I'm guessing the Expiry Date could/may be use as an indicator. Fyi, the expiry date printed on the cell says 12-2036.

 

[StandardBattery]

just for fun today i checked my latest expiry date and it was in 2035, forgot the month already. So i probably don't have the latest.

 

[Wendee]

Made in Singapore. See below pic.
yup, Standard battery is right, no worries for your purpose.
that "IMPROVED!" wording is a sticker, so you may still be getting the latest version even without the sticker. More importantly, the downloaded L91 datasheet PDF properties says it was last modified 29th April 2016, I could be wrong, but I'm guessing the Expiry Date could/may be use as an indicator. Fyi, the expiry date printed on the cell says 12-2036.

I just received the batteries and they DO have "Improved" on the package and the expiry date is 12-2036! Yay! It's not a sticker though, it's a piece of paper inside the clear plastic package (on top of the batteries). It's printed in both English and French. On the back it says Made in Singapore for Energizer Canada, Inc.

The picture on Amazon.ca doesn't say "Improved" so this was a happy surprise.

 

[StandardBattery]

I just received the batteries and they DO have "Improved" on the package and the expiry date is 12-2036! Yay! It's not a sticker though, it's a piece of paper inside the clear plastic package (on top of the batteries). It's printed in both English and French. On the back it says Made in Singapore for Energizer Canada, Inc.

The picture on Amazon.ca doesn't say "Improved" so this was a happy surprise.

Great to know, thanks for the update. looks like if one looks fir the 2036 or later expiry date they are good to go. I have ones with 12-35 expiry date and the don't have any mention of improved. They are great batteries for emergency kits and i like the aaa for EDC type lights.

 

[rookiedaddy]

I just received the batteries and they DO have "Improved" on the package and the expiry date is 12-2036! Yay! It's not a sticker though, it's a piece of paper inside the clear plastic package (on top of the batteries). It's printed in both English and French. On the back it says Made in Singapore for Energizer Canada, Inc.
The picture on Amazon.ca doesn't say "Improved" so this was a happy surprise.

Thank you for the updates and it's good to hear that. :thumbsup:

 

[Anders]

Hi there rookiedaddy.


I just saw this datasheet of the same cells on Conrad, a German site also available in Sweden and there it was even better specifications on them?

AA
Classification:
"Cylindrical Lithium"
Chemical System:
Lithium/Iron Disulfide (Li/FeS
2
)
Designation:
ANSI 15-LF, IEC-FR6
Nominal Voltage:
1.5 Volts
Storage Temp:
-40°C to 60°C (-40°F to 140°F)
Operating Temp:
-40°C to 60°C (-40°F to 140°F)
Typical Weight:
14.5 grams (0.5 oz.)
Typical Volume:
8.0 cubic centimeters (0.5 cubic inch)
Max Discharge:
3.0 Amps Continuous
(single battery only)
5.0 Amps Pulse (2 sec on / 8 sec off)
Max Rev Current:
2 uA
Typical Li Content:
Less than 1 gram
Typical IR:
90 to 160 milliohms (depending on method)
Shelf Life:
15 years at 21°C
http://www.produktinfo.conrad.com/d...en-ENERGIZER_ULTIMATE_LITHIUM_MIGNON_10ER.pdf

Anders