Best kind of LR44/AG13 batteries, and where to buy

I use these things in everything. I bought a pack of 50 off ebay for like $10 + shipping and they seem to go fast.

I have no idea what type they are as all they say on the back is "AG13 Button Cell"

I am assuming the alkaline types are the better ones but how can you be sure your getting good ones and where can i buy them in bigger than single quantities? A 10 pack would be good, or more if the price is right.

Thanks in advance

Alkalines are the cheap/worse kind. The good ones are silver oxide, designated SR44.

paulr said:

Alkalines are the cheap/worse kind. The good ones are silver oxide, designated SR44.

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Oh wow, thanks for the info.

Any idea on the best places to get them? The only place i have really seen that i know of is battery junction. Are these good ones you think.

Eneregizer 357, according to wiki is the same size

http://www.batteryjunction.com/en35siox.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LR44_battery

Am i safe with Eneregizer? Even though they are a bit expensive. I want to use the best ones i can in my handgun laser sights

901-Memphis said:

Am i safe with Eneregizer? Even though they are a bit expensive. I want to use the best ones i can in my handgun laser sights

Click to expand...

Should be fine.

paulr said:

Alkalines are the cheap/worse kind. The good ones are silver oxide, designated SR44.

Click to expand...

Silver-oxide is great for low-current applications (watches, clocks
etc.) but not so great for high-current (LEDs etc.). Depends on the
application.

BTW I get LR44 alkalines at 5/$1.00 at a dollar store; why buy
a big bunch of unknowns off Fleabay...

Dave

So are there a big difference between the mAH between Silver Oxide and Alkaline?

I still am undecided between the two, i don't know who to believe. Its for a laser sight, so Alkaline or Silver Oxide?

Sounds like you should get the alkaline ones from a dollar store.

Well i don't know if they have them at my local stores but i can check.

I am just unsure because of the two different theories on if alkaline are better or not.

They should make these in lithium styles, or better yet make button cells that are 3 cells long but are really 1 bigger cell for higher capacity since a lot of applications use 3 AG13s that i know of .

Alkalines aren't good at high currents either. Tiny cells and high currents don't mix.

Photon Fanatic shipped silver oxide cells with the LPK when he was making them and they worked quite well. I think there are some runtime graphs around someplace. I'd expect the laser to use a comparable amount of power.

Go silver oxide. I use silver oxide on my Led Lenser K3. I got more runtime when I switch to silver oxide. I used either Duracell or Energizer. You can find them at your local store in single, three or nine pieces per pack.

901-Memphis said:

Well i don't know if they have them at my local stores but i can check.

I am just unsure because of the two different theories on if alkaline are better or not.

They should make these in lithium styles, or better yet make button cells that are 3 cells long but are really 1 bigger cell for higher capacity since a lot of applications use 3 AG13s that i know of .

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There is a 3 volt lithium cell called 1/3N (one third of an N cell) that might be able to replace two SR44's. I don't feel like looking up the measurements right now to check though.

Once you're up to three or four of those cells unless it's an economy device, it's probably more sensible to use something like a CR2, or that tiny 12 volt cig lighter battery (I forget the designation) if you want more volts at low mA.

paulr said:

There is a 3 volt lithium cell called 1/3N (one third of an N cell) that might be able to replace two SR44's. I don't feel like looking up the measurements right now to check though.

Once you're up to three or four of those cells unless it's an economy device, it's probably more sensible to use something like a CR2, or that tiny 12 volt cig lighter battery (I forget the designation) if you want more volts at low mA.

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Great find and i confirmed it!

"The CR 1/3N is the same size as two SR-44 silver-oxide batteries, and in a pinch you can tape together two SR-44 cells, which can be bought just about anywhere. They won't last as long, but they're good in a pinch"

Source

http://www.photoethnography.com/ClassicCameras/index-frameset.html?batteries.html~mainFrame

My mother-in-law uses DX sku 00060 cheapos in her hearing aid, one lasts for about a week, 50-pack costs $4.65 incl shipping.

Looking for some new batteries again for an audiobook, SR44s are kinda expensive. Anyone got any hot tips on sales??

The issue isn't capacity, it is corrosion. Alkaline cells are built on Potassium Hydroxide, and they tend to vent corrosive gases and/or leak KOH. Unless the equipment was specifically designed to use alkaline cells, don't use them in anything of significant value.

It's hard to distinguish what the item was designed for. The things i need them for are audio books that run on 3 of them or so.

The battery door only says 1.5v*3= 4.5v - AG13, LR44. From this can it be determined that it should be using with alkaline since Silver Oxide is 1.55v?


From what i have read silver oxide is a complete replacement for inferior alkaline button cells... Can this be true?

Actually I believe the alkaline cells were designed to be a low cost replacement for the Silver Oxide cell. Silver Oxide button cells have been around for a VERY long time. The real driver for Alkaline Button cells was the banning of mercury. Most of the button cells in the 1960's and 1970's were in fact Mercury batteries. Mercury batteries were quite attractive because of relative high capacity, and very good voltage stability over the life of the battery. Anyway, once mercury in batteries was banned, there were a lot of applications that were up the proverbial stream with a paddle. Unfortunately the higher voltage of the Alkaline cells can be troublesome in some applications (most mercury cells were a 1.35 volts IIRC).

When it comes to SR44 silver-oxide cells, there are generally two flavors of them: high-drain and low-drain.

The SR44W is the high-drain version, and is sometimes referred to as a 357 cell. This type is the one you'd generally want to use.

The SR44SW is the low-drain version, and is sometimes referred to as a 303 cell. This is used more for memory-backup applications or small clocks.

I get my button type batteries from cheapbatteries online, I live in the US though so shipping isn't a problem....