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Great AA Alkaline Battery Test (2016)

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Re: Great AA Alkaline Battery Test (2016)

#21

Post by dragontamer »

wmorein wrote: post #6

Apologies for the slightly off topic question but can anyone point me to the best test/comparison of Alkaline batteries vs. the new Lithium rechargeable ones? Older rechargeable AA and AAA batteries were terribly short lived and so mostly useless but I assume Lithium ones are much better?

> the new Lithium rechargeable ones

Lithium isn't rechargable. (Lithium AA cells are very long-life but very expensive. One-time use. Lithium-ion are rechargable, but are 3.7 volts and completely violate the AA spec)

NiMH is the chemistry for rechargable AA / AAA cells, since its 1.35V and "close enough" to the old 1.5V standard alkaline.

> Older rechargeable AA and AAA batteries were terribly short lived and so mostly useless but I assume Lithium ones are much better?

"Older", circa 00s NiMH chemistries had more energy storage (!!!). The issue was that circa 00s cells had a "self-discharge" problem, meaning they ran out of energy in just a few months (like 1 to 3 months).

Panasonic solved the problem with "Low Self Discharge" cells, aka "Eneloop", which started to come out in the late 00s. This chemistry had much less capacity, but took over a year before the energy went bad.

Its still NiMH chemistry, but just tweaked to focus on the self-discharge problem rather than energy-storage numbers / benchmarks.

With Eneloop taking the market by storm (especially popular with XBox users, which used AA rechargables), other companies also came out with LSD chemistries. These days, almost everything you'll find is of the LSD-type.

Re: Great AA Alkaline Battery Test (2016)

#22

Post by Isthatablackgsd »

zh3 wrote: post #2

Let me leap in here to ding Duracell. They used to be my goto battery, but over the past few years (there was a hedge fund takeover, which IME rarely results in improvements to long-standing quality products) they've turned into liabilities - specifically, they are extremely prone to leaking once even a little bit discharged. To this day I open old kit and there can be duracells in there with "use by 2010" or even ea…

Mmm, I recalled I had Duracell (bought in 2018, expire date 2025) leaked in the battery compartment and I don't use the device. I just assumed the device was on standby mode and been draining the battery for a while which caused the leaking.

That mean I have to be wary of Kirkland AA and AAA Batteries because they are made by Duracell. This is new for me and I'm surprised about Duracell, and I am not surprised about hedge fund/private equity. This is their MO.

Re: Great AA Alkaline Battery Test (2016)

#23

Post by jerlam »

bradfa wrote: post #11
wmorein wrote: post #6

Apologies for the slightly off topic question but can anyone point me to the best test/comparison of Alkaline batteries vs. the new Lithium rechargeable ones? Older rechargeable AA and AAA batteries were terribly short lived and so mostly useless but I assume Lithium ones are much better?

I've not seen AA or AAA sized lithium rechargeable batteries but modern low-self-discharge NiMH AA and AAA cell batteries are quite good today. The Panasonic Eneloop brand are generally widely available and good value for money. The AA size Eneloops are generally around 2100mAh and the AAA size around 900mAh. The only downside to modern NiMH batteries today seems to be finding a good and easy to use charger which wil…

There are AA and AAA sized lithium ion rechargables, but they won't work in anything that uses alkalines, since they provide a very different voltage (3.7V). They are usually called 10440 (AAA-sized) and 14500 (AA-sized).

There are AA and AAA lithium _primary_ batteries that provide 1.5V and are in stores, but they cannot be recharged. They are far superior than alkalines in most ways, especially in the cold, but they cost drastically more, around $1-2 each. I've switched many of my low-drain applications to these batteries, where they are likely to outlast the device without leaking and destroying it.

Re: Great AA Alkaline Battery Test (2016)

#25

Post by ace2358 »

klodolph wrote: post #18
dragontamer wrote: post #9

I think the main issue with AA Alkaline is the proliferation of cheap low-self-discharge NiMH cells (aka: Eneloop, but also Energizer and other brands have good LSD NiMH available). A huge number of appliances seem to be designed for the 1.35V NiMH chemistry now. Perhaps a random TV-remote still prefers Alkaline but most seem to work fine with NiMH. ----- Buying a pack of 20 NiMH cells and rotating your collection be…

> A huge number of appliances seem to be designed for the 1.35V NiMH chemistry now. Yes, this is my experience too. One of the problems with NiMH is that appliances have helpful low-battery indicators which might light up as soon as you put NiMH cells in them, even though the appliance might continue working for a long time yet. A prime example is the Nintendo Game Boy Advance, which was released in 2001. The thing i…

Totally agree! My Game Boy Advanced power light is green for about an hour then red for hours and hours on my eneloops. Also my Tascam field recorder has the option for alkaline or NiMH batteries.

I still have some kitchen scales that won’t work with NiMH though :(

I’ve had my energiser batteries for almost 10 years and I’ve been rotating them through devices and the charger. Only recently have I begun to lose some cells.

Time to upgrade them all to eneloops!!

Re: Great AA Alkaline Battery Test (2016)

#26

Post by Isthatablackgsd »

Normille wrote: post #8

Check out 'Project Farm' on YouTube for a couple more in-depth tests of AA batteries TLDR: Made in Japan = GOOD Made in China = BAD

I love how he made it clear where it was assembled in. Every time he said "Made in USA with Global Components!", I was like yea more like made in China and rebranded in USA.

Re: Great AA Alkaline Battery Test (2016)

#27

Post by dragontamer »

ace2358 wrote: post #25
klodolph wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A huge number of appliances seem to be designed for the 1.35V NiMH chemistry now. Yes, this is my experience too. One of the problems with NiMH is that appliances have helpful low-battery indicators which might light up as soon as you put NiMH cells in them, even though the appliance might continue working for a long time yet. A prime example is the Nintendo Game Boy Advance, which was released in 2001. The thing i…

Totally agree! My Game Boy Advanced power light is green for about an hour then red for hours and hours on my eneloops. Also my Tascam field recorder has the option for alkaline or NiMH batteries. I still have some kitchen scales that won’t work with NiMH though :( I’ve had my energiser batteries for almost 10 years and I’ve been rotating them through devices and the charger. Only recently have I begun to lose some c…

Honestly, Eneloop's advantage is overstated these days.

Amazon Basics is likely an older Eneloop design for example (Panasonic makes eneloop, and seems to be making Amazon-Basic NiMHs). Energizer's "AA Recharge" series is also LSD these days, and probably easier to source than Eneloop.

Eneloop deserves credit for shifting the market-perception on NiMHs a decade ago. But the other companies have caught on and have created well functioning, low-self-discharge chemistries of their own by now.

-------

I'd recommend "whatever is cheapest to ship to you". Energizer mostly for me, since I buy from Walmart / Home Depot (etc. etc.). A lot of people buy from Amazon, so "Amazon Basics" tacked onto your next order is probably a good idea.

Eneloop commands a higher price and has some advantages. But I find that Energizer / Amazon Basics are both good enough for me.

Re: Great AA Alkaline Battery Test (2016)

#28

Post by CamperBob2 »

Spoiler: they're all obsolete cost-reduced leaky pieces of shit. Use Eneloops or other NiMH rechargeables when possible, lithium primary cells otherwise.

For a while you could avoid leakage by steering clear of Duracell in favor of Energizer, but that's no longer true. Do not use alkaline AAs or AAAs in any equipment you want to keep.

Re: Great AA Alkaline Battery Test (2016)

#29

Post by SavantIdiot »

+1 for introducing me to the B&K 8600. It never occurred to me to search for a DC load device. I've been building FET-based loads and using a power supply to calibrate them. /smacks forehead/ This is what you miss when you don't get to work with professionals on your hobbies (i.e., building low power IoT sensors for funsies).

Re: Great AA Alkaline Battery Test (2016)

#30

Post by justinator »

klodolph wrote: post #18
dragontamer wrote: post #9

I think the main issue with AA Alkaline is the proliferation of cheap low-self-discharge NiMH cells (aka: Eneloop, but also Energizer and other brands have good LSD NiMH available). A huge number of appliances seem to be designed for the 1.35V NiMH chemistry now. Perhaps a random TV-remote still prefers Alkaline but most seem to work fine with NiMH. ----- Buying a pack of 20 NiMH cells and rotating your collection be…

> A huge number of appliances seem to be designed for the 1.35V NiMH chemistry now. Yes, this is my experience too. One of the problems with NiMH is that appliances have helpful low-battery indicators which might light up as soon as you put NiMH cells in them, even though the appliance might continue working for a long time yet. A prime example is the Nintendo Game Boy Advance, which was released in 2001. The thing i…

Thankfully my not so new handheld Garmin GPS unit has a specific NiMH battery mode. I'm sure it just changes the algorthm slightly to work with the NiMH's discharge rate.
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