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Ode to the AA Battery

jeffgeerling.com

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Re: Ode to the AA Battery

#71

Post by bluGill »

zabzonk wrote: post #22
jchw wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe I have zero Alkaline batteries left in my house and I'm relatively surprised that pretty much everything works fine. If anything, I suspect the only problem is that some devices have an inaccurate account of how dead the batteries are. But I use Eneloops on everything, even things surely not designed at all to run on them. (And I reckon you could probably make more devices work if you really wanted to; addi…

I think I have only one device that uses AA - my central heating's radio thermostat. This thing has caused me untold hassle, which is only partially down to the batteries, but still... Totally OT, but does anyone have a good link on how the thermostat gets paired with the boiler? I'm thinking of getting replaced and would like to talk to the gas fitter from a vaguely informed point of view.

> good link on how the thermostat gets paired with the boiler?

You should have a book with the boiler that says how your system is setup. They nearly always include schematics and are very helpful. Typically you can open a cover and see the wiring details as well.

Forget about web sites, there are too many different ways a system can be setup, so even if they are not slop they can still be inapplicable for you. Once you know what you are looking at you can sometimes get useful information from the web, but until then you can't sort out what is useful for you.

Re: Ode to the AA Battery

#72

Post by oskarkk »

bux93 wrote: post #6
klooney wrote: post #2

> run at a nominal 1.2V instead of the 1.5V of alkaline batteries. I've suddenly figured out why so many toys don't work with rechargeable batteries

You can now find 1.5V Li-on AA batteries with, and that's a game changer, built-in charger and a type-C port! I have one in my wireless mouse. If it dies, I change it to a spare and charge it right from my laptop (and the battery that was empty becomes the spare)

I haven't used them, but IIRC they maintain a constant voltage until they're discharged, when it instantly drops to 0. That may be a problem, because if your device has any battery indicator, it will show the battery as full until the end. Nothing will tell you that you need to replace the battery before the device powers off. That's why I decided not to buy them. My mouse knows when my alkaline AA battery is low and gives me a warning.

Re: Ode to the AA Battery

#73

Post by InsideOutSanta »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #29
InsideOutSanta wrote: post #17

My Xbox 360 controllers are still in use. Meanwhile, I've resigned myself to never using any PlayStation controllers for more than three or four years. AA and AAA batteries are great. I wish using them weren't considered a negative by many hardware reviewers.

You can get replacement parts for PS controllers, although they can be rather fidgety to open up.

Yeah, I tried fixing the wand controllers for PSVR, ordered batteries from AliExpress. It took an hour to get everything done, and I was constantly scared I'd break something. That was a few years ago. Now they are back to not working; I'm not sure if I can even still get the batteries.

Re: Ode to the AA Battery

#74

Post by D13Fd »

everdrive wrote: post #26
alnwlsn wrote: post #13

Designers have a choice in lithium-ion though. 18650 is is pretty large cell but there's 14500 which is AA sized or 10440 which is AAA sized. They make versions with the usual battery "nub" rather than the flat faces for spot welding, and built-in protection circuitry to prevent over-discharging. You probably would want to use ones of a different size than normal 1.5v cells though. A personal favorite of mine is RCR1…

>Meanwhile, alkaline batteries can go to hell. You might as well plan on one leaking in the battery compartment. On the other hand, alkaline batteries never burn your house down. I also feel like they serve different purposes. Needed for long-term storage and only used in an emergency? (eg, a flashlight for power outages) You're probably better off going with old-fashioned alkaline batteries. Duracell claims they're…

> You're probably better off going with old-fashioned alkaline batteries.

Never. They will leak and die. Alkaline cells always end up leaking and dying in my experience, given enough time.

In fact, I do the reverse: If it's something I think will sit for a long time, I make sure to put a rechargeable battery in it. That way, worst case, it's dead—but it won't be destroyed by a leak.

Re: Ode to the AA Battery

#75

Post by D13Fd »

dragontamer wrote: post #64
amelius wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but those NiMH have the same form factor by necessity, so it is confusing. I would be surprised if the extra costs for the electronics for charging an extra cell are more than a few dollars.

NiMH cells are like $1 each. Seriously, Amazon.com is quoting me $18 for 16 cells, AA Amazon Basics NiMH. As I said earlier: it's likely a better strategy to buy 4 extra cells and keep them pre charged / topped off, rather than spending a few dollars on a better charger.

I'm not sure that's true in practice. Chargers are often shared in a household and you may not have control over people putting things back on the charger. My preference is to have something that charges more quickly, rather than a bunch of spare batteries.

Plus if you leave batteries on the overcharge-style charger for long periods of time, I'm pretty sure they just dissipate the extra charge as heat, and that charge is applied indefinitely. They essentially turn into little electric space heaters, sending that energy down the drain.

Re: Ode to the AA Battery

#76

Post by mystifyingpoi »

ramses0 wrote: post #16
bux93 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can now find 1.5V Li-on AA batteries with, and that's a game changer, built-in charger and a type-C port! I have one in my wireless mouse. If it dies, I change it to a spare and charge it right from my laptop (and the battery that was empty becomes the spare)

Came here to post this. I'm 100% agreed with Mr. Geerling. For a fun challenge try to find a non-built-in-battery arc lighter (eg: candles, grills, etc). When I found one I bought four (think camping/disaster bag... if everything is AA/AAA then having a shelf-stable fire starter is easier/safer than lighter fluid). For a fun sidebar check out the "Panasonic BQ-CC87AKBBA" which is effectively a combo "in/out" battery…

I had this charger once! Really cool with the powerbank option. Although, these days, 5V@1A with no PD is probably something to use maybe in emergency, it's too slow for modern devices.

Re: Ode to the AA Battery

#77

Post by eisa01 »

oskarkk wrote: post #72
bux93 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can now find 1.5V Li-on AA batteries with, and that's a game changer, built-in charger and a type-C port! I have one in my wireless mouse. If it dies, I change it to a spare and charge it right from my laptop (and the battery that was empty becomes the spare)

I haven't used them, but IIRC they maintain a constant voltage until they're discharged, when it instantly drops to 0. That may be a problem, because if your device has any battery indicator, it will show the battery as full until the end. Nothing will tell you that you need to replace the battery before the device powers off. That's why I decided not to buy them. My mouse knows when my alkaline AA battery is low and…

You can get them with different voltage drop-off curves

E.g., this battery is 1.5V for ~70% of the capacity, before it gradually reduce to 1.0 V

https://www.xtar.cc/product/xtar-1-5v-aa-clr-3300-lithium-ba...

edit: And one with USB-C and linearly decreasing voltage curve https://www.xtar.cc/product/xtar-aa-lithium-lr-2000mah-usb-c...

Re: Ode to the AA Battery

#78

Post by sowbug »

Scoundreller wrote: post #44
alnwlsn wrote: post #13

Designers have a choice in lithium-ion though. 18650 is is pretty large cell but there's 14500 which is AA sized or 10440 which is AAA sized. They make versions with the usual battery "nub" rather than the flat faces for spot welding, and built-in protection circuitry to prevent over-discharging. You probably would want to use ones of a different size than normal 1.5v cells though. A personal favorite of mine is RCR1…

I’m visiting some family and I’m a hero for fixing a couple devices that stopped working from alkaline batteries by using a bit of foil paper to overcome the corroded contacts. Maybe not great in the long run (steel and aluminum don’t like eachother)… maybe I should have put on some grease…

I swab the corroded contacts with white vinegar from the kitchen. It turns the white gunk into a foamy blob, and I assume it etches off enough of the corrosion to restore conductivity. I wipe the foamy part with the dry side of the cotton swab, and the device usually works again.

I started doing this as a kid, reasoning that the white gunk looked like baking soda, which is fun to combine with vinegar, so let's see what happens. I just looked it up, and it appears that the process is legitimate and safe. The vinegar turns potassium carbonate into potassium acetate, also producing carbon dioxide.

Re: Ode to the AA Battery

#79

Post by mbrubeck »

everdrive wrote: post #61
aftbit wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, there's basically no reason you'd ever want an alkaline battery except cost. For your use case of long-term storage or a rarely used flashlight (e.g. in a car emergency kit), you'd want a Li/FeS2 as the parent poster recommended, also called just a "Lithium" primary (i.e. non-rechargable) cell. They have a longer shelf life, don't leak, hold more energy, can provide a higher discharge current, work over a wider t…

That's an interesting counterpoint, thanks for letting me know. I was really under the impression that lithium ion batters discharged more aggressively. Maybe that's just more reflective of how they lose capacity over time? Can you speak to the fire risk?

The comment above is about non-rechargable lithium-metal batteries. You are thinking of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.

Re: Ode to the AA Battery

#80

Post by Dylan16807 »

alnwlsn wrote: post #13

Designers have a choice in lithium-ion though. 18650 is is pretty large cell but there's 14500 which is AA sized or 10440 which is AAA sized. They make versions with the usual battery "nub" rather than the flat faces for spot welding, and built-in protection circuitry to prevent over-discharging. You probably would want to use ones of a different size than normal 1.5v cells though. A personal favorite of mine is RCR1…

> Designers have a choice in lithium-ion though. 18650 is is pretty large cell but there's 14500 which is AA sized or 10440 which is AAA sized. They make versions with the usual battery "nub" rather than the flat faces for spot welding, and built-in protection circuitry to prevent over-discharging. You probably would want to use ones of a different size than normal 1.5v cells though. A personal favorite of mine is RCR123A/16340.

But other than 18650 you can't expect to find a lot of devices using any particular size.

We should strive for a couple blessed sizes that a lot of devices will stick with, where all cells include a nub and protection circuitry.

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