Claims re Energiser cells (AA)

Suzy wrote: : I note that Ever Ready is promoting its Energiser AA cells as "600 : photos" against Duracell's "80". Can this possibly be true. And if : not, surely legislation would prevent them from making this claim. I : have always found Duracell to be far superior so has the scene : changed? Who has recent first hand experience of any comparison?

Hi Suzy,

They are comparing Ever Ready AA Lithium Ion cells with Duracell Alkaline cells. Totally different type of battery. It's call deceptive advertising.

Likely if you compared both brand's Lithium Ion batteries, they would both be around 600 photos.

Larry

The Eveready in the ad is a Lithium based cell not a standard alkaline cell of which the Duracell is. This may explain the higher capacity.

Cheers, Alan

If it's the ad I've seen, somewhere it says in small print that Duracells are alkaline, to stay legal. Still deceptive though. Aren't lithium ion batteries the rechargeable kind? I think (haven't got time to research it) that primary lithium battery chemistry is called 'lithium manganese' or something like that. I've used Energizer lithium batteries in digital cameras and they sure do have a lot of capacity.

Bob

"Alan Rutlidge" >legislation would prevent them from making this claim. I have always found

Thanks all. That would explain it. If Duracell have a lithium product they should complain that its comparing apples with oranges.

But they never do. One side compares their alkalines with the other's carbon-zinc.

All the while being careful to call the opposition "ordinary batteries". A nice generic term that could mean anything...

Listen harder next time. They are comparing Lithium to Alkaline, and are doing that to get back at Duracell who ran ad campaigns some time back that did the same thing. The Duracell ads compared Duracell Alkaline to Energizer's inferior "Super heavy Duty" carbon zinc. The original ads didn't state that the "super heavy duty" batteries were an inferior technology to Alkaline, so Energizer tried to sue them or something. The result was that Duracell changed their ads to include text down the bottom of the screen explaining (in a roundabout way) that it wasn't a valid comparison.

Energizer have done a similar thing here. Of course they leave out important details like Lithium is a lot more expensive than Alkaline. The average punter doesn't know the difference and gets sucked in by the ads. Very clever marketing.

Dave.

Energizer lithiums in the supermarkets are about the same price as Energizer 2.5AH or Duracell 2.65AH NiMH, with only a bit more discharge capacity ... but only usable once. I've always wondered who buys them and why?

Bob

Probably lots of people, but for all the wrong reasons. They may be useful if you only used your camera (or similar) infrequently. Any normal NiNH cells would have self discharged long before the Lithium ones and recharging may be an inconvenience. My guess though is that the average punter sees the pretty packaging promoting the use for digital cameras and other high drain devices and just buy them without thinking. :)

James

They have a niche market for long self life seldom used products that must be "ready to go" when needed. e.g. torches, GPS receivers, UHF radios. You'll also often get longer operational life than NiMH, and that can be handy in many situations. They also have benefits in low temperature environments and are lighter in weight, so are popular with bushwalkers and climbers for example who count grams and might have to use them in freezing alpine conditions. As for cameras, if you only take a few hundred shots a year then they are actually a pretty good choice for that.

Being "ready to go" without ever having to remember to charge them, and longer potential life under more adverse conditions are very useful benefits that can (for some) far outweigh the extra cost or lack of eco-friendliness.

Also, be careful when you start comparing capacity, it varies a LOT with temperature and load. At very low temperatures the Lithium can have several hundred percent the capacity of an Alkaine and may actually be lower in cost if you talk $$/Wh

Dave.

Good points. Lithiums have formidable shelf life and operational temperature range, as well as handling severe loads. I used them in my Olympus digital cameras when the memory backup super caps died and they'd lose all their settings the moment the battery was disconnected, to minimise battery swaps. I really noticed the drop in weight. :) Then I found a source of backup caps and replaced them, and went back to using NiMH. 9V lithium batteries would be good in smoke detectors which are hard to get at.

Bob

And maybe good in mutlimeters. I seem to be forever replacing alkalines, but then again perhaps I should remember to turn them to "off" before putting them back in the case.

James

I bought them because my experience with rechargeable batteries has been bad. They seem to need recharging even if I don't use them and their capacity seems to deteriorate significantly over time. This applies to my NiMh laptop batteries and the rechargeable NiCads and Alkaline batteries I use in various computer peripherals, cameras and torches. If I get 600 photographs, probably two years worth, I will be delighted with my ten dollar purchase.

Or simply get one that has auto-power-off.

Dave.

Trevor Wilson

A Fluke 73 and a Fluke 19, they both have a power off feature, or more appropriately a sleep feature.

James

Ive got the same two meters. the 73 doesn't go through nearly as many batteries as the 19 though. the 19 also seems to crash alot - it'll lock up randomly, maybe a couple of times a month & i'll have to switch it off & on again. never happens with the 73.

the 73's probably got a better sleep feature than the 19 i'd guess, they both get about the same amount of use.

cheers,

timbo.