What is the Best Brand of Alkaline Batteries?

Hi guys.

What is the best brand of alkaline batteries? If size matters it's for AAA size & some AA size.

Thanx 4 looking.

Reply to
ghostgunna
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What do you want? maximum capacity or highest terminal voltage over the life of the battery: most AA alkalines are 2.8 AH and the newer Lithiums are not much better at around 3.0 AH but keep the terminal voltage at

1.6V to 1.5V for most of the life of the battery.
Reply to
Mark Harriss

But are extremely poor value for money unless absolutely necessary for the application. IMO the best alkaline batteries are the ones that give the best life Vs cost ratio, and don't leak. Duracell fails on the first, Eveready fails on both counts! I now use Chinese ones exclusively and don't have any problems.

MrT.

Reply to
Mr.T

I can tell you what brand to stay away from - I bought a pile of Jaycar's "Eclipse" brand 9V alkalines a month ago and stuffed them into various different smoke alarms (different brands and models). Within 3 days, every smoke alarm was beeping saying the battery was flat.

I felt like taking it up with Jaycar, but that sort of thing is hard to prove, and I can guess the level of Jaycar's care factor.

Reply to
Poxy

Do yourself and other consumers a favour and return the batteries for a refund. Sometimes faulty stock or a shonky product get marketed, unfortunately not always at the vendor's knowledge. I reckon it would be uneconomical and impractical to test every item that makes its way to the shelves, so take them back and get them to perform a discharge test on their "new" floor stock. It could be that they have been supplied with a bad batch of batteries.

Cheers, Alan

Reply to
Alan Rutlidge

cheap 20/30? pack of arlec alkalines can be had for $10 work well the bulk packs from DSE are great for the price too.

Reply to
matt2-amstereo

FWIW, I've had Duracells leak on a fairly regular basis and would never use them again for that reason. But I don't recall ever having either Energizer or Eveready Gold ones leak. A few years ago Rockby Electronics was selling 9V "Buzz" alkaline batteries very cheaply. Every one of them leaked badly. I suppose you get what you pay for.

Bob

Reply to
Bob Parker

On 23 May 2006 08:57:01 -0700, snipped-for-privacy@mail.tpg.com.au put finger to keyboard and composed:

formatting link

- Franc Zabkar

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Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.
Reply to
Franc Zabkar

I have had so many Eveready's leak I once had a collection for display purposes! I once took an *unopened* packet of Eveready Golds that were leaking back to their office in Melbourne. They were not at all surprised, and offered me Heavy Duty blacks instead!

Never bought one since, and never will.

MrT.

Reply to
Mr.T

Very interesting! Was this happening recently or some time ago? You've had the same kind of experience with Evereadys I was having (but not as badly) with Duracells.

Bob

Reply to
Bob Parker

Thanks! That chart reflects my experience with Eveready Titanium cells. A lot of hype and a considerably higher price for a negligible improvement in performance over normal alkalines, even under heavy loads.

Bob

Reply to
Bob Parker

It was nearly ten years ago I stopped buying, and I had a sizeable collection dating for about ten years previous to that. I haven't bought an Eveready since then, so they may have improved. (couldn't get any worse that's for sure) However one thing I am certain of is that I have had *FAR* fewer batteries leak since I stopped buying Eveready, and I have saved a lot of money buying batteries for half the price, which last nearly as long.

I just bought a pack of 4*AA alkalines today for $1.99. Try getting Eveready's for that! Somebody's got to pay for their marketing expense I guess, as long as it's not me :-)

MrT.

Reply to
Mr.T

I have a 3.3 to 2.7 volt microprocessor data logging project and I'm interested in hearing about various experiences with batteries, this project has to run for about a year on two AA in a tropical marine environment.

Reply to
Mark Harriss

Not a Zilog Encore micro is it?

They reckon lithium cells are best for lowest self discharge and handling temperature extremes (and having very high energy density).

Reply to
Bob Parker

If I had my way it would be a Zilog Z8 Encore XP, The selected device is a MAXQ2000 16 bit RISC design it's fast and low power but programming in assembly is fun as I don't have the C compiler for it.

I ported the 28pin Z8 temp sensor example to the 8pin Z8 and had it hooked up to a class one bluetooth transmitter with a new antenna design: I had over 3 Km before I ran out of space for it. I understand the current world record is less than that.

Reply to
Mark Harriss

Congrats on exceeding the world record. I was curious about the micro because I'm playing with the 28 pin Z8F041 at the moment. No ADC so no temp sensor in that one, but a nice micro anyway.

Reply to
Bob Parker

The conclusion is somewhat contradictory....

"Cost is based on two batteries and is in Australian Dollars. $/Hr rating can improve if batteries are purchased in bulk packs. Note that the Digitor batteries were purchased from Dick Smith Electronics in a

40 piece bulk pack, whereas most of the other batteries are purchased on two or four battery packs, whichever was the minimum available. Pricing is therefore not fairly compared for the Digitor batteries, but regardless of this their performance figures are very good."

According to the current DSE catalogue, the 40 pack, S4040 @ $25.98, are DSE brand, whereas Digitor are only available in four packs, S3094 @ $1.98 -- which works out at $19.80 for 40.

I'm still none the wiser as to which ones I should be buying! :)

--
John H
Reply to
John_H

On Sun, 28 May 2006 18:38:45 +1000, John_H put finger to keyboard and composed:

To complicate matters even further, there is no guarantee that DSE are still using the same manufacturer.

- Franc Zabkar

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Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.
Reply to
Franc Zabkar

But the claims don't match reality IME, admittedly limited, since I can't justify the expense of buying any more. The extra performance certainly didn't match the extra expense.

MrT.

Reply to
Mr.T

Yes, I also noticed the prices were far from the cheapest available in some cases too. eg. the price given for Excell skews their value somewhat IMO. These are available in packs of ten for $5.00

Probably the same. I wouldn't be buying 40 to find out anyway though :-)

Simply buy 4 for $1.98 and do your own test. Frankly I find the performance varies anyway, but at 50 cents a battery, I cant see any point in worrying about it. There are plenty of shops selling Chinese batteries at a similar price, and they probably all source from whichever factory gives them the best deal at the time, so just buy from whichever shop is the most convenient IMO.

MrT.

Reply to
Mr.T

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