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Lithium E2 battery problem

I have been using Energizer Lithium E2 AAA cells to power microwatt telemetry transmitters for a couple of years. These were my choice not only for their long life, but also because they are suppose to be able to sustain their voltage in extreme hot and cold temps.

I have run into an issue on several occasions where my transmitters stop working, and when recovered, the battery is not dead , but instead has a voltage far above 1.5 volts, sometimes double that. What could be causing this? I could understand if they went dead because of current draw or whatever, but this isn't the case.

This problem has mortally damaged several of my transmitters.

I use 5 minute epoxy to attach the battery/transmitter combo, and have wondered if I have been covering up the battery's vent holes or something like this.

Can anyone supply me with any ideas on this problem, or suggest an alternative way around this?

Thanks Jim

Reply to
Jim
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"Jim" wrote in news:eb007$49f507c4$d80c3a27$ snipped-for-privacy@NAXS.COM:

That's worth taking up with the maker. First establish if the batteries really came from them. It's possible that Chinese batteries might be resold having been sold as counterfeit Energisers, having been made from materials with poor control of chemical purity. It sounds like the battery chemistry has somehow reverted to the kind of voltage normally found in lithium cells not designed specifically for the lower voltage. Impurities might cause that. Covering vent holes might be a cause, but if more gas were produced the battery might have either exploded, or forced a path past the epoxy, so it's worth looking to see if forced outgassing can be detected. Consider the temperature too, they're ok with cold, but if they ran hot there could be rapid degradation.

As you're fitting batteries outside a small transmitter device, consider changing the device so it runs on 3V or so safely, as you can take advantage of cheaper and more enedgy-dense standard lithium batteries, including rechargeable Li-ion. That way even if a battery fails it won't destroy your gear with overvoltage.

Reply to
Lostgallifreyan

Whenever I have seen this I guessed that the manufacturer was trying to cram in more charge than their battery chemistry properly allowed.

ISTR encountering this more on basic Chinese zinc carbon/chloride cells than on Chinese alkaline cells.

Reply to
John S

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