What Brand of Batteries do You Use?

[David Hess]

I have been using Eneloops for rechargeable and ACDelco for alkaline cells with a mix of other non-Chinese brands for coin cells.  I try to avoid Duracell and Energizer leaky trash as much as possible.

[rsjsouza]

Be careful with some DMMs.  Took me a while to chase down the inaccuracy of my E14 inhouse clamp meter was due to the  voltage of the rechargable 9V cell (so dont get the 8.4V type).  There was also no "weak battery" warning  but my AAENG and alike meters were giving high resistance measurement when I was using the NiMH AA and AAA, I have since changed to rechargeable Lithium.

Either it gives a "low battery" warning or it gives an accurate reading. If it does neither it is a crap meter and should not be trusted.

Precisely. Sooner or later even Alkalines and Lithiums will fall into this danger zone if the meter does not inform the user.

It's been quite some time since I saw a meter with a lo-bat indicator that didn't work - apart from some free meters from Harbor Freight (the M830B clones)

[graybeard]

I used to buy Rayovac at the Homeless Despot, but in the last few years I have had many bad batches.   These were in my box of unused batteries in my garage.

[AVGresponding]

Be careful with some DMMs.  Took me a while to chase down the inaccuracy of my E14 inhouse clamp meter was due to the  voltage of the rechargable 9V cell (so dont get the 8.4V type).  There was also no "weak battery" warning  but my AAENG and alike meters were giving high resistance measurement when I was using the NiMH AA and AAA, I have since changed to rechargeable Lithium.

Either it gives a "low battery" warning or it gives an accurate reading. If it does neither it is a crap meter and should not be trusted.

The only downside I've found to using the Znter Li-Ion PP3 is that it puts out 9V until it dies, so you don't get a low battery warning.

As for low battery warnings with AA/AAA Ni-MH/Ni-Zn, I get ample warning from all my meters. I don't think I've ever owned a meter that doesn't have a low battery warning, even some really cheap ones   

[eplpwr]

Primary cells: Energizer Lithium AA/AAA/PP3. No alkalines in anything, ever, after Duracell puke in expensive handheld meter.

Rechargeable: Eneloops for AA/AAA, EnerMax Powerex PP3 230mAh 9.6V (8 x 1.2V nom), needs compatible charger.

Special for DIY stuff: SAFT LS14500 (AA size), 3.6V 2300mAh; RS Components has "PP3" SAFT battery w/ 3x3.6V also.

Edit: Corrected PP3 NiMH 9.6V battery brand

[shakalnokturn]

Varta and Panasonic both in alkaline and NiMH flavours, the odd Energizer AA primary lithium.
Still considering the Li-ion substitute options haven't tried any so far.

[David Hess]

1.5 volt lithium batteries would be nice but they are awfully expensive.

[gnuarm]

The only downside I've found to using the Znter Li-Ion PP3 is that it puts out 9V until it dies, so you don't get a low battery warning.

As for low battery warnings with AA/AAA Ni-MH/Ni-Zn, I get ample warning from all my meters. I don't think I've ever owned a meter that doesn't have a low battery warning, even some really cheap ones   

I used to use NiMH in a hand held GPS device.  One problem was they would flag the low battery warning well short of actually being low on power.  In a device designed for 1.5V batteries, 1.2V devices don't always work so well.  Seems like the Li-ion cells have the reverse problem. 

I haven't dug into the older messages, but does the Znter device have an internal regulator?  That could be problematic unless they include a circuit to detect when the cell is getting low and drop the output voltage a bit to trigger the low battery warning. 

I recall a gadget that clipped onto AA cells to boost the output voltage as the cell drains and utilize that last 10 or 20% that is in a cells below the warning/cutoff voltage.  I saw lots of discussions about it but never saw one in the wild.

[gnuarm]

I use Sunshine brand from the dollar store.  They are very inexpensive and I've never had one leak.  All the reviews I've seen show them as having just as much capacity as the best of the brands tested. 

[Gyro]

Rechargeable: Lidl 'Tronic Energy eco' (when they have them in).

[Fungus]

Rechargeable: Lidl Tronic eco (when they have them in).

For those who don't know: LIDL "Tronic" are NiMH rechargeables. I've got quite a few of them.

[Gyro]

Yes, very cheap but reliable and low self-discharge (come pre-charged).

[SeanB]

Just looked at the batteries in a small TV set that is rarely used, they are branded Toys-R-us. Probably should replace them, and have some cheap ones top put in place of them, though they do not leak yet.  Just changed a clock battery with a Varta one.

[David Hess]

I used to use NiMH in a hand held GPS device.  One problem was they would flag the low battery warning well short of actually being low on power.  In a device designed for 1.5V batteries, 1.2V devices don't always work so well.  Seems like the Li-ion cells have the reverse problem.

My Garmin has a configuration setting to select the type of battery installed so that the low battery warning works properly.

[Fungus]

I used to use NiMH in a hand held GPS device.  One problem was they would flag the low battery warning well short of actually being low on power.  In a device designed for 1.5V batteries, 1.2V devices don't always work so well.  Seems like the Li-ion cells have the reverse problem.

My Garmin has a configuration setting to select the type of battery installed so that the low battery warning works properly.

Is that the setting that the Batteroo Brothers failed to set when they were searching for the device with the highest possible battery warning voltage? 

[bicycleguy]

Have been using NiMH for years now.  Started with 16 AA NOMEM branded cells and a simple charger maybe 15 years ago.  The last of the NOMEMs failed to keep a charge last year.  None leaked.  About 5 years ago switched to Energizer Recharge.  These have incredible shelf life and come with a full charge unlike other NiMH.

Have never had a AA or AAA NiMH leak.

Would highly recommend an Opus BT-C700 charger.  It is like four individual chargers in one.  Every other Sunday I charge 3 AAA @ 200mA and 1 AA @ 400mA at the same time for dog walking flashlights.  When my EEBlog 121GW multi-meter gets down to 5V charge 4 AAA.  Actually never had a battery fail except a 15 year old NOMEM since I got the charger.

[AVGresponding]

The only downside I've found to using the Znter Li-Ion PP3 is that it puts out 9V until it dies, so you don't get a low battery warning.

As for low battery warnings with AA/AAA Ni-MH/Ni-Zn, I get ample warning from all my meters. I don't think I've ever owned a meter that doesn't have a low battery warning, even some really cheap ones   

I used to use NiMH in a hand held GPS device.  One problem was they would flag the low battery warning well short of actually being low on power.  In a device designed for 1.5V batteries, 1.2V devices don't always work so well.  Seems like the Li-ion cells have the reverse problem. 

I haven't dug into the older messages, but does the Znter device have an internal regulator?  That could be problematic unless they include a circuit to detect when the cell is getting low and drop the output voltage a bit to trigger the low battery warning. 

I recall a gadget that clipped onto AA cells to boost the output voltage as the cell drains and utilize that last 10 or 20% that is in a cells below the warning/cutoff voltage.  I saw lots of discussions about it but never saw one in the wild.

Yes, the Li-ion is a single cell in the Znter afaik; it uses a boost regulator and so gives the nominal 9V from full charge to shut-off. I haven't checked to see how bad the switching noise may or may not be, but I haven't noticed any odd readings from my 87V.

Ni-Zn has a nominal cell voltage of 1.6V, is about 1.85-1.9V open circuit on a freshly charged cell in practice. Fluke 289 seems perfectly happy with them, been using them in it for a year or so now.

[Fuzzy Star]

9V Znter teardown:
https://youtu.be/dR_RusM99no

[IanB]

Ni-Zn has a nominal cell voltage of 1.6V, is about 1.85-1.9V open circuit on a freshly charged cell in practice. Fluke 289 seems perfectly happy with them, been using them in it for a year or so now.

I have a bunch of NiZn cells that bought on clearance to investigate, but I find their self-discharge rate is too high to make them useful for me. Most items I use batteries in need to keep working for months or years between battery replacement or recharge. If the battery becomes empty after a few months due to self-discharge it means I can't rely on the equipment I install them in. It's the same drawback as old technology NiMH cells.