Hi,
Just a general question, being a grandad and living with my kids/inlaw and two grandkids, 19m and 4yo I am the installer of batteries to many of the toys that they have.
Surprisingly the toys appear to be pretty good on batteries, most with timed shutoff and some even a selectable volume control (Parents love this facility )
I use supermarket batteries, basically AAA and AA, from Aldi.
These are not Alkaline but carbon type, made in China, no Mercury or Cadmium ADDED!!
They seem to give a good life, as I find it difficult, when they need replacement, recollecting when I last changed them.
Now I use a marker pen and put date and month on them to see how they are performing.
I just bought a pack of 30 AAA and a pack of 30 AA from Aldi for $4.99AUD each.
Sorry for out of focus, this is my proper personal phone (not a smarty or tablet) camera.
(Grieving at the moment, my good Nokia (old) G3 phone, I use for work documentation, that has excellent Macro Lens has died, screen cracked while on my desk and I was away from work. )
Robin2:
Interesting that nobody is flying the flag for expensive Duracell batteries.
...R
We use them and EverReady Energizers at work for replacing instrument batteries.
Usually about half the battery powered meters and instruments usually need a new set of cells before certification/calibration.
I you can get "Industrial" grade Duracells and EveryReady Alkalines.
Hi,
I use the cheaper batteries at home due to rate of replacement.
I buy and use, hence the battery cost is on me.
Work situation is more on reliability and durability of batteries in instruments usually involved in safety equipment or evaluation.
So using batteries designed for the job is preferable.
We buy and sell on the batteries, so cost is on the customer.
I have very rarely found supermarket batteries in industrial/commercial test equipment that even the most layed back sparkie uses.
Possibly accountability comes into the equation.
Years ago I did tests on a range of batteries for our local bat group. (fliedermaus, not cricket)
Duracells did not perform significantly better (nor much worse) than the cheaper alkalines.
The biggest variation was in the "super heavy duty" (ie zinc - carbon) batteries which even in "respected" brands showed little consistency except that they were very prone to leaking.
However except for very low drain applications such as smoke alarms I now use the modern low self discharge NiMH cells from Lidl.
This thread prompted me to check the battery (Panasoni D cell) for measuring resistance in my AVO8. Damn its flat - and I only put it in in 2005. Hasnt leaked though
Ohh I'd be sending it back to Panasonic, that is disgraceful, did they market it as a "longlife" battery?
Its amazing that some non descript batteries can sometimes out perform the others.
Back in the 1970's my dad managed a toyshop, (yes lucky teenage me, a plastic model and model railway fan), and some of the Chinese, probably Taiwan, had AA batteries branded "Little Bomb".
Just the name would make you think about their durability.
Well these batteries survived a Christmas shopping season as press and try me toys and still had more to go.
)
