Duracell Battery

[Highpower]

(07-01-2021, 06:05 AM)arvidj Wrote: I've become a fan of the Energizer Lithium batteries. Not inexpensive but they seem to last forever, especially in flashlights and stuff that is not used very often.

Example: I bought a Snap-on electric torque wrench more than 10 years ago. It uses 3 AA batteries. I take the batteries out of the wrench after using it (i.e. don't store the batteries in the wrench) but leave the batteries in the case. Have never replaced the batteries.

Example: Harbor Freight use to give away the ubiquitous blue LED flashlights. When the batteries that comes with them die I replace them with Energizer Lithium. Yes, I know I'm putting 3 dollars worth of batteries in a 10 cent flashlight. But the damn thing are much brighter after the change and seem to always work after sitting in the drawer for months at a time.

The Energizer Lithium are great except for one drawback. They don't give any warning when they are about to die. They don't fade out, they just shut down instantly. At least when an alkaline gets weak you'll get a chance to catch it (hopefully) before it bites the dust.

That said, I use the Lithium batteries for my outdoor equipment (motion sensors and camera) because they stand up to temperature extremes MUCH better than the alkaline batteries. I tried using the Energizer Lithium in our smoke/CO2 detectors at home but found they don't last any longer than alkaline batteries in that application. So for 1/3 of the cost I went back to alkaline. I also had one occasion when the Lithium batteries died and never set off the "battery-low chirp" on the smoke detector, so I don't know how long they had actually been dead. Luckily I found it during a random battery check. I remove the batteries from all my equipment that sits unused for extended periods. Especially expensive stuff like my FLIR cameras.

I do have a couple of lights that I keep batteries in all the time (for things that go bump in the night) and don't want to be fiddling with batteries at 2AM when I'm half asleep. But I do check on them at least bi-monthly. All of my 'free' Harbor Freight LED lights are now loaded with rechargeable NiMH batteries. Yeah, the charge doesn't last a long time but disposable AAA batteries are getting too dang expensive to be throwing away.