AA Batteries, Alkaline v Lithium

LONG_KEELER

LONG_KEELER

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May be of interest if you use many AA batteries.

This test not long ago from BBC Test House program.

The test was a constant 1 Amp and averaged out.

Four batteries were tested.

Sony/Poundland/ £1 x pkt 4 = Lasted 18 minutes (Alkaline)

Duracell Ultra/ £5.99 " = Lasted 18 minutes (Alkaline)
============================================

Maplin Ex Long £5.99 " = Lasted 2 hrs 33 minutes (Lithium)

Energiser £7.99 " = Lasted 2 hrs 50 minutes (Lithium)


It was suggested that Lithium is recommended for high drain i.e. gps, cameras etc and alkaline for low drain i.e clocks etc.


I've bought some from Maplins and surprised how light the lithium batteries are. This may be a factor when holding cameras.
 
I only use lithium for my Canon IS binoculars, mainly because their lightness makes them nicer to use. I believe the lithium batteries also have a longer shelf life than alkaline, which is useful for application when infrequent use is involved.
 
Last edited:
LONG_KEELER said:
May be of interest if you use many AA batteries.

This test not long ago from BBC Test House program.

The test was a constant 1 Amp and averaged out.

Four batteries were tested.

Sony/Poundland/ £1 x pkt 4 = Lasted 18 minutes (Alkaline)

Duracell Ultra/ £5.99 " = Lasted 18 minutes (Alkaline)
============================================

Maplin Ex Long £5.99 " = Lasted 2 hrs 33 minutes (Lithium)

Energiser £7.99 " = Lasted 2 hrs 50 minutes (Lithium)


It was suggested that Lithium is recommended for high drain i.e. gps, cameras etc and alkaline for low drain i.e clocks etc.


I've bought some from Maplins and surprised how light the lithium batteries are. This may be a factor when holding cameras.
Click to expand...
The capacity of a Duracell Alkaline AA should be over 1Ah.
Depends on the discharge rate and the limit voltage.
1 amp continuous is not what AA cells are designed for.

Some electronics will keep working when the battery drops to quite a low voltage, some will not.
I once had to design something to run as long as possible on 2 AA's, it's possible to draw power even when the voltage has dropped to well under a volt, but taking things too far, we found the batteries were too hot to touch when finally 'flat'!

Lithium are good for long life, particularly shelf life, but alkaline generally win on energy per £.

Rechargeables tend to be 1.2V, so it depends on how the load reacts to this.
 
gregcope said:
Lithium are allot better, but allot more expensive.

You might like this;

http://www.batteryshowdown.com/results-lo.html
Click to expand...
Lithium primary cells have a few advantages over Alkaline ones as follows :

  1. Higher energy density
  2. Better low temperature holdup
  3. Flatter discharge curve
  4. Better storage life
1. above is achieved by them being lighter rather than having a higher capacity : the graph http://www.batteryshowdown.com/static/images/mwh_large_200mA.png from the link you posted is not a reflection of real life use. This is based upon my own experiments comparing the Energizer Li cells vs Boots own brand Alkaline cells and also a comprehensive bike light battery capacity test I found on the web.

2. above is most likely irrelevant for use on a boat

3. above will imply a longer battery life when used in devices that have a voltage step-up supply inside them (because the higher input voltage will give a lower current drain). It also means a torch light powered by Li cells will stay bright for longer though it will ultimately die after around the same time as the same torch powered by Alkaline cells.

4. above may matter to you or it may not.

Again, this is based upon empirical experiment and differs more than a little from what the web-based blurb and puff would have you believe so unless you have actually tried it yourself please be a little reticent before attacking me for what I have written.

Boo2
 
Boo2 said:
Lithium primary cells have a few advantages over Alkaline ones as follows :

  1. Higher energy density
  2. Better low temperature holdup
  3. Flatter discharge curve
  4. Better storage life
....
3. above will imply a longer battery life when used in devices that have a voltage step-up supply inside them (because the higher input voltage will give a lower current drain). It also means a torch light powered by Li cells will stay bright for longer though it will ultimately die after around the same time as the same torch powered by Alkaline cells.

....

Boo2
Click to expand...
A device with a good step-up or step down supply will be more tolerant of the voltage dropping off as the battery is discharged.
SWMBO's old camera used to have very short battery life on alkalines, but when the batteries came out, they would still get you to the pub and back in a torch.
The new camera is much easier on batteries, but when the camera says they are flat, they are properly flat.
Likewise, even cheap LED torches often have switchers which keep the power constant as the volts fall.
They don't go slowly dim, they stay bright to the end then drop dead in a few seconds.
(some cunningly drop to low power mode to warn you the end is nigh!).
As you say, lithium primary cells have higher energy in a given volume, if the device can use that efficiently it will run longer.
But you pay for that.

I like to standardise on AA alkalines and carry spares, knowing they are good for camera, torch, DAB radio etc.
Although the DAB radio has rechargeables in it.
 
Look at the prices for Energiser or Duracell "Industrial" in packs of 10/20/30 from Amazon: typically under £10 for 30: these appear every bit as good as the retail pack alkaline batteries: I'm using less and less NiMh rechargeables these days as these disposables are cheap and convenient.

The figures quoted of getting 18 minutes from a Duracell AA at 1 amp means about 300maH - which seems wildly low: typical quality rechargeable NiMh AAs are about 2,600+ maH and my practical usage seems to indicate that these "industrial" allkalines are fairly similar.
 
For what it's worth I've always been very happy with GP Heavy Duty AA batteries which, at under 7 quid for 40 on ebay, are quite cheap.
 
The program mentioned that Duracell had their knuckles wrapped in 2014.

They were forced to withdraw a TV ad as the claims could not be substantiated .

As mentioned on this thread , prices vary wildly for the same product and it definitely pays to shop around and also to buy in bulk where possible. Interesting that as always in boaty things, battery usage is not a straight forward issue.

I will definitely be going down the lithium route . The ease of not having to change batteries so often is probably the main factor . Have worked out that I have 7 gizmos that take AA batteries on my little ship. Torchx2/HH, VHF//GPSx2/CAMERA/RADIO.
 
nigelmercier said:
I have lithium batteries in my smoke detectors, back-up GPS etc. I like the idea of using them in the IS binoculars, thanks.

Just ordered some more, Energiser, never Duraleak.

AA http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000IWW1G6/dolcetto-21
9V http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B003XM9YUO/dolcetto-21

[Note that there is an Amazon affiliate code after the ASIN in the link(s), feel free to delete it, although the price is the same]
Click to expand...

I love the Amazon Link quote for AA lithium users :-

"The clear choice for many professional photographers and adventurers"

I am not a professional photographer but definitely will add 'adventurer' to my lifestyle list when asked.
 
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