Recharge household batteries?

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by cyberpriusII, Aug 3, 2024.

  1. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    Your pictured AAA Energizer Ultimate Lithium claims a shelf life up to 20 years, which works out to a self discharge rate of under 0.4%/month.
     
  2. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    Mine didn't last 20 years
    It didn't last 20 MONTHS - but it wasn't in storage.
    upload_2024-8-6_13-35-33.png
    The Romeo 7 doesn't have shake-awake but at my settings the AAA has a 50k hour energy budget (5.7 years.)
    FORTUNATELY I have a calendar reminder to replace the cell at 36 months and I had the "installed" date on the sight.
    I also have the ability to swap put the battery twice (depending on ROI for a lithium replacement versus an alkaline) without re-zeroing the optic.

    Again.
    Sample size = 1.
     
  3. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    Many of today's devices are never really Off, just sleeping. Their sleep currents vary enormously.
    Those Energizer Lithiums don't contain any more mAhs than their alkaline stablemates, but do maintain a significantly higher output voltage over their operating life. I can easily imagine cases where that higher voltage produces a considerably higher current draw (more than would happen with constant-R), greatly reducing battery operating hours. And a few items are simply incompatible with these lithium voltages. Merely inserting the batteries destroyed one device I had. No smoke, it just quit working, permanently.

    Without detailed knowledge of the internals, it can be difficult to predict the results.
     
  4. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    Concur.
    I reread the manual Romeo 7s) that came with the sight and discovered that the sight DOES use a 'shake awake' to achieve the 50,000 hour rating, but as you pointed out very few electronic devices are ever truly asleep and it takes very little motion to wake up a gun sight.
    The Lithium was the OEM battery and Sig put it in the sight for a reason - maybe because it's a green LED instead of a red one.
    Like Kermit says.....It's not easy being green.
    Lower wavelength.
    More energy for the same light in the LED.

    The OEM light lasted < 24 months, real world.
    My intentions are to replace it with a like unit and check for function more regularly.
    Everybody recycles batteries these days (or they SHOULD!)
     
  5. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    That would certainly be a prima facie indicator that this device is compatible with lithiums. Lithium disulfides, that is, not lithium-ion.
     
  6. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    Yep.
    A bit off the OP - buuuuut that's PC