PREP Friendly Reminder about Checking Device Batteries

[dstraito]

I know I'm preaching to the choir here for this group is pretty prep savy but I just committed a cardinal prepping sin, I didn't check the batteries is some of my preps.

I found a couple of devices, one flashlight and one portable CB/FRS radio with corroded terminals from battery leakage.

Just in case someone else let worldly issues get in the way of maintaining their preps, this is a reminder.

 

[BREWER]

I know I'm preaching to the choir here for this group is pretty prep savy but I just committed a cardinal prepping sin, I didn't check the batteries is some of my preps.

I found a couple of devices, one flashlight and one portable CB/FRS radio with corroded terminals from battery leakage.

Just in case someone else let worldly issues get in the way of maintaining their preps, this is a reminder.

dstraito:Thanks for the reminder!

Yes, it is always good to remind the board.

I bought batteries yesterday in anticipation of going through all the preps as we head into the teeth of hurricane season.

Take care.
BREWER

 

[nomifyle]

bump, good reminder

 

[biere]

Maybe 6 or so years ago I got to where I would only buy energizer or duracell alkaline batteries, lots of other stuff leaked on me.

I still was buying lithium and rechargable as well.

These days, I have some leftover alkaline batteries I plan to give away this holiday season for people with kids and I will tell em why I am giving them away.

I don't care if it is a cheap flashlight and duracell or energizer pay to replace it. I am tired of the hassle. And at some point, they might not replace it.

TV remote can have rechargeable. I run lithium in about everything else like flashlights and what not.

I don't know how much more it is going to cost me to do it that way, with rechargeable batteries in the mix I figure it won't cost a ton more but I do expect the lithium to be a luxury cost.

But having my stuff work and not be ruined when I try to use it is worth the cost.

Sam's club has little bulk packs of energizer lithium batteries in aa or aaa. They were about 20 bucks for a dozen batteries but I don't know what the current cost is. While I buy cr123a in bulk on the net I have never really chased the energizer lithium stuff on the net much.

 

[hoss]

Been there and done that with corroded batteries. Good reminder for everyone.

 

[packyderms_wife]

hmmmm I have a rather expensive mag light I should go check on!

 

[AlfaMan]

Good reminder! Another thought-if you have equipment with batteries installed in your preps-seal them up and throw in some of those moisture absorbers too. I've had a transistor radio stored in my preps for years now and the batteries in the radio, the spare batteries in the ammo can as well are still good and non corroded. I do rotate out the spares, and they work just fine after storage.

 

[Nana]

Don't forget the one in your program-able thermostat. I did.

 

[Shadow]

DW had a habit of leaving batteries in things "so that they will be ready". After loosing a few things I only put rechargeable batteries in things that keep batteries in them. I figure that a keychain light is bright enough to put batteries in what I need. In my bags the alkaline batteries are in small ziploc bags stored with whatever they go to.
Shadow

 

[Rucus Sunday]

Learned this lesson many times over. Never leave alkaline batteries in a device for more than a couple of days, even the "good quality" kind. If you need to leave batteries in a device so it can be used immediately, use rechargeable or lithium batteries for that.

I often store alkaline batteries with a device but separate from it, stored in a plastic bag. For a large flashlight, rubber band the bag of D cells to the light itself. For smaller devices, store the device in a ziploc along with a separate bag inside for the alkalines. NOTE that alkalines CAN leak even when stored together in a separate bag. I've had this happen several times, but at least the leakage was contained within the separate bag. Don't trust alkalines.

 

[MtnGal]

I went to get some D batteries still in their package in storage and found some were leaking. Had to throw out 5 of them. I've had batteries for longer than these that never went bad. Are they doing something different or they all made in China now?

 

[Rucus Sunday]

I went to get some D batteries still in their package in storage and found some were leaking. Had to throw out 5 of them. I've had batteries for longer than these that never went bad. Are they doing something different or they all made in China now?

I'm no expert, but I would suspect this may have to do with moisture. IMO, alkalines should be stored in an airtight container with dessicants.

 

[Starrkopf]

Always best to never store batteries in a device that is seldom used.

 

[workerbee]

D batteries were nonexistent just before this last hurricane.

We had what we needed for us but my grandma had a fan that ran on D batteries and wouldn't tell anyone she didn't have batteries for it....it was actually my mother's fault.....she bought the fan for her but never bought the batteries. ....
so about 6 hours before landfall here in Brevard county I went EVERYWHERE looking for D batteries.

NONE to be found ANYWHERE.

Plenty of AA AAA and C batteries but NO D.

We are now solidly stocked up along with my grandma.

We have 2 fans and a lantern that run on D batteries.

Was a Godsend for our 8 hour power outage.

You've can NEVER have too many batteries guns or ammo.

 

[Dennis Olson]

Pack batteries WITH equipment, not IN equipment.

 

[Sam2]

So, what is a good charger to handle a variety of batteries...
say AAA to 123, etc.?

 

[Jeff B.]

Pack batteries WITH equipment, not IN equipment.

Good advice.

I learned this the hard way, with a laser level. Fortunately I was able to clean it up and it still operates. That was a potentially expensive lesson.

Keep batteries with but not in your stored electronic devices (goes for unused as well)...

Jeff B.

 

[biere]

As with most things if you look at a battery from today and a battery from a decade or two ago you will probably notice changes. I just don't recall all these leaking issues way back when and I figure the case may have been a better design or it was built better or something.

With lithium, play on youtube and watch lithium batteries burn up. You need to know what you are storing and using.

I do agree a pocket flashlight will let you get started during a power outage so keep batteries near item and not in item. I just got to where I won't spend money on alkaline and will give them to people with kids or something as the holidays approach.

I have some stuff that takes D batteries but most of it does not have a high power draw. So I have been planning to buy some pvc pipe from lowes and make my own battery spacers so I can use my aa batteries in those items. The aa batteries won't run it for nearly as long, but if the power draw is low it gives me an option. And getting the rechargables into more stuff is the goal.

D batteries are one area I can sort of see having some on hand if the item is important and high draw. Last time I looked there were few options for rechargable D batteries that I would pay for. But I check once or twice a year and if something was really important I would head that way and have a little solar panel for charging a car battery that could then charge my batteries.

For charging all sorts of stuff and not having to have a set amount of batteries in it, maha9000 or something along those lines is what I got. Some chargers don't happen to be very smart, the maha stuff has great ratings and well worth the money.

 

[byronandkathy2003]

Always best to never store batteries in a device that is seldom used.

^^^^^^^^
this

when you put anything away for a long time that uses batteries take the batteries out and put them in a zip lock baggy .

then store the bagged batteries with the item if the batteries go bad they will be contained in the bag.

then if you need to use the item it wont have leaking batteries in it ..

 

[dogmanan]

I know I'm preaching to the choir here for this group is pretty prep savy but I just committed a cardinal prepping sin, I didn't check the batteries is some of my preps.

I found a couple of devices, one flashlight and one portable CB/FRS radio with corroded terminals from battery leakage.

Just in case someone else let worldly issues get in the way of maintaining their preps, this is a reminder.

Well in storage I always leave batteries out of my devices so they don't leak.
Why have the batteries in the devices when it only takes a min to put them in when needed.

 

[Raffy]

A great alternative to alkaline batteries is to use Eneloop rechargeable batteries for stored equipment. These are ultra-low discharge rechargeable batteries that keep 75% or more of their charge for 3 years of storage. Some of the newer ones are claiming 70% of charge after 10 years of storage! I have used these for a few years now and they definitely perform as advertised. These will not leak corrosive crap onto your electronic equipment, so it is safe to actually store them IN your electrical or electronic equipment, as long as said equipment doesn't draw power when off. Keep in mind, though, that some electronics will draw power even when off, so keep that in mind when storing as that might slowly drain your batteries.

I have tried a few other brands of low discharge rechargeables and none of them compares to the Eneloops in storage time longevity. As of now, I recommend ONLY getting Eneloops for any rechargeable battery applications.

http://www.panasonic.com/global/consumer/battery/eneloop/lineup.html

I use Eneloops in my handheld ham radio transceivers and I consider them to be the best thing since sliced bread as far as battery power goes. They have about 2000 milliamp-hours of storage, so they last a long time when the transceiver is being used as well as holding their charge when it is off. I have a shortwave receiver with them installed as well, but it has a clock so it draws power from the batteries over time. Even then, it's many months before I need to recharge them.

These are available online at Amazon and other outlets for roughly $3 or less per AA cell. Get some; they're worth every penny!

 

[L.A.B.]

Like minds and all. I had just finished putting the year old Panasonic Eneloops' or 'whatever there called' through a 'Refresh and Analyzing' mode of recharge.

 

[L.A.B.]

So, what is a good charger to handle a variety of batteries...
say AAA to 123, etc.?

I'll try to post a brand model number I use for both AA's and the rechargeable 123's in a couple hours.

Here's the company named K-2 Energy that I use to charge CR-123's on a small scale for a few lights. They sell a charger I'll attempt to find on their website.

http://www.k2battery.com/products.html

http://store.peakbattery.com/charger-plus-two-lfp123a-batter.html

Here's some recommendations for AA's and others.

http://michaelbluejay.com/batteries/chargers.html

 

[Sam2]

I'll try to post a brand model number I use for both AA's and the rechargeable 123's in a couple hours.

Here's the company named K-2 Energy that I use to charge CR-123's on a small scale for a few lights. They sell a charger I'll attempt to find on their website.

http://www.k2battery.com/products.html

http://store.peakbattery.com/charger-plus-two-lfp123a-batter.html

Here's some recommendations for AA's and others.

http://michaelbluejay.com/batteries/chargers.html

I was about to say that it looks like it may be hard to find a charger that does multiple sizes.

I just searched ebay for: multiCharger aa 123, and found this $40 item:
Fenix ARE-C2 4-Bay Digital Battery Charger

Features:
4-bay Digital Charger supports large spectrum of Li-ion and Ni-MH rechargeable cell sizes: 18650, 16340, 14500, 26650, AA, AAA, C
Automatically select charging modes based on the battery loaded
Accelerated charging
LCD display for battery voltage and charges independently
Advanced safety features
Supports Fenix ARB-L2 and ARB-L4 Li-ion batteries


I have a $60 La Crosse BC1000 Alpha Power Battery Charger, but it only does AA & AAA batterie sizes.

I think I'll spend some study time, over the week end:
http://michaelbluejay.com/batteries/chargers.html

I may go for the Fenix ARE-C2, in the next week or 2.

Thanks, L.A.B.

 

[Garryowen]

I don't see any D size batteries on the eneloop site. Do they not make them? I do see some adapters to use in D devices. Would the AAs have adequate storage for larger devices.

Thanks for the thread. I checked my SW receiver and caught a battery starting to leak.

 

[etc]

They even make lithium 9V you can use, it's pretty expensive but doesn't even go bad for 20 years and lasts much longer than an Alkaline 9V.

I have stopped using AA and AAA in favor of 123 cells and Li-ion that I recharge.

TV remotes get Lithium cells that last much longer.

the rest of devices that use AA have Eneloops.

Gave away all my Maglites that run on D cells since I moved into compact Surefire 123s.

The alkaline cells doing the way of the dodo bird I think with Eneloops able to hold charge for years.

 

[L.A.B.]

^^^Sam^^^, your welcome.

^^^etc^^^, my limited experience with chargers over the last couple years was by others with reccomendations here at TB2K. I've tried to find flash lights that are also AA Ni-Mh compatable. I also own one rechargeable headlamp, and a few CR-123 Single cell that can use the rechargeable Li-Ion in the K-2 Energy charger.

There are a few Y2K D battery devices still in the stable of D.C. Circuits. The C-Crane AM/FM with Weather / Emergency channels, and tube-filament flash lights just in case.

I've set up for solar charging on the AA's, but have not yet picked up a dock for the D's yet.

 

[biere]

If you need d batteries in rechargable do some reading on some sites, google about the rechargable d batteries and do the reading off that. Since stuff changes a lot I don't know where they currently are.

Anyway, if you have a high drain device then you might need an actual d battery. For something like an led mag light that takes d batteries, the aa batteries with spacers will run it but it won't have the weight of the d battery setup of course.

In college during power outages I would pull out my old portable radio with a cd player and it ran on d batteries. If we kept the volume reasonable the d batteries could run it. If we ran the volume to max the d batteries had trouble powering the speakers properly. This is not something I would care about in an emergency but it shows that some stuff will need a lot of power. If just playing the radio at moderate levels, the d batteries did fine for a long time.

But playing the cd player and cranking up the volume really killed batteries fast.

I was young and in college, worth every penny.