Teens with remotes, and batteries

[Aaron Rosenthal]

It seems a week doesn't go by but I hear a plaintive cry from my 2 gamers (20 & 11) that "My remote needs batteries".
Everything, it seems needs batteries.
Light sabre, Xbox and PS4 remote; TV & set-top box; flashlight (so the 11 yo can read after bed time);
And on it goes.
Naturally I need them for my LED flashlights (work), head type miner's lamp, computer mouses, etc.
It adds up to big money for a "retiree".
Over the last week or so, I got my trusty VOM, and started testing all the old batteries we discard - yes, I've been keeping them until I had time to do this.
Nearly half the batteries I tested checked out at 1.5V or better. Anything lower than 1.3V got put into a container for the recycling centre - the rest got put back to the "stores" drawer.
I hate throwing money away, and, I hate the environmental burden of discarding still-good materials.

[David Bassett]

... Nearly half the batteries I tested checked out at 1.5V or better. ...

It's not really the open circuit voltage that matters, but the voltage they can provide when under load. If they won't even run remotes, I assume they're just hanging on.

At the rate you are going through batteries you should look into rechargeable batteries. The go to AA's, for almost any application, are Panasonic Eneloops. (Originally Sanyo, bought and continued by Panasonic.) Down here the CostCo membership stores usually have a package deal, usually 8 AA, 4 AAA, a decent charger, and some C & D size adapters. When they have it on sale, it's about the best deal you can get on Eneloops. (At other times it's competitive.) I'm not sure if you have CostCo up there, but I'm sure someone stocks them, if only Amazon. I suggest getting a kit and giving them a try.

[Curt Harms]

I've been using Nickel-Zinc rechargeable in some stuff. I have a Canon camera that doesn't like batteries less than 1.5 volts. Rechargeable AA s run about 1.25 volts freshly charged so don't work well there or in other voltage sensitive gear. Nickel-Zinc batteries show 1.8 volts off the charger and settle to 1.6 volts after an hour or less. They seem to be reasonable on self-discharge, last probably 45 days - haven't kept track - if not used much. There were issues with a few cells failing and producing around .8 volts so those got tossed. Nickel and Zinc seem pretty environmentally benign so few disposal considerations.

[Tom Stenzel]

It adds up to big money for a "retiree".
Over the last week or so, I got my trusty VOM, and started testing all the old batteries we discard - yes, I've been keeping them until I had time to do this.
Nearly half the batteries I tested checked out at 1.5V or better. Anything lower than 1.3V got put into a container for the recycling centre - the rest got put back to the "stores" drawer.
I hate throwing money away, and, I hate the environmental burden of discarding still-good materials.

Like David wrote, it's what they can maintain under load.

My daughters have moved on to iToys that recharge for the most part but years ago they had devices that ran on 4 AA batteries. When the device said they were "dead" they could still be used in my AM-FM walkman and one battery would last for over a week. I listened to the Tigers for several seasons on those dead batteries. But if I tried using them in my Fuji camera it wouldn't have worked at all. It's the load that matters.

We went with rechargeables for the Wii remotes. I've also gone to using inexpensive carbon-zinc batteries in some remotes. The dang alkaline batteries would leak and damage things while still working. At least the carbon-zinc have the decency to wait until they're dead.

By the way, remember when batteries came with the warranty, "If this battery damages a device we will repair or replace it"? That sure went out the window!

-Tom

[John K Jordan]

It seems a week doesn't go by but I hear a plaintive cry from my 2 gamers (20 & 11) that "My remote needs batteries".


As others pointed out, the voltage reading from the VOM doesn't always tell the story. Get a battery tester that puts a load on the battery. They are cheap. I use a couple of these, one an earlier model decades old: https://www.amazon.com/Gardner-Bender-GBT-500A-Lantern-Battery/dp/B000BOBZJ0

To eliminate the plaintive cries and teach responsibility show them how to replace the batteries.
Further training: provide a spare sett of rechargeables and charger and let them recharge. Forget to charge? No gaming for a while.
Advanced life training: let them buy their own batteries, sell to them from your stock, or trade for chores

A short battery capacity story: When disposable cardboard cameras were all the rage, I would visit drug stores and Walmart and ask for them for the used AA batteries which they often pulled out and threw in a box. (Some places would save them just for me.) I tested every one. Since the cameras used a very small amount of energy, all of the batteries still had almost all of their capacity. I collected many 100s of batteries and carried them along with dozens of small flashlights to Moctezuma in the central highlands of Mexico when working on a children's camp. When visiting surrounding villages I'd give out small flashlights and a bag of batteries. Many families had never had a flashlight. One elderly woman walked home from work every day a long way up a mountain trail in the dark, feeling her way with a stick if there was no moon - she was so excited about the flashlight she cried and spoke a lot of emotional Spanish I couldn't understand.

JKJ

[Lee Schierer]

We don't have any gaming devices at our house, but my son has switched all of their battery operated devices to rechargeable lithium batteries. His kids, 9 & 11 both know how to change batteries when needed.

[Bill Dufour]

I hate trying to read the black on black label inside the devices for battery orientation. So I took my wife's nail polish and put a red dot on the positive end of the battery compartments. I am sure if the makers did this they would put black on the negative end.
Bill D.

[Matt Day]

I order my batteries on amazon. Amazon Basics and a couple other brands are good.

A lot cheaper than the grocery store or wherever.

[Alan Rutherford]

This doesn't make batteries last longer but it's easier testing them. I don't leave batteries in anything that might not be used for a while and I always have several that are no longer new but are still very usable. It's important when replacing batteries that all the batteries you put in a device have about the same charge on them, and this helps. Then there are those times when a device isn't working and I need to check 2 or 4 batteries. This is better than chasing batteries across the table with the leads from a meter.

There's a length of copper wire in a groove on the left side of the box. It has a 90-degree bend at each end. The negative lead is soldered at the lower end and the upper end has a bump out which I use if I can't get a good contact without it. Most batteries from AAA to D work well although some won't make contact with the strip on the side. Button batteries (CR2032, etc.) work with the polarity reversed, which doesn't bother the meter. The meter is a freebie from Harbor Freight and is attached with Velcro on the back. The hinges on the box are three strips of leather. It's held shut by friction from the liner in the side with the meter. I'm a bit embarrassed by the gaps in the corners but I made it to use, not to show off. It works.

[Scott Donley]

I changed from the name brand battery's to the ones at Harbor Freight. I have been using them for the past 4 or 5 years and they seem to last just as long, no leakage, and a whole bunch cheaper.

[Doug Garson]

Buy them a soccer ball.

[Jerome Stanek]

I just watched a test. They don't test the Harbor Freight or Dollar General alkaline batteries. I never knew that if you drop them a fully charged on doesn't bounce as much as a dead one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7-ghrTqA44&feature=push-u-sub&attr_tag=vQTHp7IWckj7LJzx%3A6

[Van Huskey]

I am curious why (based on this thread) a lot of people still don't use rechargeable batteries. Outside of the products that come with an initial set of batteries they are all I use.

[Rich Engelhardt]

It seems a week doesn't go by but I hear a plaintive cry from my 2 gamers (20 & 11) that "My remote needs batteries".
E@ 20 I was working a full time job, making a car payment, making a house payment and changing diapers for one kid and potty training my oldest......oh well - times change....

[Jon Shank]

My wife and I are both avid gamers and I can give another vote for rechargeables. The controllers for the video game consoles are heavier battery users than a normal TV remote but nothing crazy either. And honestly the kind of low current draw that these controllers have is perfect for the way rechargables work, high -draw, not so much. Even with old batteries with a bunch of charging cycles on them I'll get a full days worth of gaming out of a set easy. Not that I have that kind of gaming time often but for the normal hour or so here and there a set of 2 AAs will go for a week or more. 2 sets for each of us and we're good to go. We actually have several different consoles with their different controllers so in a literal sense we have alot more batteries than just 2 sets for each of us, but in reality if we didn't mind swapping batteries around to the controller we decided to play with we could easily do it with just 2 sets each and never have any battery related down time.
Jon

[Aaron Rosenthal]

I'm well versed on rechargeable batteries. For my stuff, it's all I use.
The 11 year old is: Parcour; Rugby; pick-up ice and street and field hockey; paintball; and, bless him, an avid student of military maneuvers and stelch tracking (He's 100% Aboriginal Canadian). When he asks for batteries, I give him.
The other one, well.
Unfortunately, 1.25 rechargeables don't often work in those toys.

[Curt Harms]

I am curious why (based on this thread) a lot of people still don't use rechargeable batteries. Outside of the products that come with an initial set of batteries they are all I use.

In my case I had devices that didn't care for the 1.25 volts available from NiMH rechargeables.

[Kevin Beitz]

I buy batteries by the 100's off E=bay cheap...
I have one remote that when it quits I take out the batteries and check them.
One battery out of the four will be dead. No only dead but reversed charged.
I don't know how this happens but about once a month one battery will have
reverse polarity. The other three are still good to go.

[John K Jordan]

...
I don't know how this happens but about once a month one battery will have
reverse polarity. The other three are still good to go.

When one battery goes down far enough, continuing current from the others can charge it in reverse (in certain circuits). That's one reason to carefully selected matched rechargeable cells when building battery packs. The battery stores will match them for you, but likely at a higher cost than ebay. :)

[Bruce Wrenn]

I use the NiMH's from HF. Running my FM transmitter on two AAA's, I get a weeks worth of listening. Once a week, whether I need to or not, I install a fresh pair and put old ones on charger. Next day take them off charger, and place in battery bag in bottom drawer near phone. Be aware that they sell two different capacites, both for same price. Read the label carefully