3 ms·
Packaging, markup and logistics are a big factor. Compare the Duracell "Pro" range which only come in bulk to commercial customers with the exact same cell in a
by jrabone 15y ago
Packaging, markup and logistics are a big factor. Compare the Duracell "Pro" range which only come in bulk to commercial customers with the exact same cell in a different case (the familiar copper-top cell). I'd be interested in seeing if the "lithium" branded cells (which clearly aren't LiIon chemistry as the voltage is still 1.5ish volts) are worth the extra cash though.
- sp332 15y agoLiIon is for rechargeable batteries. The 1.5V Energizers are almost certainly "lithium-iron", a.k.a. "voltage-compatible" lithium cells.
- jrabone 15y agoYes, indeed. The marketing point appears to be lower self-discharge rate, but that's going to be pretty boring for a home experimenter to measure (like, 10 year shelf life - what's the shortest meaningful experiment time you can extrapolate from?)
- sp332 15y agoWell if the warranty is only 2 years, I guess they can say it lasts 1000 years. When you complain that it only lasted 3 years, the warranty will already be up :)
- jrabone 15y agoHmm, they are recommended for use in smoke detectors, think they might be slightly more careful about that if there is actually no benefit... Unless the conspiracy theory runs deeper than suspected :-)
- rdl 15y agoMuch less than 10 years. Temperature has a major influence on self discharge and useful discharge; the lithium batteries win for this. They also have more energy per cell. Lithium batteries are also lighter, and more shock resistant/leak resistant/durable. I try to use CR123 lithium batteries wherever possible; they're pretty cheap at BatteryStation.
- jdietrich 15y agoLithium cells really do have a dramatically lower self-discharge rate. The most obvious application is in smoke alarms, where the current drain is usually less than the self-discharge rate of an alkaline PP3 battery. This has major implications for landlords, where a $2 battery might cost $60 to change. Smoke alarms aside, there are few applications where lithium primary cells would make sense for the ordinary consumer.
- ghshephard 15y agoSide Note - the Lower Self-Discharge rate is important for applications in which you are putting the battery out there in Gas/Water meters to run for 20 years. That isn't a shelf life of 20 years, that's actually _working_ for 20 years. Admittedly, most of the time the device it's powering is in a deep hibernation state, and only waking up once a day and doing a (very brief) radio transmission, but the tolerances become very important - particularly if you are deploying several million of these into the field.
- theatrus2 15y agoLithium iron (the 1.5v) and other primary lithium cells (the 3v) are very important and most definitely a real battery, not just marketing. Stable voltage output over ther life (alkalines life is rated to 0.8 v), high capacity, wider temperature range (doen to -40), high peak current, and great shelf life.
- libria 15y agoLithium batteries have a different use case. Their advantages are greater overall capacity, longer shelf life, lower weight, higher voltage (1.8), consistent discharge (low slope), better operation in low temperatures, less tendency to leak (IME). Household electronics may not need these, but a spelunker powering his headlamp might.
- jcampbell1 15y agoThe biggest use for lithium batteries is probably shake-and-bake production of meth. I saw a dude at Walmart with a cart full of Energizer Lithium batteries and those instant cold packs. I just laughed and moved on.