What about lithium batteries?

[thrillathahunt]

So I'm strolling around Home Depot today and I see a rack of Ray-O-Vac 9 volt lithium batteries. I noticed as I read the pack (these were individual packs) that it has a 10 year guarantee! WOW!!! Also, it said that they would work in ANY product that was designed to use regular 9 volt batteries.

I immediately thought of my Cibola (it uses one 9 volt battery) and how if I bought this battery, I could use it until I was in my early 60's!!!!!!!

Is this too good to be true?

 

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[spartacus53]

Yes it is too good to be true, so it's not true. They only means if you buy it today and use it ten years from now they will still work. I still don't see them holding a charge after 10 years, but I'm no expert.

 

[homefires]

I myself would not use them.

They have issues:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_battery


The Ten Year thing is shelf life.

 

[mainer]

I use them in my thermometer. It has a outside remote transmitter they work real good for that. A regular set of AA wont last 2 weeks in the winter time. But the lithiums will last for a couple years. So they work great for that, not sure about a detector though. I would give it a try.

 

[BuckleBoy]

Rechargeable batteries will last 10 years if cared for.

 

[Produce Guy]

I have them in my smoke detectors.

 

[U.K. Brian]

I'd rather use lithium batteries than Lipo's for all they are pushing them like mad on the detector modification forum. Far stricter regulations than lithium and those for lithium re air delivery are bad enough.

When you travel by air the small batteries in say your mobile are ignored but most airlines will expect them to be removed from a metal detector. Then your in for finding an acceptable container.

As for lithium use in detectors I was told when they first came on the market that the current in effect pulsed. Don't know if its true or not but some do seem to use them sucessfully in their machines.

 

[slowNsteady]

For what it's worth, I have about good and bad results from using them in a detector. There are differences in the amount of current delivered. The voltage is pretty close to the same as an alkaline battery, but that is where the similarities end. The circuits in your detector are designed to operate on x amount of voltage with x amount of current delivered. It appears that some detectors are able to work properly with the lithiums, and some do not. It's not going to explode on you, but erratic operation could result. I have not tried them myself, and will probably not. Nimh batteries work ok, but they need to have enough capacity to get you through a day of hunting. AA's are easy enough to find, but finding higher capacity 9v's can be difficult. Just my thoughts...

 

[TORRERO]

I noticed as I read the pack (these were individual packs) that it has a 10 year guarantee!


Is this too good to be true?

I think this is an expiration date..... As in .. These are Guaranteed in the package for 10 years..
from date of manufacture

Not how long the battery will last....

Of course after re-reading this post, if these are rechargeable then maybe they Guarantee them
to be able to be recharged for up to 10 years....
That would be OK, if you like rechargeable batteries

 

[thrillathahunt]

Well, I went on the Ray-O-Vac website and they are guaranteed to last 10 years....but only in smoke alarms. It said it would last up to 2 times longer than regular alkaline batteries in other applications.

Since one battery costs about $10 ....and only will last twice as long(in other uses besides smoke alarms), I don't think it is cost effective anyway.

http://www.rayovac.com/batteries/lithium_faqs.shtml

 

[Frankn]

Batteries, such as AA batteries are a specific size and a specific voltage range. Detectors designed to take AA batteries will work on any AA battery. The voltage variation is taken care of with a built in voltage regulator. The current draw or ampage is governed solely by the circuits in your detector, not the battery. The current rating of a battery is in effect the amount of power it can store. Your detector governes how much current or power is drawn. Li ion & Li pol batteries are good batteries that hold a charge for a long time, but they are new and the cost is just starting to lower! They are used in the newest electric cars.

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[Frankn]

Let me first state that I have not worked with Explorer& Etrack, But if I were you I would check with them. I have worked in Electronics for 32 years and in the last 10+ years voltage regulators have become common place in electronic equipment. They are simple ,cheap devices. The Whites detector displayes voltage at startup. It also shows minimun working voltage for each type of battery. It will drop out if voltage gets to low, but the internal regular can handle can handle any AA battery.

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