generic batteries

eagle77

Sr. Member
Jan 23, 2007
458
5
Nebraska
Detector(s) used
Teknetics T2, 3300, XTerra 70
My experience with Dollar Store batteries is less than favorable. Our purchasing agent thinks they are a great savings so they buy them by the case. What they don't realize is that we go through them faster.

Have you considered rechargeable batteries? I use PowerEX AA batts and have 2 sets, one set is in the charger and one set in the machine. The charger I have recycles the battery so it doesn't build up memory. If this is to your liking here is where I get mine from and I have to say they are top rate customer service/support
http://thomasdistributing.com/
 

ronald99

Sr. Member
Dec 13, 2006
251
3
Detector(s) used
MINELAB SE-Excalibur 1000-Minelab SD2200V2
No dont buy from dollar stores, These are cheap made batteries and you will just be wasting money you could spend toward name brands that will last longer.

AOL just did a headline on the top 5 things not to buy from dollar stores and toothpaste and batteries are the top two.. Batteries

Like most people, you probably don't think twice about what's inside those ultra-cheap batteries you're buying, but you should. Most dollar-store battery brands are made with carbon zinc -- a far more inferior option than the ones you can buy at the hardware or drugstore, says Tom Merritt, executive editor for electronics review site CNET. "You do not want those," he says. "It's one of the original battery technologies, and generally has very poor performance." You'll go through the pack of carbon zinc batteries much faster, negating any savings from the cheaper purchase price. Look instead for alkaline batteries. Unfortunately, these batteries are a rare find at dollar stores
 

S

skydiv

Guest
I just use store brand mostly walgreens and they work just fine, 4 batteries will last me half the summer.
 

Keppy

Gold Member
Nov 19, 2006
8,318
2,870
N.E. Ohio on lake Erie
Detector(s) used
** WHAT ONE I FEEL LIKE ON HUNTING DAY *****
Primary Interest:
Other
I found out that those cheap battery's sometime are not made the same size as the good ones and will not fit in the detector right not good quality control in the making of them......They look the same size untill you put them in your detector they are to loose or to big or you can not close the door..............==Jim==
 

WV Hillbilly

Hero Member
Dec 8, 2006
776
9
West Virginia
Detector(s) used
TIME RANGER CZ3D ACE 250
I can't & won't try to convince anyone of anything but I watched a program about batteries among
other things . They said a few large companies made most all batteries . Store brand batteries for example
are made by duracell , eveready , ect . The only difference is the label & the price . As long as you buy alkaline you're good to go . The people who do all the advertising ( big brand names ) charge for it . Can't
say this is 100% true but I know with a lot of products it is . HH
 

ronald99

Sr. Member
Dec 13, 2006
251
3
Detector(s) used
MINELAB SE-Excalibur 1000-Minelab SD2200V2
WV Hillbilly said:
I can't & won't try to convince anyone of anything but I watched a program about batteries among
other things . They said a few large companies made most all batteries . Store brand batteries for example
are made by duracell , eveready , ect . The only difference is the label & the price . As long as you buy alkaline you're good to go . The people who do all the advertising ( big brand names ) charge for it . Can't
say this is 100% true but I know with a lot of products it is . HH


Your correct about name brand companys making batteries for store brand names.
 

Treasure_Hunter

Administrator
Staff member
Jul 27, 2006
48,556
55,172
Florida
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Minelab_Equinox_ 800 Minelab_CTX-3030 Minelab_Excal_1000 Minelab_Sovereign_GT Minelab_Safari Minelab_ETrac Whites_Beach_Hunter_ID Fisher_1235_X
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I would consider Wally World and Target as store brands, I highly doubt Duracell or EverReady is making batteries for the Dollar Stores.
 

revdrlon

Jr. Member
Apr 19, 2008
31
0
owensboro, ky
Detector(s) used
bounty hunter land star
i was at my local generic store and i found 4 fuji alkaline batteries for $2 so i got those as soon as i saw them, as long as its alkaline it shouldnt really matter, the cheaper ones might not have as much MAh and prolly wont last as long, but thats cheap enough for me to not care too much.
 

thadious

Sr. Member
Jul 13, 2006
270
6
Hemet, Ca
Detector(s) used
Sovereign GT, Garret Ace 250, At Pro
I have bought cheap batteries at 99cent stores and have had mostly bad luck with them either dead on arrival or use up quickly I now use rechargeable batteries and have saved lots of money with these. For about 60 bucks total you can get enough batterys and charger to last you for a long while. I have twenty AA and 4 9vlt batterys that I use. I always keep enough on charge to never worry about not having batterys when i need to hunt. I use 2300 and 2500 nimh batterys and they last between 10 and twenty hours depending on whether I use headphones or not. Anyway good luck with what ever you use and HH Ted
 

Farmercal

Hero Member
Mar 20, 2003
687
1
Earth
Detector(s) used
Explorer II, X-Terra 70 & Excalibur 1000
I got tired of buying batteries. I now use Rayovac hybrids and they suit me just fine. They hold their charge better than normal NIMH batteries and seem to last longer in the field. I'm through buying batteries.
 

Charlie P. (NY)

Gold Member
Feb 3, 2006
13,006
17,114
South Central Upstate NY in the foothills of the h
Detector(s) used
Minelab Musketeer Advantage Pro w/8" & 10" DD coils/Fisher F75se(Upgraded to LTD2) w/11" DD, 6.5" concentric & 9.5" NEL Sharpshooter DD coils/Sunray FX-1 Probe & F-Point/Black Widows/Rattler headphone
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Last year I got an 16 pack of AA's alkalines at Dick's Sporting Goods for $7.95 with their brand logo on them. They've been fine. You can figure the reason a battery is offered cheap is either because the tolerances are opened up or the lot didn't make the cut for the "good" label.

Note that the NiCads and NiMH run at 1.2v while alkalines are 1.5v; though they do have a flat discharge curve with a sudden drop instead of the gradual drop of alkalines. They also self-discharge at 1% to 3% per day when idle.

Probably doesn't make a difference as the units have regulating circuits, but they do have different characteristics.
 

DanB

Hero Member
Oct 23, 2007
624
143
the dollar store quality is cheap....cheap I say no deal....bad buy spend the money on ni-cads, you will be much happier..


regards db
 

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