Lithium Batteries

[+DconBlueZ]

A friend of mine recommended the new Energizer lithium batteries, said he's had great success with them. If they come anywhere near their advertised life of "up to 7 times the life of alkalines" they are a good deal.

 

They cost about 4 times the price of alkalines so anything longer than 4 times the lifespan is a net gain, and they are VERY light in weight to boot. They actually feel kind of weird, you know how heavy a battery is -supposed- to be, and then you hold one of these things... the AAA's practically float out of the package.

 

Anyone have any experience with them in GPS or Palm units?

[+YuccaPatrol]

For the same price, you can buy rechargable NiMH batteries that can be recharged hundreds of times.

 

The only time I would consider these would be for extended backpacking trips or for use in the cold since they are more tolerant of freezing temperatures.

 

Some of the newer Garmin models are not designed to handle the higher initial output of lithium batteries (1.7volts vs. alkaline 1.5 and NiMH 1.2), so that may be a consideration too.

Edited April 28, 2006 by YuccaPatrol

[peter]

A friend of mine recommended the new Energizer lithium batteries, said he's had great success with them. If they come anywhere near their advertised life of "up to 7 times the life of alkalines" they are a good deal.

The key phrase in that advertising claim is the "up to." Unlike alkalines, the Energizer lithium cells (actually lithium-irondisulfide) can deliver nearly their full rated capacity even when powering very high current drain devices, such as typical digital cameras. So for powering devices that draw a full Amp or more of current those cells can indeed last quite a few times as long as alkaline cells. The lithiums also have an advantage in very cold temperatures, again by retaining almost all of their potential capacity while the alkalines fare much worse.

 

But when used by low to moderate current devices, such as most GPS receivers, and in above freezing temperatures the gain in lifetime is much more modest and not nearly great enough to justify the increased cost.

 

They do have the advantages of lightweight, long shelf-life, and cold temperature performance. That makes them a good choice for expedition use (esp. in the arctic), as emergency backups that may be left for years, and sometimes they're light enough to let a device float that would otherwise sink. For more common uses I agree with YP that NiMH cells are a much better deal both economically and for environmental concerns.

[+DconBlueZ]

A friend of mine recommended the new Energizer lithium batteries, said he's had great success with them. If they come anywhere near their advertised life of "up to 7 times the life of alkalines" they are a good deal.

The key phrase in that advertising claim is the "up to." Unlike alkalines, the Energizer lithium cells (actually lithium-irondisulfide) can deliver nearly their full rated capacity even when powering very high current drain devices, such as typical digital cameras. So for powering devices that draw a full Amp or more of current those cells can indeed last quite a few times as long as alkaline cells. The lithiums also have an advantage in very cold temperatures, again by retaining almost all of their potential capacity while the alkalines fare much worse.

 

But when used by low to moderate current devices, such as most GPS receivers, and in above freezing temperatures the gain in lifetime is much more modest and not nearly great enough to justify the increased cost.

 

They do have the advantages of lightweight, long shelf-life, and cold temperature performance. That makes them a good choice for expedition use (esp. in the arctic), as emergency backups that may be left for years, and sometimes they're light enough to let a device float that would otherwise sink. For more common uses I agree with YP that NiMH cells are a much better deal both economically and for environmental concerns.

 

OK then. I'm glad I asked. The aggregated knowledge in this forum is amazing.

[+Team Cotati]

They in fact do indeed get such astounding life times. Pretty amazing. Still, a good set of 2500 mAH's and a modern charger from oh let's say, Thomas-Distributing is a combination that is pretty hard to beat. But yes, Lithiums do in fact kick alkaline's butt.

[Team Sidewinder]

I know I am in the minority but I love lithiums. They do last longer and they don't discharge like rechargeables while sitting in the gps. I may not use my gps for a couple of weeks or I may use it every couple of days. The charger, taking the gps in and out of the case, constant state of discharge, opening and closing of the battery compartment make the rechargable battery something I don't use. Give me lithiums.

[+JSWilson64]

I like the Lithiums in my Legend. I've had it almost a year and have replaced the Lithiums once, after an extended road-trip with the GPSr powered up and connected to a laptop for navigation. Besides, "Lithium" sounds better than "Nickel-metal-hydride."

[+hogrod]

I also run lithiums in my legend C. when I used rechargables & alkaline there wasn't that much difference between them except the rechargable shelf life wasn't very good, I would always have to charge batterys the day before I would go out. I've now done 50+ caches with the lithiums and my batterys still show full, it has also been about three months.

If you need your batterys to last forever the cost is worth every penny.

Edited April 28, 2006 by hogrod

[+Runaround]

Time for a few thoughts from your friendly neighborhood battery company employee. The Energizer Bunny is my boss so feel free to take my comments with a grain of salt. I admit to being more than a little biased.

 

Personally, I use the Energizer e2 Lithium all the time in my GPSr. I've tried using the rechargeable batteries but I don't have the discipline. Heck, my PDA and cell phone seem to be dead half the time because I forget to charge them. I don't mind the dead cell phone but my boss doesn't appreciate it. For me, the ability to have power when and where I need it is important. I also don't get to cache all that often so it is nice to be able to grab the GPSr after it's been sitting in the cache bag for 3 months and have the thing fire right up without having to remember to charge anything.

 

The 7x claim is well supported by extensive testing although YMMV. As peter pointed out, in the appropriate device they will seriously outperform alkaline cells. However, in the wrong application they won't perform as well. All these new GPSr units with the color screen seem to be power hogs which is where you will see the advantage of lithium. Put one in a wall clock or TV remote and you'll think they are junk. If you are using the lithiums just be sure to listen to your devices low battery alarm. Lithium will give you everything its got until its just about dead. Then the power curve drops dramatically. Be ready to change the batteries when you get the alarm. The lighter weight and cold weather performance are just gravy when compared to the longer life.

 

If you have the discipline to use rechargeable's, that's the way to go. You'll be dollars ahead in the long run. Hmmm, I wonder which brand of rechargeable I would recommend??? Usually you can find Lithium batteries for 2.5 to 3 times the price of alkalines. If you have a Sam's or BJ's membership, the price is even better. The price at Sam's seems to be the best. You can get a 12 pack for what you would pay for 8 in Wal-Mart or Target.

 

Good luck and happy cache hunting.

 

Keep Going

[CO-Zman]

Another thing for the NiMH users to consider. NiMH cells have a higher self-discharge rate (3-4% per day) than NiCd (1% per day) and obviously Alkalines and Lithium (5-10 year shelf life).

 

So, recharging Sunday nite after a sucessful weekend, and grabbin' 'n goin' the next Saturday morning may leave an unhappy surprise in your pocket ... of less than fully charged batteries

 

So, the smart earthfriendly battery user tops 'em during breakfast, and will carry an emergency set of alkalines (Drummin' bunnies, Copper-Tops, etc ... we're non-denominational here ) for a fun-filled, fully powered day.

 

Z

[+G & E]

Just to round out this topic, I have an observation on rechargables. I bought one of those standard Energizer 2500 mAh 7 hour rechargeable battery sets. I can't seem to get more than one days use out of them (say four hours - no light use) before the battery meter shows less than half charge left. Now to be fair, I haven't used them to the point of the GPS not working. For comparison I bought a couple of Panasonic 2300 mAh NiMH rechargeables and they last for several days of GPS use before the meter even shows a slight drop in charge. They did cost more than the Energizer but the difference is sure remarkable. I'm going to buy two more so I always have a set available. The Energizer's will find a new home in my seven year old's toothbrush.

 

Has anybody else noticed a difference in the quality of their rechargeable batteries?

[+Runaround]

Just to round out this topic, I have an observation on rechargables. I bought one of those standard Energizer 2500 mAh 7 hour rechargeable battery sets. I can't seem to get more than one days use out of them (say four hours - no light use) before the battery meter shows less than half charge left. Now to be fair, I haven't used them to the point of the GPS not working. For comparison I bought a couple of Panasonic 2300 mAh NiMH rechargeables and they last for several days of GPS use before the meter even shows a slight drop in charge. They did cost more than the Energizer but the difference is sure remarkable. I'm going to buy two more so I always have a set available. The Energizer's will find a new home in my seven year old's toothbrush.

 

Has anybody else noticed a difference in the quality of their rechargeable batteries?

 

It sounds like you might have a defective cell. It's rare but not unheard of in the rechargeable arena. Follow the Contact Us link on the Energizer Home Page and explain your problem. Customer service is very good at making people happy.

[peter]

All these new GPSr units with the color screen seem to be power hogs which is where you will see the advantage of lithium.

The color screens themselves use very little power, at least those in the newer Garmin models. They get significantly better battery life than the previous similar models with grayscale screens. Any unit will use more power when the backlight is left on much of the time, but my experience with the Garmin color models is that the backlight isn't needed in most outdoor conditions when it's reasonably bright out.

 

So if you're looking at a unit like the LegendCx that can run for about 30 hours on a pair of alkaline cells then it isn't drawing much current and the capacity advantage of the Energizer lithium-irondisulfide cells is fairly modest (usually less than 50% better). That's not enough to justify the much higher price unless you need the light weight or cold temperature advantages.