Consumer Products
2008-12-31 10:43:00
Difference between batteries
Question: What’s the difference between batteries?
Answer: If you notice you can buy some AA batteries at the local bargain store. They look like Duracell but cost much less. Duracells cost around $1.50 each and these “generic” batteries cost around 10 cents each. The trouble is you probably won’t feel like your getting any value from these batteries as you’ll find yourself changing them within minutes after you put them into a device.
Batteries (the correct term is “cell”, but who uses the correct term) have to have a few characteristics.
• They have to be of a certain size so they fit the device
• They have to produce a certain voltage (1.5 volts)
• They have to deliver power.
It’s obvious that the cheapies are falling down in the third aspect -- they can’t deliver enough power to make it worth using them.
The irony is that some applications don’t need the cells to deliver much power. Some remote controls, for example, run quite well on cheap cells. However, it’s still not worth using them because a good set of alkaline cells will probably last a few years in the remote control, while the cheapies will go flat simply because of self-discharge. That is, they go flat even if they aren’t used. That’s also known as the shelf life. (Some cheap batteries are already half-flat by the time you buy them.)
The chemicals used and the amount of chemicals used will differ greatly from a quality battery to a real cheap one. The general rule of thumb is to avoid the no-name brands unless you know that they’re okay. Another rule is that all alkaline batteries (cells) tend to be of good quality.
