Author Topic: good 9V battery  (Read 11427 times)

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Offline Alex EisenhutTopic starter

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good 9V battery
« on: March 25, 2017, 01:13:15 pm »
 :palm:

I can't believe that in the 21st century we are unable to build a 9V battery that lasts more than a few months in a DMM.

I avoid Duracell because of their proven track record of dismal failure. So I bought a store brand alkaline 9V here in Montreal, it's the brand of a big chain pharmacy. It's usually good stuff.

This morning the DMM was dead. I took the battery out and measured with my analog meter and it's 0V. Flat line. Took the battery apart and it's 6 x 1.5V cells and they're all covered in white corrosion.  >:(

We're talking 6 months here, with very little use.

Is there a known good brand?
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Offline LaserSteve

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Re: good 9V battery
« Reply #1 on: March 25, 2017, 01:28:23 pm »
Procell
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Offline BravoV

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Re: good 9V battery
« Reply #2 on: March 25, 2017, 01:29:32 pm »
Panasonic
 
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Offline RoGeorge

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Re: good 9V battery
« Reply #3 on: March 25, 2017, 01:37:57 pm »
I am using 9V NiMH rechargeable for one of the DMMs. Look for the "Low Self Discharge" ones. They can stay charged for many months, maybe years. I have 2 of them, one in the DMM, one as backup. The price was about 2-3 times more then an alkaline, but I already have them for more then 2-3 years now. A charger is not mandatory to buy, they can be charged with a simple voltage source series with a resistor (charge for 7hr at 40mA). Bought them from LIDL supermarket.

The brand is Tronic, and they look like that:
https://www.lidl.de/de/tronic-ready-to-use-ni-mh-akkus/p205708

Offline amitchell

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Re: good 9V battery
« Reply #4 on: March 25, 2017, 01:57:44 pm »
 

Offline Seekonk

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Re: good 9V battery
« Reply #5 on: March 25, 2017, 04:14:11 pm »
I took apart a dead one the other day just to get the 9V terminal I was surprised to see the top of the battery covered in a waxy material. One of the contacts just had a pointy crown to it.  The press of the battery case was supposed to make the contact.
 

Offline Conrad Hoffman

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Re: good 9V battery
« Reply #6 on: March 25, 2017, 05:26:15 pm »
Alkaline batteries will leak if discharged, so get 'em out the minute they're drained. What's the current draw of the meter? Does it go into sleep mode? My Fluke will go for years on a single battery of any brand and I use it almost every day.
 

Offline IanB

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Re: good 9V battery
« Reply #7 on: March 25, 2017, 05:37:46 pm »
:palm:

I can't believe that in the 21st century we are unable to build a 9V battery that lasts more than a few months in a DMM.

I avoid Duracell because of their proven track record of dismal failure. So I bought a store brand alkaline 9V here in Montreal, it's the brand of a big chain pharmacy. It's usually good stuff.

This morning the DMM was dead. I took the battery out and measured with my analog meter and it's 0V. Flat line. Took the battery apart and it's 6 x 1.5V cells and they're all covered in white corrosion.  >:(

We're talking 6 months here, with very little use.

Is there a known good brand?

Of course we are able to build a 9 V battery that lasts more than a few months. My RadioShack 22-812 meters take a 9 V battery and the same battery will operate the meter for 2-3 years of intermittent use with no trouble at all.

You need to ask not about the battery, but about the meter.

What meter is it?

What is the quiescent battery drain when the meter is switched off? Have you measured it?

Does the meter have a soft power switch or a physical one? Soft or standby power off switches continue to drain the battery.

How much are you using the meter over the six months? Are you using it a lot, or is it just sitting on a shelf?

Usually, when there is excessive battery drain it is not the battery that is at fault.
 

Offline retiredcaps

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Re: good 9V battery
« Reply #8 on: March 25, 2017, 05:42:12 pm »
I'm also curious what make and model multimeter you have.

Some earlier generations of the Fluke 170 series multimeter had a problem and drained the battery.  See

http://www.antiqueradios.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=264761
« Last Edit: March 25, 2017, 05:48:45 pm by retiredcaps »
 

Offline Audioguru

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Re: good 9V battery
« Reply #9 on: March 26, 2017, 02:37:44 am »
My Fluke 79III goes for many years when used daily with an Energizer 9V alkaline battery, not a no-name-brand (Chinese?) battery that was sitting in a drug store for years.
The Fluke turns itself off when it detects a long pause.
 

Offline tooki

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Re: good 9V battery
« Reply #10 on: March 26, 2017, 12:27:08 pm »
I can't believe that in the 21st century we are unable to build a 9V battery that lasts more than a few months in a DMM.

[...]

Is there a known good brand?
I'm gonna agree with the others here who place the blame on the meter, not the battery.

My Fluke 87V that I bought two years ago is still on the Energizer battery it shipped with.

As for brands, I've pretty much completely switched to IKEA alkaline batteries. They used to be made by Varta, though they no longer carry any OEM info. But they seem to work well, and they're a fraction of the cost of name-brand alkalines. So even if they only lasted half as long they'd still be far cheaper, but I haven't found any perfomance issues with them at all. .
 

Offline ali6x944

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Re: good 9V battery
« Reply #11 on: March 26, 2017, 01:00:05 pm »
I generally try to avoid the use of alkali cells because of their  horrible leakage and crystallization problems...
So I would rather use a rechargeable battery or carbon-zinc battery aka heavy duty batteries because they are less prone to those problems and for carbon-zinc batteries they are much cheaper that alkaline batteries.
But it must be noted that the average capacity of the carbon-zinc batteries is a fraction of the poorest preforming alkaline...
A good source of info in this subject is this website:
http://rightbattery.com
 

Offline Jester

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Re: good 9V battery
« Reply #12 on: March 26, 2017, 01:24:56 pm »
My early 90's Fluke 87 eats batteries for lunch (every 3 months or so). I rarely use it because I have multiple 34401's on the bench and it seems like every time I do power up the 87 it needs a battery.
 

Offline Audioguru

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Re: good 9V battery
« Reply #13 on: March 26, 2017, 02:34:29 pm »
I notice that Duracell and Energizer cylindrical No-MH rechargeable batteries are both made in Japan (maybe by Panasonic/Sanyo?) and Energizer 9V alkaline batteries are made in Germany (by Varta?).
 

Online tggzzz

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Re: good 9V battery
« Reply #14 on: March 26, 2017, 02:47:06 pm »
:palm:

I can't believe that in the 21st century we are unable to build a 9V battery that lasts more than a few months in a DMM.

I avoid Duracell because of their proven track record of dismal failure. So I bought a store brand alkaline 9V here in Montreal, it's the brand of a big chain pharmacy. It's usually good stuff.

This morning the DMM was dead. I took the battery out and measured with my analog meter and it's 0V. Flat line. Took the battery apart and it's 6 x 1.5V cells and they're all covered in white corrosion.  >:(

We're talking 6 months here, with very little use.

Is there a known good brand?

Think a minute. Is there any other reason that a battery could be drained unacceptably quickly? If so, why have you discounted the other reason?
There are lies, damned lies, statistics - and ADC/DAC specs.
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Offline tooki

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Re: good 9V battery
« Reply #15 on: March 26, 2017, 04:06:48 pm »
I generally try to avoid the use of alkali cells because of their  horrible leakage and crystallization problems...
So I would rather use a rechargeable battery or carbon-zinc battery aka heavy duty batteries because they are less prone to those problems and for carbon-zinc batteries they are much cheaper that alkaline batteries.
But it must be noted that the average capacity of the carbon-zinc batteries is a fraction of the poorest preforming alkaline...
A good source of info in this subject is this website:
http://rightbattery.com
Alkaline batteries leak when deep-discharged (And even then, not all brands leak as often. Duracell is the worst in this regard.). As long as you remove them when empty, they're fine.
 
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Offline edavid

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Re: good 9V battery
« Reply #16 on: March 26, 2017, 04:29:24 pm »
Maybe this is worth a try 2 x 600mAh lithium rechargeable with charger:

https://www.amazon.com/EBL%C2%AE-Battery-Charger-Rechargeable-Batteries/dp/B00EY6BZWS/tag=metaefficient-20?th=1

The EBL lithium batteries are great.  I have 10 of them, and they all meet or exceed the rated 600mAh capacity.  If you buy them on eBay, you can get them for $2-3 each.
 

Offline retiredcaps

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Re: good 9V battery
« Reply #17 on: March 26, 2017, 05:36:59 pm »
My early 90's Fluke 87 eats batteries for lunch (every 3 months or so).
@Jester,

If you would like help troubleshooting this, start a new thread and I can offer suggestions on why this may be happening.  The Fluke 80 series I should be drawing around 9uA when the rotary switch is in the off position.

See

http://mrmodemhead.com/blog/fluke-83-dmm-repair/
 

Offline ali6x944

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Re: good 9V battery
« Reply #18 on: March 26, 2017, 08:41:06 pm »
I generally try to avoid the use of alkali cells because of their  horrible leakage and crystallization problems...
So I would rather use a rechargeable battery or carbon-zinc battery aka heavy duty batteries because they are less prone to those problems and for carbon-zinc batteries they are much cheaper that alkaline batteries.
But it must be noted that the average capacity of the carbon-zinc batteries is a fraction of the poorest preforming alkaline...
A good source of info in this subject is this website:
http://rightbattery.com
Alkaline batteries leak when deep-discharged (And even then, not all brands leak as often. Duracell is the worst in this regard.). As long as you remove them when empty, they're fine.
sadly enough it is true, the most expensive leak the most!!!
also how could Alkaline batteries leak? I mean why do they leak? what chemicals inside the cell could cause the leak?
I know it is NH4Cl that dissolves away the Zn casing in Carbon-Zinc batteries, that's way the old batteries used to leak...
but now it is some what leak resistant, I have not seen a catastrophically leaking carbon-zinc batteries in my life, especially because Panasonic batteries are well belt :)
 

Offline Andreas

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Re: good 9V battery
« Reply #19 on: March 26, 2017, 08:56:08 pm »

The EBL lithium batteries are great.  I have 10 of them, and they all meet or exceed the rated 600mAh capacity.  If you buy them on eBay, you can get them for $2-3 each.

What output voltage do they have? (do not find a datasheet).
2 cells so 6-8.4 V or more?

with best regards

Andreas
 

Offline edavid

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Re: good 9V battery
« Reply #20 on: March 26, 2017, 09:08:47 pm »

The EBL lithium batteries are great.  I have 10 of them, and they all meet or exceed the rated 600mAh capacity.  If you buy them on eBay, you can get them for $2-3 each.

What output voltage do they have? (do not find a datasheet).
2 cells so 6-8.4 V or more?

8.4-8.5V charged, 6.0V cutoff
 
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Offline IanB

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Re: good 9V battery
« Reply #21 on: March 26, 2017, 11:17:56 pm »
also how could Alkaline batteries leak? I mean why do they leak? what chemicals inside the cell could cause the leak?

Under certain circumstances chemical reactions inside an alkaline cell can produce gas bubbles which pressurize the inside of the cell and force electrolyte out through the seals.

Zinc chloride cells do not produce gas bubbles in the same way, so as long as the cell or battery is contained within a sealed outer shell it will not generally leak.
 
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Offline StillTrying

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Re: good 9V battery
« Reply #22 on: March 26, 2017, 11:43:02 pm »
I was going to buy a few EBL lithium batteries, if most of their running voltage is only about 7.2V ( 2x3.6 ) I'm glad I didn't now!
I settled for 250mAh long shelf life Ni-Mh from 7dayshop.com which are fine - so far.
« Last Edit: March 26, 2017, 11:45:06 pm by StillTrying »
.  That took much longer than I thought it would.
 

Offline Prehistoricman

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Re: good 9V battery
« Reply #23 on: March 27, 2017, 01:08:27 am »
A lot of 9V batteries have 6 AAAA batteries inside. I took one apart and was transporting this string of small cells when one exploded out of my hand! I'd prefer them to leak slowly rather than quickly.

It was probably a Duracell.

Offline edavid

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Re: good 9V battery
« Reply #24 on: March 27, 2017, 01:24:21 am »
I was going to buy a few EBL lithium batteries, if most of their running voltage is only about 7.2V ( 2x3.6 ) I'm glad I didn't now!
I settled for 250mAh long shelf life Ni-Mh from 7dayshop.com which are fine - so far.

I think that if you compare to a 6 cell NiMH battery, the EBL lithium will always have a higher voltage during discharge...
 


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