General > General Technical Chat
Electrical Appliance Brands You Would Never Buy Again
<< < (12/21) > >>
SilverSolder:

--- Quote from: Veteran68 on January 13, 2020, 04:14:58 am ---
--- Quote from: E-Design on January 12, 2020, 08:40:08 pm ---Duracell brand batteries - these days, they have a high chance of leaking.

--- End quote ---

Some of the best off-shelf batteries these days are the Kirkland branded batteries from Costco. Reviews have shown them to hold up as good or better than the major brands. I'm on a 72-count box of the Kirkland AA's now, so far so good.

--- End quote ---

Kirkland batteries are apparently made by Duracell.  I can confirm from personal experience that the Kirklands can leak like a very leaky thing (unused, in a drawer) after a couple of years.
james_s:

--- Quote from: Veteran68 on January 13, 2020, 04:14:58 am ---
--- Quote from: E-Design on January 12, 2020, 08:40:08 pm ---Duracell brand batteries - these days, they have a high chance of leaking.

--- End quote ---

Agreed! Duracell used to be my go-to brand, but they leak everywhere now. Energizers seem to leak more now too, so I've been on a mission to find other brands.

Some of the best off-shelf batteries these days are the Kirkland branded batteries from Costco. Reviews have shown them to hold up as good or better than the major brands. I'm on a 72-count box of the Kirkland AA's now, so far so good.

AC Delco branded batteries were also highly rated. I've gone through a 50-pack of their AA's and never had a leak.

--- End quote ---

I haven't bought disposable AA batteries in years now. LSD NiMH have gotten really good, I have Eneloop, Fujitsu and some of the Japanese made Amazon branded cells and have not had a single failure or leak since I started buying them almost a decade ago. Alkaline AAs are obsolete IMHO.
Brutte:

--- Quote from: AndyC_772 on January 12, 2020, 07:56:32 am ---A couple of months ago our washing machine died. (Miele, 13 years old).
(..)
I ended up with a new Miele, £900 with a 10 year warranty = £90/yr and a fair chance that it won't break in that time and have to be scrapped.

--- End quote ---

So you made an assumption that durability == warranty length. Interesting but not very common approach, I am afraid we are not there yet. With progress, this equation becomes a limit case as manufacturers are better and better with estimating when appliance breaks and maximizing profit. Of course this always comes with some random factor but the ultimate goal (perfect design) is the one where all components fail a day after warranty period is over.
Veteran68:

--- Quote from: SilverSolder on January 13, 2020, 02:13:49 pm ---Kirkland batteries are apparently made by Duracell.  I can confirm from personal experience that the Kirklands can leak like a very leaky thing (unused, in a drawer) after a couple of years.

--- End quote ---

Interesting. I'd read some thorough testing of alkaline battery performance a year or two ago and Kirkland were one of the highest rated (if not the highest), well above Duracell, so it didn't seem like they shared the same chemistry or construction at all. I'm about 1/3 through this 72-pack that I've had for about a year and no sign yet of leakage, but I'll keep an eye out.
Veteran68:

--- Quote from: james_s on January 13, 2020, 02:23:39 pm ---I haven't bought disposable AA batteries in years now. LSD NiMH have gotten really good, I have Eneloop, Fujitsu and some of the Japanese made Amazon branded cells and have not had a single failure or leak since I started buying them almost a decade ago. Alkaline AAs are obsolete IMHO.

--- End quote ---

I used to be a die-hard rechargeable fan too, and went years without buying disposable alkalines. I have a collection of Eneloop, Energizer, and some Chinesium generic NiMH. But it became a chore over time to ensure I had charged ones on hand and ready. Especially for the wife. When she manage to find charged batteries, she'd never put the dead ones in a charger, so when I needed a battery I'd have none charged. So I kept alkalines on hand for her to grab when I wasn't around, and then I gradually just started using them myself out of convenience.

Also rechargeables can't handle the voltage/current loads that alkalines do, which rarely but occasionally causes an issue with devices with tight operating specs or high drain. My DSLR flash unit, for example, specifically states NOT to use rechargeable batteries, and only alkalines.
Navigation
Message Index
Next page
Previous page
There was an error while thanking
Thanking...

Go to full version
Powered by SMFPacks Advanced Attachments Uploader Mod