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I Hate Batteries

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engrguy42:
Wow, coppercone2, you mean they're even FAR more of a PITA than I thought???  :D

coppercone2:
It's a electrochemical reactor filled with caustics or flammables that lasts for 5-10 years that you buy for like 1.25, so yes

Good value, eliminates voltage regulators, low noise, small.. you can't hate on batteries. Also, watch out for brand name OEM stuff. Its better then Chaobang but still. Freebee batteries included with stuff have a surprise on the label, even if they look mostly good. Less QC etc.

The problem with cheap stuff is the time constants are so long, process variations occur (just look at Amazonbasics quality change!)... its hard to determine experimentally whats going on.. you need like frathernity knowledge, or pay for top5 brand.

Not to mention massive intrinsic safety on alkaline.

james_s:

--- Quote from: engrguy42 on April 07, 2020, 01:24:55 pm ---
--- Quote from: rdl on April 07, 2020, 12:49:14 pm ---For AA, AAA, and 9 volt, I switched to rechargeables a while back. I've saved hundreds of dollars so far. Enough to pay for the chargers and batteries many times over.

--- End quote ---

Good point. I did the same thing. So you need a stock of 3 types of rechargeable batteries, plus two chargers. Oh wait, you forgot the C and D cells for flashlights and R/C and other stuff. So that's 5 types. And more chargers. And remembering to keep them all in stock and charged. And do you have one of those battery powered drills? 

BTW, have you noticed how difficult it is to find AA/AAA/9V rechargeables in the supermarket?

The whole thing is a huge PITA.

--- End quote ---

You're doing it wrong.

Forget the supermarket, buy the batteries online ahead of when you need them. You need AA, AAA and 9V in most cases, C and D can be handled with adapters or you can buy alkaline C and D cells for the rare application that needs them. At least 95% of my needs are met with AA, AAA and 9V. I have an organizer tray in the desk drawer where I keep the stock of charged batteries, the charger lives on the desk and next to it is a dish in which to deposit batteries that need charging if the charger is already occupied. There's always a fresh stash in the drawer so whenever something needs them I grab a set and toss the drained ones in the charger. If I start to have too many in circulation to keep an adequate supply I simply order some more. It's a complete non-issue.

RC stuff is separate, I have a box of LiPo packs and the chargers I use for that stored in my gear bag that I haul to the field with me, I'd need all that stuff anyway and it's a lot less hassle than messing with glow fuel.

I also have some 18650s and a charger for those, again that's specialist stuff that meets a particular need.

Oh and I have 2 cordless drills, a reciprocating saw, circular saw and screw gun, I gave away my corded drill, I use my bigger corded circular saw when I need to cut something big. I've been shopping around planning to get a cordless electric string trimmer because dragging a cord around is a PITA and I got tired of messing with the gasoline powered one and gave that away.

I love batteries, I hate being tethered by wires. I've been using rechargeable batteries in everything for more than a decade now and don't have any of the troubles you complain about.

coppercone2:
And they are good because if you have them, you can make banks for different voltage rails and when you are done testing a circuit's power systems (i.e. your own PCB), you hook it up to batteries while you run analog/performance tests.. then if you like it, you can work on the mains, rechargable, etc power system (like most circuits have local regulation then you do pre regulation with a switcher, transformer/cap, etc). For low power stuff its good. You can turn off some supplies and get rid of some cabling dangling around and make it more mobile temporarily, even if your final solution is going to be mains powered. Bit of a luxury though, to use this method.. if you are good with crimps/adapters you can really clean things up, and reduce lab heat.

I.e. if you have RF equipment racks, and a complicated power system with many rails, it makes sense to test the basic stuff on a basic work bench then power it on batteries and then work on the advanced bench. In some cases. I sometimes feel like I am being stormed by dials and knobs and stuff for no reason, but I am not at the point where I want to make the mains part of a circuit.

I am focusing on lab use of batteries. Of course any power tool thats modern is usually better with batteries, even gardening equipment now, unless you are doing alot of work.. IMO. But you need good stuff.

engrguy42:
Wow, never thought there's actually a group of battery fanboys out there  :-DD

Especially ones who make long lists of the issues and annoyances with batteries, and then claim they're awesome  :-DD

Apologies. Here I thought with the wall outlet you just plug it in and it works, but with batteries it's a whole annoying management process and science project.

DOH!!!  :D

What was I thinking??

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