Acceptable power sources for logging device

[8086]

Hi all,

I am designing a small logging device, but at the moment I am torn about how to power it.

LiPo batteries have shipping difficulties but are rechargeable, Alkaline cells can be expensive and not rechargeable, but are readily available and no shipping issues...etc

I want to find out what forum users think about this - would it be acceptable to produce a device powered by AAA cells or would that be a deal-breaker?

Would it be acceptable to provide a charging circuit and connector for a LiPo battery, but not provide the battery, and instead tell the customer where they can obtain the battery from? For example sparkfun etc.

Or am I over-estimating the difficulty of shipping LiPo batteries, and it's not an issue at all?!

[lapm]

MOst postal services have rules regarding lipos. from time they still might catch fire now and then... Maybe you could have optional lipo power module for those that really want lipo. So basicly a logger that can be powered with alkaline cell or two and optional lipo power module...

[AndyC_772]

I'd say it depends on the intended use of the device, how long it's required to last between charges, how accessible it is and so on.

Can power be drawn from whatever is being monitored? Is there, say, a 12V dc supply available, or USB power, or a mains socket? Is the battery a must-have, or just a handy feature which some customers won't need at all?

More often than not, when I buy any new device, my heart sinks when I see that I have yet another charger and yet another battery to have to worry about. If I can stick some AA's in a device, then that's great, it's one fewer problem to contend with, and a guarantee that the product won't become useless once the original battery will no longer take a charge - which, inevitably, happens when the device is no longer in production and spares are no longer available (besides the inevitable no-name copies, of course).

On that subject, if anyone can point me towards a genuine spare battery for an Epson P-3000 photo viewer, I'd love to hear from you!

[richard.cs]

If you could make it use AA cells it would really help, they're better £/Joule and more common. Not that AAAs are rare but most people I know have drawers full of AAs but don't use AAA often enough to keep spares.

[Tinkerer]

In regards with what to use. If you can get away with using a widely available and common part, you should use that. Like mentioned, it depends on the usage though.

If you could make it use AA cells it would really help, they're better £/Joule and more common. Not that AAAs are rare but most people I know have drawers full of AAs but don't use AAA often enough to keep spares.

I must be the exception. We have loads of AAA batteries in the house yet never seem to have AA around.

In all honesty, AA and AAA are both readily available and common. Its just that AA is more commonly used in devices so there is a slightly higher chance people will have those laying around.