Batteries for flashlights, radios, etc.

I live in North Idaho, in the country so we keep flashlights handy due to power outages during the Winter or windstorms in Spring. Recently, I grabbed a flashlight for some reason and of course it didn't work. I checked it and the batteries had leaked...again. I checked all our lights and found 2 more had batteries that leaked. These are flashlights that have been sitting at room temperature, not in a garage or car where the temperature and humidity can deviate drastically. I also found that most our lights batteries were weak, even though they had not been used. Now, these batteries had not been in there that long, maybe 1 year maximum but probably less.

I got thinking about this and realized this has become a common theme and I think the cause is Costco Duracell batteries. I specifically say 'Costco' because I have purchased some CR123 Duracell batteries long ago (8+ years) and no leaks and they hold up fine. Also, got some that came with a flashlight which specifically stated on the battery 'not for resale' that been in the light at least 3-4 years, no problem but the Costco one...always having problems with leaking and holding its charge.

Question: Anyone else have problem with these batteries?

Question: What about using Energizer lithium Ultimate in flashlights? I've heard that even though they state 1.5v they are about 1.7v and my new LED Maglite states not to use lithium...probably okay for portable radio but a flashlight?

Question: Any battery recommendations? I'm going to try Eveready but thought I would ask...

EDIT: Yes, I have Eneloop batteries but their voltage is lower (1.3v) so not great for flashlights.

EDIT: Really interested in trying these Energizer Ultimate lithium batteries but as stated my Maglite instructions said 'don't use' but interested in people's experience with them, especially for flashlights, lanterns, etc.

 

They are simple Duracell AA alkaline batteries... They are sold at Costco in blister packs of 40. I have the same in C, D, and AAA from Costco and all of them seem to give the same result. Nothing special about them. Nevertheless, I'll try to hang one later when I get a moment.

What specifically are you looking for? The ones that leaked are gone, thrown away, if that was your interest.

 

Been trying to roll with re-chargeable AA's along with lights to go with the AA's
My camera's use 8 AA's at a pop. So this gets up there in coinage real fast.
8-AA battery's equal 12 volts, I'm working on a solar panel deal to keep my battery's hot!
Smaller solar panel just won't keep up so time for an upgrade of solar?

 

YUP, we bought a bunch of the "COSTCO" Duracell batteries and have had similar results, though mainly the AA and AAA sizes, but also a batch of the "C" size batteries went bad! No idea on shelf life, but I have had brand new flashlights ruined by these batteries, and that's seriously fucked up! I am a serious flash light guy, I carry at least two on my person at all times, so to have one or both go bad really pissed me off!! What's worse, is when the batteries go bad, they usually corrode the flashlight and then it never works again! I had one that I normally carried on my pocket, I would set it on the night stand and it would be ready to go should I need it, woke up one night and it was "ON" at it's full setting and VERY hot! It was so hot that I couldn't handle it so I grabbed it in a sock and tossed it out into the driveway. I stayed "ON" for a full day and the temps were stupid high,, after it finally ran down, I took it apart and the whole inside was coated in white powder/crystal stuff and smelled really foul, so I wrapped it in a used sammich baggy and pitched it in the trash! That light was NOT cheap. and as you could imagine, I was super pissed! SO, no more COSTCO batteries for us, and I have switched to rechargeables wherever I can, and use lithium in everything else, despite any warnings not to! My most favorite light, my headlight is a Harbor Freight Tools rechargeable and it's seriously bright, and lasts around an hour at full power, and because it's rechargeable, it's always ready to go and always at full power! I have also stopped buying expensive lights, especially the ones that take the CR-123 batteries, and have switched over to the cheaper Harbor Freight ones that take AA or AAA batteries, and use the Lithium in them! Battery life is OK, but they are spendy, and I'm always on the hunt for rechargeables to replace the lithium with, cause I HATE lithium and it's cost! Waiting to see if Graphene trickles down to the small sizes, that's what I run in ALL my Cars/Trucks/Airplanes and Equipment now, they are 100% safe to use, they hold a charge better then any other type, they run stable and cool, and re-charge faster then any other! Cranking amps are also way higher, and the best part, they are WAY Smaller and lighter, and you can Gang them in ether Series or Parallel to get insane levels of power! Case in point, My Super Cub needs a pretty stout battery to crank over it's Monster motor, nearly what one of my Diesels needs, the ONLY option was an AEROLITE Lithium battery that cost over a grand and weighed nearly what an old school Group 27 lead acid battery weighs, which is seriously no bueno, but with the Graphene, ONE battery is enough to crank my engine OK, but the size is about the same as a tablet, and weighs about 1 1/2 pound, so I ganged three of them together in Parallel, and now I have serious cranking power, serious reserve power, and it still weighs less then 5 pounds, to it's a no brainer for me, and the cost wasn't nearly as bad, and given the life expectancy, I can chew that a lot easier then all the other options! Because of that, I have switched everything over to Graphene batteries, and will never switch back, ever, all the advantages FAR outweigh the negatives!

 

@Ura-Ki Thanks! It's good to know that I am not the only one that have had this experience. Given what you said, I think I will try one of the Maglite flashlights with a lithium and see how it runs, figure it will either blow the LED or it won't. Yeah, I don't do expensive flashlights either as they seem to grow legs and walk away from me. The most expensive I do is a couple of Maglite, $25-$35. I will keep an eye out for graphene batteries in the future. Thanks!

 

On the advice of reading this thread , I went looking , Kirkland and the Duracell have puked within a year on my trail cams , lost 2 so far. Great post Gents !! The bunny is still fine and the other brand from home hardware is weak.
graphene batteries come in AA size ?

Sloth

 

The demise of Duracell batteries over the last decade is well documented online now. At one point they were paying compensation for destroyed/damaged devices. They have cost me more than a few quality lights and other devices. I have found them new in the packet on the shelf (in store) already leaking. Over the last five yrs or so I have almost completely transitioned all my gear (AA/AAA) to eneloops or eneloop-pro batteries. In CR123 size I have found a couple of workable brands of rechargeables but also need to watch the voltage on these. I converted a Surefire G3 with a new lamp to take the higher voltage after not being aware and popping the original on the first start .

 

Yep, I believe if I had something important, like a flashlight, that takes AA batteries, I'd stick with rechargeables. Or, at least, keep the batteries out of the flashlight, until needed. Yeah, it's a pain in the ass, but at least if they leak, you'll see it, and it won't ruin your equipment.

 

Forget dry cell where you can. I live with and love my flashlights that use 18650 Li batteries. Buy name brand cells and you will never be sorry! My Fenix TK22 has been going strong for almost 10 years with original set of 18650's. Real bright and not too big.

 

I have been disappointed with Grainger Duracell batteries. I buy a couple hundred a year for field panels and there are a lot of bad batches. Everready isn't much better. Maybe it's a shelf life problem.

 

On this side of the pond the have dates stamped on the batteries and so far dint have one leaking. A bigger problem is the faked ones and here in europe the big .com companies sell just anything. I replaced the heads of my old maglites with leds that work ok between voltages,never a burn out or weak light anymore. You do have to watch out for drained dry batteries and use protected lipo,s ,as the light stay bright all the way.

 

In the TV business we go through about a hundred AA batteries a month. Recharge aren't an option as they die suddenly due to their power curve. I have noticed over the last year or two that every brand we have tried leaks. I think discharge is a contributing factor as they keep fine before use but as soon as they are used a bit they will leak. We end up recycling a bunch of slightly used batteries because no one wants to be responsible for a piece of gear with corroded batteries.
I wish LiFePo4 batteries came in AA,AAA, and 9 volt size!

 

i keep my good battery lights and fans stored without batteries,
i have $1.00 led flashlights all over the house, ready to go or give away, any one of them will get me to a good light

 

I think you are correct, and I will transition to rechargeables. They might not last as long but at least they won't leak.

That's a strong recommendation! I will look into Fenix lights. Thanks!

 

I have a whole bunch of solar lights in the yard with rechargeable AA batteries. I'm going to start experimenting with using them as a pool to swap back and forth with charging the rechargeable batteries in my flashlights

 

From what I have been able to find, nobody in the battery business seems to know WHY the batteries are all failing, but I DO KNOW, it's the working load, the Newer electronics and especially the LED lights will draw WAY more Amps then the batteries were ever designed for, so the batteries cannot keep up and they fail!

I was actually able to test several last night after stewing on it for a while! Took several brand new singles and tested them with the amp meter and was quite surprised at just how much of a draw I was seeing, nearly double ( Some times WAY MORE the double) in some cases of what the batteries are rated for!

I ordered several Hobby Grade R/C Graphene batteries ( Not for my R/C racing) to try and dissemble the packs and see what and how they are made, i'm going to see if I can break them down small enough to be used on small flashlights and other devices and see how they do!

I got back into R/C car racing big time the last couple of years, we still have guys running NMih batteries as well as Lipo and L-ion and now Graphene, and the differences are really wild, My Awesomatix 800 is a seriously wild road machine, and on a good day I absolutely CRUSH the races, BUT, a couple of the guys that are still running NMih can really give me a run for my money, the advantage is "PUNCH" from the NMih batteries, even with half or less the Milliamps can still out punch my battery setup, making the cars quicker due to the way they can support the amp draw, and while Graphene is getting better and better every day, it's still no match for the old school NMih, even L-ion cannot match them, and those can put out some pretty impressive power! My ONLY advantage is weight, my chassis with battery loaded still has to be ballasted to minimums to qualify, which means I can put the weight exactly where I want it, so any big advantages the other guys have, I can match by being lighter and that makes me faster! DON'T get into R/C racing, it's seriously addictive and can be super spendy, BUT, once you do buy all the stuff, it's not very expensive at all to race, but you end up spending a bunch anyway, special tools, cool guy go fast parts, and other nifty things you don't really need, Kind of like fishing, most of the stuff you find katches fishermen, and not fish! LOL

 

I think @Ura-Ki just answered my question above! I have had zero Costco Duracell battery issues, but those get used in older electronics or wireless mice and keyboards and lanterns. Smoke detectors get Energizer Lithiums. All my new flashlights come with rechargeable batteries that use either mini USB, magnetic connectors or induction charging. I'm a stickler about doing my research on how well they and their batteries hold up. My older high output flashlights use CR123A batteries, but no longer get much use.

 

@Ura-Ki "... it's the working load, the Newer electronics and especially the LED lights will draw WAY more Amps then the batteries were ever designed for, so the batteries cannot keep up and they fail!"
You might be on to something here. In fact, I think you are because all my failures are with LED flashlights using these Duracell. I would imagine being extra current draw means extra heat and causes them to break down faster and leak.

@3M-TA3 "I have had zero Costco Duracell battery issues, but those get used in older electronics or wireless mice and keyboards and lanterns."
Bingo! You confirmed Ura-ki findings! Now, what I need to do is find some decent batteries for my flashlights (maybe just go to rechargeable eneloop and deal with shorter run times) and use all these packages of Duracell's for something else.

 

I've had really good results with Fenix rechargables and they have built in micro USB charging ports. One of my stocking stuffers last Christmas was a Fenix PD25R flashlight for everyone. Very bright, has different power settings, a strobe function and small enough that they actually get taken everywhere. The charging port can be accessed by unscrewing a sleeve on the flashlight body that keeps out water and debris when screwed back in place.