Using Single-Battery Flashlights to Extract ALL the Power from AA and AAA Batteries
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 ก.ค. 2024
- I have a whole bunch of clocks which use AA and AAA batteries. I also have many other gadgets which use them. And the kids have a bunch of toys which use them. I like to use Japan-made rechargeable batteries in many of my gadgets but I tend to prefer Alkaline batteries in my clocks. The best low-self-discharge rechargeable batteries seem to be the ones made in Japan, including Eneloop batteries or the LADDA batteries I’ve been buying at IKEA.
Sometimes I find myself with a handful of half-used batteries which aren’t useful in most of my gadgets. And I suspect that a lot of you folks out there might have “junk drawers” full of batteries with unknown levels of power remaining. Well, let’s do something with those batteries. My favorite thing to do is to use them in LED flashlights and then keep those flashlights turned on for as long as I want. If the batteries run dry I seem to always have more standing by.
My favorite new flashlights are a model I found which uses just one AAA battery and another which uses just one AA battery. This makes it very easy to use and discard half-spent batteries one at a time. And the flashlights are so small that they’re easy to keep in my pocket on a regular basis.
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I tested 100 batteries today and kept all the way down to 1.25 volts. Then I wondered what they would be good in. I searched the internet and found you! You and I are exactly on the same page. I knew a flashlight would be good because you can run them to zero volts. Believe i or not I have 500 more to test. But I wasn't sure what else. So we completely agree. Three things to add: The people who test things for a living on You Tube concluded that the best value on alkalines in America is the Dollar Tree. You get 4 alkalines in the package and most alkaline are pretty similar. A second alternative would be to buy one of those 3 section battery boxes and get you 3 volts to an external project. Finally, I used 3 or 4 meters today including a rather expensive one. They variated. All but one too high. The expensive meter had a battery at 1.67 volts. I had a very nice $18 meter ace the voltages. Chemistry sets the voltages. Carbon-Zinc and Alkaline cannot exceed 1.5 volts (or close). Your meter is off if you got 1.6 volts. You might consider an analog. Anyway, good video; you were just what I was looking for.
These videos are oddly comforting...
Very nice!
I did not mean to watch the entire video, but I ended up listening to it all - and getting back to the video every now and then while searching for what has brought me here in the first place.
It is, indeed, annoying to throw something away which can still be used.
When my batteries get empty, I put them in a charger for a few minutes, then back into a flashlight of some sort. I do that repeatedly, until the batteries eventually burst. Only then do I throw them away.
I use weak double AA batteries in 2 of my battery powered wall clocks. They work for months.
Always interesting Greg!
Rangeman 👌
Can anything stop power-hungry Greg Anderson? Jk, thanks for the video!
If we get a power cut, I'm comeing to your house lol
I have a flashlight addiction
Great video Greg! We use loads of batteries, especially for our back garden, because we have it lit up every single night of the year. We change the look and the colours in the garden three, or sometimes four times a year depending on what lights and what trees we have at the time, so that we always enjoy them and do not get bored. It’s lovely sitting in the garden in the evening, and it’s lovely sitting indoors and seeing the garden lit up through the windows. We very quickly started using rechargeable batteries to save money. We have some lights and trees that use rechargeable batteries, so we keep a container for those and three/four battery chargers to charge them. We also have solar powered lights and solar powered trees for our garden, which has reduced the amount of battery chargers that we used to have running at the same time. We always replace the rechargeable batteries that come with the lights and trees we have bought, with better ones so that they last a lot longer. The cheap rechargeable batteries that we replaced are then used in torches that we keep in specific places around our home for when we get power cuts. Any spare rechargeable batteries are always kept in containers next to the battery chargers.
Good tip. I use my half dead AAs in my Logitech mouse. They last for weeks.
All battery manufacturers produce charts showing the discharge curve of their batteries at various loads and temperatures. If you can get a reasonably accurate measure of the battery voltage, checking the chart will generally allow a decent estimate to be made of how much power is left. As batteries discharge, the internal resistance tends to rise and this means that the battery is unable to properly power high current draw devices but will be able to continue to work for quite some time more in a clock or something that doesn’t draw much power. Metal Nickel hydride and Nickel Cadmium batteries have a typical voltage of only 1.2 volts throughout their discharge range. This may not be high enough to power voltage sensitive devices, even though the battery could provide enough current. Bright LED torches tend to draw a fair amount of current, so using part used batteries may not work to well. Lithium ion batteries are now available in AA size and they use a mini voltage converter to provide 1.5 volts throughout their discharge range. Typically these batteries are recharged from a standard USB charger, so can be quite convenient. Single use Lithium batteries have a 10 year storage life and at least twice the capacity of a typical alkaline battery. Expensive, but worth using in freezing conditions or where it is vital that a bit of equipment works in an emergency.
As always a pleasure listening to you.
What does throw away a battery mean? I always leave my used batteries at a civic amenity site (CA site)/ household waste recycling centre (HWRC) (Återvinningsstation) or a Transfer station (waste management) (Återvinningscentral).
The swedish word (att) ladda means (to) charge. Nice to see some rechargable "swedish" batteries. IKEA = Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd (funny to read about Kamprad's modest lifestyle).
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I put a rechargable AA-battery in the RC clock but after a few days it stopped working properly. The battery had ~1.3 Volt, or maybe lower, changed to a E:zer Ult. Li., ~1.8 Volt, and since then the clock's working well.
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Maybe more than one viewer is interesting in "Today's Outfit" (the watches you're wearing in the videos specified).
I encourage everyone to dispose of batteries responsibly. The specifics of how to do this may be different in various parts of the world and dependent on which type of battery. And I just love to use rechargeable batteries when I can. Like you observed, they’re not always the best choice in clocks. I’m really glad I can let my kids use as many batteries as they want because they are rechargeable.
I like the lumentop tool. It’s a nice light.
Might be a good idea to make your own containers and put 1 or 2 extra (semi-used) batteries to the same light thing. I was a bit amazed about some DIY circuits that we can make at home. Mobile phone batteries can also be used for various tasks, if they have some security built in for overcharging and turning off. If you are careful about the specs then you can make wires to the battery compartments and use power outlets and chargers/solar panels as well.
Come on Greg stop putting both of your fingers on the end of the batteries draining then is driving me mad
Only a niggle for me also plastic tweezers to insert watch batteries
Great videos keep it up