Batteries... what brands do you favor?

[xevious]

These days, a majority of batteries are made in China. I wouldn't be surprised if it was one HUGE factory that makes the same battery for most brands and just puts brand specific stamps and packaging on them.

Anyway, there are cheap terribly made batteries and of course high quality control vetted mainstream brands. Are the brand recognized batteries pretty much all the same, in your experience? Or have you settled on one brand and buy it most of the time?

I did a little reading up on Renata... they are indeed made in a Switzerland based plant. I've used them before and so far no issues. I haven't tried Energizer button cells, but the brand is certainly well respected in mainstream battery sizes.

[Huertecilla]

Concerning batteries the issue is not óne aspect.
A general point is environmental consciousness. This apllies to all batteries, not just watch batteries.
- Lead/acid still is a huge issue and should only be bought from environmenatally conscious sources. The cost/risc of the quality of the product in the car is not so critical.
- Normal alkalide bateries are no environmental hazarsd when meeting US / EC norms. They are also of low concern in the product.
- Watch batteries are by and large very toxic ánd a big risc in the product as a leaking 50 cents battery can ruin a 500$ watch.

I this buy only quality batteries fron known environmentally conscious sources. I will happily pay a few dollars more. That is peanuts for two big differences.

Swiss Renata is one good source.

Seiko batteries too are an environmetally conscious in house product.

http://www.sii.co.jp/components/battery/topEN.jsp

Varta batteries are ditto. Especially on this forum we should know about Varta as they have been the Synchronar power source for 40 years now.

http://www.varta-microbattery.com/index.php

I prefer Varta with Seiko second (first for Seiko watches) and Renata third.
I will not use no-brand.

[rewolf]

For silver oxide (AgO) I use only Varta, they are the most easy to get quility brand here.
Alkalines I don't use.
For Lithium coin cells Varta, Renata, Panasonic.

Fingers off no name cells - I've seen leaked ones in the original package after 3 years...

[retroleds]

My vote is for Renata. I have found very few of them leaked in watches I have - I expect batteries in non-functional watches to be dead and therefor leaking due to the chemical changes. The claimed amperage of the Renatas is 15-25% higher than many of the same size Maxell or Energizers. Alkalines shouldn't even be considered, their voltage falls on a steady descent, which is irritating and bothersome in a digital watch. Silver oxides hold their voltage much higher until close to the end, then plummet quickly and grac efully[hopefully].

All expired batteries I get are processed in an environmentally sound fashion. On my workbench I keep an empty 8 oz plastic bottle(water) and drop the old batteries in. The bottles go to a box in the garage. The box goes to a recycling center where the batteries are supposedly crushed and the various metals and chemical are seperated and hopefully rendered less toxic. I said "supposedly" as you never know - I was disheartened to learn that the plastic trash I dutifully seperate, and which is carted off by a different garbage truck, is often dumped into the landfill. Seems when the price of oil dips, recycling plastic is not worthwhile, at any [monetary]price. Obviously the environmental price always has to be paid.

[LEDluvr]

I usually use Maxell - especially for the coin batteries - and I use Energizer button cell batteries.
I have not had any problems with these batteries leaking. There is a local watch repair guy that will sell them to me cheap and these are the brands he normally carries, though I have used Renata and Varta before- excellent batteries. I go with Silver Oxide batts for LED's and Alkaline's for LCD's. I give my old batteries to the repair shop and he disposes of them properly.

[xevious]

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

[abem]

Batteries are one area where I don't miss the bad old days one tiny bit.

When I was a kid (30+ years ago), you could pretty much count on your batteries eventually leaking and ruining your favorite watch, beloved electric toy, cherished electric game, etc. Even if you were hyper-vigilant, the batteries almost always got you in the end. The only good thing you could say was that they were a Buddhist style lesson in non-attachment and transience.

These days, I think leaking is pretty rare, even if the batteries are left in the device way longer than the life of the battery. I don't know if people have noticed any brand differences, but it seems that all brands are 1000 times better than the best brands of 20 or 30 years ago.

-abe.

[fannychou]

i vote Renata

[retroleds]

These days, I think leaking is pretty rare, even if the batteries are left in the device way longer than the life of the battery. I don't know if people have noticed any brand differences, but it seems that all brands are 1000 times better than the best brands of 20 or 30 years ago.

-abe.

I'd agree, much better. I think most of it is battery chemistry changes...20-30 years ago almost all battery technologies were based on strong acids(ph down), which changed to heavily basic(ph up) as they discharged, making the contents hard to contain and very likely to foam or expand. Alkaline and ion-exchange technologies don't change PH as nearly as much as they charge/discharge, making the container more likely to do it's job under all conditions. If you really want hedge your bet a little more, always store your watches with the face straight up. Then your downward [negative toward module] battery can puke on itself and mainly destroy the battery clip. Battery clips can be replaced, modules are a little more troublesome.

[bruce wegmann]

After the first year of collecting, I settled on the Renata brand. I also did find a local source for them that gave me fantastic bulk rate prices. With nearly 300 watches to feed, value and reliability is everything (haven't had a "leaker" yet).