Don't buy cheap batteries.

[retroleds]

Don't fall for people selling repackaged name brand cells in multi packs online - Duracell,Renata and other top names NEVER allow their stuff to be repackaged. Those discount batteries are generally far beyond their good date. Basic chemistry(Pop.Science just covered this topic recently) tells us that as batteries drain, they go from alkaline to acidic(or vis-a-vis, as the case may be), and THAT is when they leak into your expensive timepiece. The leakage is normal and inevitable....otherwise they would puff up and burst. YUUKKKKYYY - battery guts everywhere! I had a client telling me how he had bought such a loser batch of watches(of course he doesn't have a tester,cheap &^(&*&! ) - turns out 2/3 of his "brand new" batteries were dead or marginal at best. Even if an old battery still shows as having the right voltage, they may quickly loss power under a load, leading to the above scenario in just a few short weeks, after they die.

[Seer Taak]

Just to be clear, how do you tell if it's repackaged, out of date, branded goods? I do buy batteries online, as it's a lot less expensive, but they come individually sealed, and in their little, brand labeled, boxes of 10, and are aparrently within their packet sell by date. These are ok aren't they?

[Majestyk]

Just to be clear, how do you tell if it's repackaged, out of date, branded goods? I do buy batteries online, as it's a lot less expensive, but they come individually sealed, and in their little, brand labeled, boxes of 10, and are aparrently within their packet sell by date.

I buy these too and there is nothing wrong with them. I put them in all the LED watches in my collection and I never have problems with them. Silver Oxides are better but aren't necessary. The only ones I have found sub par in the past are the ones with brass colored negative sides. I don't know why that is but I haven't seen these around in awhile anyway.

MJ

[retroleds]

If you buy a no-name blister pack of batteries, and it contains a mix of name brand batteries, they are repackaged and "probably" older stock. Think about it, why would Duracell or any other large company spend millions on advertising, just to have people sell their batteries off at a discount. My experience has been they are declining in power, if not dead. 3 month of power at 1/2 or 1/4 the price is not worth it, IMHO. Once a battery is dead is when it becomes dangerous to your timepiece -not before. And a reduced window of time increases the chance that you will neglect to remove the dead ones....even collectors have their time periods(summer,holidays,etc.) when they may not "fiddle" with their collection.

[h00hbt]

Where does this put the Synchronar watch? if one keeps the watch in a dark place and the batteries run down could this become a problem and does this mean that it?s better to keep the batteries charged at all times.

/H

[rewolf]

The Synchronar uses rechargeable batteries (NiCd). These (as well as NiMH) ore best stored fully charged. They don't like it at all to become deepy discharged.

OTOH, LiIon batteries (mobile phone, notebook computer) are best stored at 50% charge - they can irreversibly lose 30% of their capacity in one year if stored 100% charged.

[retroleds]

Good question h00hbt. I have two Pulsar Solar's and they use a fairly expensive rechargeable batteries. I'll try to research this a little on the rechargeables and report back. I think many of us know that for old-style Ni-Cad type rechargeables, you need to run them down completely every few run periods, otherwise they develope a chemical "memory" which limits their run time to about the average run between charges. Ni-MH batteries don't have this, and Lithium-Ion's are a third variable. An important question for all of us. I suspect that rechargeable aren't as liable to leak when discharged, since they are intended to have a life full of fluctuation...but I'll not make any assumptions on that one without further research. Good weekend and God Bless to all here. I Love this forum!

[retroleds]

I'll agree NiCd's should be stored charged...I'll (respectfully)disagree that deep-cycling them is disadventageous to their longevity. NiMh are different - no deep-cycle needed. People have been deep-cycling their NiCads since the 70's?

[bruce wegmann]

I've been really lucky to find a local outlet for all types of button cells. I like to keep my LEDs running, and with more than a hundred [and counting], at $2 a cell, that would get prohibitively expensive. I can buy a hundred factory-fresh Renata 357s for about $70, and with limited use they last between 1 1/2 and 2 years. Eveready and Duracell are OK too, but all other factors being equal, I will go for the Swiss-made product; I have never had a premature failure with this brand.

[rewolf]

I'll agree NiCd's should be stored charged...I'll (respectfully)disagree that deep-cycling them is disadventageous to their longevity. NiMh are different - no deep-cycle needed. People have been deep-cycling their NiCads since the 70's?

Yep, absolutely right, NiCds even HAVE to be deep-cycled to maintain full capacity. What I actually wanted to say was they just don't like being STORED in this state for longer periods.
@bruce: Renata is also my preferred brand. The have a very good technical support. E.g. for a project we needed discharge-curves of one of their LiIon rechargeables at temperatures well below 0?C at a specific discharge current - they ran the tests for us and 2 days later we had the results. Almost couldn't believe it.

[fronzelneekburm]

I use NiCads for my airsoft guns and I was told by an RC pro that these should be charged around 70% if you plan to store them for longer periods. He told me that nicads can take damage or even get destroyed when you store them totally empty.

[retroleds]

Fronz: I'd agree on not storing them dead..but the manufacturers and others have recommended deep-cycling(running down close to dead) Ni-Cads every few uses, as they do have a usage "memory". That is: if you use for 5 minutes and then recharge,consistently - they'll only hold slightly over a five minute charge.

[mauricev]

@bruce: Renata is also my preferred brand.

Check out the last two posts at

http://pocketcalculatorshow.com/groupee ... 8410338111

Well it was a question asked to my helpful watch guy, his response???
A japaneese battery will not leak, swiss batteries are more prone to leaking.

and...

that's been our experience. i can't remember one instance when a panasonic, maxell or other japanese battery pulled from an n.o.s. digital had corrosion. i just replaced one in a mid 80s digi/ana that had a "sandy" appearance. sure enough, it was a renata (swiss). of course, if it were a taiwanese, chinese, etc., the entire module would have been caked in blue crud.

[bruce wegmann]

That reply sounds a bit like the one the Russian bureaucrat gave James Bond in "From Russia With Love". When asked if the wall clock was showing the right time, he puffed himself up, and said with absolute authority, "Russian clocks are ALWAYS correct". In any event, I have a difficult time believing that things made in Switzerland aren't made at least as well as things made in Japan [seriously, would you rather own a Rolex or a Seiko?!]. All I can tell you is, I've used hundreds of Renata batteries in my [and customers'] watches over the last three years, and I'm still waiting to see my first leaker... Also, don't forget, watches and calculators have different current-drain characteristics, and batteries that work well in one don't necessarily work well in the other [Time Computer had very definate recommendations about what cells to use in its' calculators, for example].

[fronzelneekburm]

Haha, that quote from James Bond made my day. If you wanna have a leaked Renata, then I can send you some - but they're still one of the best batteries at all. Anyways: I think batteries only leak when they are many years old, all leaked batteries I have ever had were like over 10 years old. I just make sure they're working then they're usually fresh enough I feel.

[dot matrix]

seriously, would you rather own a Rolex or a Seiko?!

If you want to respond to this quesion, please do so in this new spin-off thread so we can try to keep this one about batteries. Thanks!