Button Cell Frenzy

  • Thread starter Watson A.Name - \"Watt Su
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Watson A.Name - \"Watt Su

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I bought a couple of the key fob blinkies that have three LEDs, red,
green adn blue, and you push the button and it plays a rainbow, or
blinks different colors, flashes, etc. Like about ten bucks on some
website. Well one disadvantage is they use four LR44 button cells,
which don't last very long when kids _of_all_ages_ start playing with
the blinkies. The minute they see one of these, they say, hey, that's
cool, I want one of these! I've already had to part with one because of
this. So I decided to stock up on some LR44 button cells.

I got onto cheapbatteries.com and they sell them cheap, but the best
deal is when you buy 200, at $.15 each. With shipping, they're probably
only a few cents more than that. But I doubt that I'll be able to use
up 200 cells before the expiration dates on the batteries.

So I stopped by Fry's the other day, and they sell A76 which subs for
LR44s, for a dollar each. Sure is a lot more expensive than the ones on
cheapbatteries.com. And they didn't have very many of them on the
shelf. Maybe only 5 or 6, and I was figuring on getting at least 8, or
two sets.

Then on the way home yesterday I decided to stop by Radio Shaft. They
have a generic sub called 76 which doesn't say it subs for LR44 but some
other numbers including SR44, which I don't know what the diff is
between that and LR44. But they were moving the stuff around on the
shelves, and there were no prices. So I asked the salesdroid how much
they cost, so he scanned one in and up popped $3.19! Yikes!! 21 times
the price of what cheapbatteries.com wants. And like I'm gonna pay over
$13 for just the 4 batteries, when I can get the whole blinkie for less,
even including shipping and handling? No Way! I don't think so!!

So I ended up doing a search on Ebay for LR44 button cells, and I got a
bunch of auctions. Some of them were for a hundred cells for $4.95, but
they're from a Hong Kong seller and with the five bucks shipping, the
cost is about $11, so they're not all that cheap. And they take a
couple weeks to get here. So I chose another seller from Mississippi,
selling 50 cells for $7, with a dollar shipping. I had to do the "Em,
Eye, crooked letter, crooked letter eye," etc, ditty to get that one
right!

In a few days or a week, I'll get a more reasonable quantity for about
the same price each as from cheapbatteries.com. And shopping around
paid off very well for me - I learned that there is such a thing as a
free lunch.

--
@@F@r@o@m@@O@r@a@n@g@e@@C@o@u@n@t@y@,@@C@a@l@,@@w@h@e@r@e@@
###Got a Question about ELECTRONICS? Check HERE First:###
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Don't be ripped off by the big book dealers. Go to the URL
that will give you a choice and save you money(up to half).
http://www.everybookstore.com You'll be glad you did!
Just when you thought you had all this figured out, the gov't
changed it: http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html
@@t@h@e@@a@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@m@e@e@t@@t@h@e@@E@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@
 
In article <10alm7rf5k9da32@corp.supernews.com>,
Watson A.Name - \"Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\" <alondra101@hotmail.com> wrote:
other numbers including SR44, which I don't know what the diff is
between that and LR44. But they were moving the stuff around on the
Chemsitry.

LR44 is alkaline, 1.5V. SR44 is Silver Oxide, 1.55V. A lot of things
don't care, but older cameras where the exact voltage affects the meter
may require recalibration when changing battery types. From what I
hear, apparently there are some other devices to which it matters as
well, such as digital calipers.
 
LR44 is alkaline, 1.5V. SR44 is Silver Oxide, 1.55V. A lot of things
don't care, but older cameras where the exact voltage affects the meter
may require recalibration when changing battery types. From what I
hear, apparently there are some other devices to which it matters as
well, such as digital calipers.
Right. SR44 is necessary for cameras. But #357 (like SR44 but with lower
resistance) is better yet, at about the same price. My Olympus OM-2S
doesn't like SR44s but is very happy with 357s. They last about 3 times
longer in it.
 
"Watson A.Name - \"Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\""
So I decided to stock up on some LR44 button cells.
Speaking of which, I've got a pocket laser that uses Renata 392 cells,
what would be the longest life battery chemistry to use, what's the
equivalent part number, and where can I buy them in decent-sized lots?
Radio Shack batteries cost more than the original laser!

Thanks!

--
William Smith
ComputerSmiths Consulting, Inc. www.compusmiths.com
 
(William P.N. Smith) writes:
"Watson A.Name - \"Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\""
So I decided to stock up on some LR44 button cells.

Speaking of which, I've got a pocket laser that uses Renata 392 cells,
what would be the longest life battery chemistry to use, what's the
equivalent part number, and where can I buy them in decent-sized lots?
Radio Shack batteries cost more than the original laser!

Thanks!

Funny you should mention that.

The cheapest source of batteries for those cheap laser pointers eem
to be other cheap laser pointers.

At least one place here sells them for $1.99, complete with the batteries.
That tends to make the pointers "disposable". More important, I've bought
$1.99 laser pointers for the batteries. The size they use actually fits
other things I have around, and the pointers are the cheapest local source
of the batteries.

Michael
 
"Michael Black" <et472@FreeNet.Carleton.CA> wrote in message
news:c8ioi5$23h$1@freenet9.carleton.ca...
(William P.N. Smith) writes:
"Watson A.Name - \"Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\""
So I decided to stock up on some LR44 button cells.

Speaking of which, I've got a pocket laser that uses Renata 392 cells,
what would be the longest life battery chemistry to use, what's the
equivalent part number, and where can I buy them in decent-sized lots?
Radio Shack batteries cost more than the original laser!

Thanks!

Funny you should mention that.

The cheapest source of batteries for those cheap laser pointers eem
to be other cheap laser pointers.

At least one place here sells them for $1.99, complete with the batteries.
That tends to make the pointers "disposable". More important, I've bought
$1.99 laser pointers for the batteries. The size they use actually fits
other things I have around, and the pointers are the cheapest local source
of the batteries.

Michael
What a bizarre world this is.
 
William P.N. Smith wrote:
"Watson A.Name - \"Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\""

So I decided to stock up on some LR44 button cells.


Speaking of which, I've got a pocket laser that uses Renata 392 cells,
what would be the longest life battery chemistry to use, what's the
equivalent part number, and where can I buy them in decent-sized lots?
Radio Shack batteries cost more than the original laser!

Thanks!

You have to be a touch careful when you try substituting cells in
cheapy laser pointers. The cheap laser pointers often drive the laser
like it was an LED. They include the cell's internal resistance in the
"design". If you replace a cell that had fairly high internal
resistance with one that has a lower value, it can burn out the laser
in a blink.

The better laser pointers user the internal photo diode in a feedback
loop to control the laser driver current to an optimal value. In these
pointers, you can use a fairly wide range of supply voltage without
affecting the laser's output.

-Chuck Harris
 
On Thu, 20 May 2004 11:29:20 -0400, William P.N. Smith wrote:

"Watson A.Name - \"Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\""
So I decided to stock up on some LR44 button cells.

Speaking of which, I've got a pocket laser that uses Renata 392 cells,
what would be the longest life battery chemistry to use, what's the
equivalent part number, and where can I buy them in decent-sized lots?
Radio Shack batteries cost more than the original laser!

Thanks!

The LR44H battery is used in a couple LED lights I have, as well as in
my laser pointer and an alarm clock. I buy them at the local "dollar
store" here in Kitchener Ontario for a dollar for a card of 4.
Canadian dollar too - so roughly seventy five cents to you americans.
 
<William P.N. Smith> wrote in message
news:6djpa019f91shu2jb6rcm88v21i33k6v87@4ax.com...
"Watson A.Name - \"Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\""
So I decided to stock up on some LR44 button cells.

Speaking of which, I've got a pocket laser that uses Renata 392 cells,
what would be the longest life battery chemistry to use, what's the
equivalent part number, and where can I buy them in decent-sized lots?
Radio Shack batteries cost more than the original laser!
http://www.cheapbatteries.com/photo.htm


EVEREADY MAXELL # 1,000 + 100 + 10 + 2 + BATTERIES
392 SR41W 25˘ ea 30˘ ea 40˘ ea $1.00 ea

Looks like 10 for $4 is a good deal.


Thanks!

--
William Smith
ComputerSmiths Consulting, Inc. www.compusmiths.com


--
@@F@r@o@m@@O@r@a@n@g@e@@C@o@u@n@t@y@,@@C@a@l@,@@w@h@e@r@e@@
###Got a Question about ELECTRONICS? Check HERE First:###
http://users.pandora.be/educypedia/electronics/databank.htm
My email address is whitelisted. *All* email sent to it
goes directly to the trash unless you add NOSPAM in the
Subject: line with other stuff. alondra101 <at> hotmail.com
Don't be ripped off by the big book dealers. Go to the URL
that will give you a choice and save you money(up to half).
http://www.everybookstore.com You'll be glad you did!
Just when you thought you had all this figured out, the gov't
changed it: http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html
@@t@h@e@@a@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@m@e@e@t@@t@h@e@@E@f@f@l@u@e@n@t@@
 
Terran Melconian wrote:
In article <10alm7rf5k9da32@corp.supernews.com>,
Watson A.Name - \"Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\" <alondra101@hotmail.com> wrote:

other numbers including SR44, which I don't know what the diff is
between that and LR44. But they were moving the stuff around on the

Chemsitry.

LR44 is alkaline, 1.5V. SR44 is Silver Oxide, 1.55V. A lot of things
don't care, but older cameras where the exact voltage affects the meter
may require recalibration when changing battery types. From what I
hear, apparently there are some other devices to which it matters as
well, such as digital calipers.
Leave it to Rat Snake to foul up and add cornfusion. I know that for
low current purposes such as watches and SLR cameras, the silver oxide
cells last a whole lot longer, and alkalines shouldn't be used because
they may leak after several years.

On another note, I had the impression that zinc air cells were to be
used for hearing aids and other things that have a steady current flow,
lasting for shorter periods, like a few days. I was at Rat Snack and I
saw a package of zinc air cells for a pager. I thought that if you put
these cells into a pager, they would soon go bad because the air causes
the cells to be "used up" soon after the tab is peeled off. The pagers
I used to have all used a single AAA or AA cell, and lasted a couple
months on a single cell. So how do they get a zinc air cell to last so
long?
 
Michael Black wrote:

(William P.N. Smith) writes:

"Watson A.Name - \"Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\""

So I decided to stock up on some LR44 button cells.

Speaking of which, I've got a pocket laser that uses Renata 392 cells,
what would be the longest life battery chemistry to use, what's the
equivalent part number, and where can I buy them in decent-sized lots?
Radio Shack batteries cost more than the original laser!

Thanks!

Funny you should mention that.

The cheapest source of batteries for those cheap laser pointers eem
to be other cheap laser pointers.

At least one place here sells them for $1.99, complete with the batteries.
That tends to make the pointers "disposable". More important, I've bought
$1.99 laser pointers for the batteries. The size they use actually fits
other things I have around, and the pointers are the cheapest local source
of the batteries.

Michael
Well, how many cells do you get for 2 bucks? The Sauce Micro LightWand
uses four LR44s, and they're ridiculously expensive at Rat Snack: $3.19
apiece! For that price, I can get the whole lightwand, including
shipping!

I just bought 50 LR44 / A76 / 357 /whatevers for $8 on ebay. There are
other ones that are cheaper, but the shipping often sneaks in an added
profit for the sellers. Some want five bucks to ship a five dollar
item! Sheesh!
 

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