Button cell life...

[catso]

Recently noticed that modern 'button cell' batteries are not lasting very long (maybe because I bought the 10 for a quid off ebay?) and I replaced the '2025' cell in my ipod speaker remote control for about the 4th time in a couple of years.

Whilst looking for said 10p battery I happened upon a Sharp 'ELSI MATE EL-821' http://mycalcdb.free.fr/main.php?l=0&id=4508 credit card sized calculator, complete with sexy brown vinyl case that was all the rage when my Dad brought it back from Japan around 1979/80, in fact I was the only one at school with such an advanced piece of tech and as such I regularly had to fight off the girls with a stty stick due to them wanting my genes passed to their offspring.

Anyway it was finally made redundant when phones started to be fitted with calculators and has thus sat at the back of a drawer since it's retirement, it has never had a new battery fitted.

To my surprise it switches on and is fully working, now it's not had any use to deplete the battery in the last 20 ish years but that battery is pushing 40 years old and still going strong!

Is this some kind of record, should I be contacting Guinness World Records?

[Saleen836]

I have a Texas Instruments calculator from my school days still working on it's original battery that I use every once in a while, has to be a good 35years old now

[Sheepshanks]

I've got a 1985 Casio LC-827 on my desk and I use it most days. On the back it says it has two button cells, but I've never opened it.

[Zad]

My Casio fx-3600p calculator still has the same battery it had when I bought it in 1983 ish. Sadly the keypad contacts have worn out first! Driving an LCD is a lot easier than an infra red transmitter LED though.

[AlexC1981]

When I used to visit watch forums regularly, the silver oxide Renata batteries would often get recommended. I wouldn't want to put pound shop batteries in anything nice in case they leak acid.

[CoolHands]

Are you comparing iPod speaker drain with a calculator?

[catso]

CoolHands said:

Are you comparing iPod speaker drain with a calculator?

No, I was just remarking at how often the battery in the remote control unit for the speaker needs replacing (speaker is mains powered) especially as it's not used much - it generally just gets switched on to play random tracks.

On the other hand I was amazed at how long the batteries in the calculator have lasted, as even with little or no use batteries generally deteriorate.

One would think battery technology would not have been so good 40 years ago, wonder how long they'd power a Tesla?

[paolow]

catso said:

No, I was just remarking at how often the battery in the remote control unit for the speaker needs replacing (speaker is mains powered) especially as it's not used much - it generally just gets switched on to play random tracks.

On the other hand I was amazed at how long the batteries in the calculator have lasted, as even with little or no use batteries generally deteriorate.

One would think battery technology would not have been so good 40 years ago, wonder how long they'd power a Tesla?

I can see what the OP is saying here. I have replaced the CR2032 batteries in my mobo and car fob numerous times only for them to fail 12 months later. My wife on the other hand is still on her original fob battery for our car bought dozens of years ago.

But - of course - not all batteries are created equal. a strip of ten for a pound inc postage from ebay wont be quite the same as a brand new duracell which I have gone with for both fob and MOBO now as its too irritating to swap them all the time.

Time will tell of course how that works but Id also think that any losses for an 'off' calculator will be zero - whereas my anything newer will be far more exposed to even a tiny constant drain.

[CoolHands]

I think most of them are now ste counterfeit crap made in china, probably only 10% proper material in them or whatever.