"Stormin Mormon" wrote in
:

For single use batteries, there are three "basic" kinds.
Carbon cells, alkalines, and lithium.

Carbon cells last two to five years, maybe. These are the
ones that say "Heavy Duty".

Carbon-zincs are a waste of money.

Alkalines last a lot longer than that. About six weeks ago,
I opened a flashlight I bought 10 years ago. Mag light, with
Energizer D cells. Unused, in the original package. Worked
fine.

alkalines are rated 5-7 yrs stored life.(retaining 85% of their capacity)

Lithium batteries are supposed to last even longer than
that.

Lithium are rated for 10 yr stored life.

If you bought alkalines, there's not much worry. As others
have suggested, many VOM have sharp tips you can stab
through a package. You can also make a tester with a PR-4
bulb and a piece of wire, to do a quick, crude test to see
if a C, D, or AA, or AAA cell is working. For lanten
batteries use a PR-12 from terminal to terminal.




--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net