I dunno what the shelf life of the silver cells are, compared to the
alkaline chemistry, but the user often doesn't know how long ago the cells
were actually produced.
I avoid buying no-brand, low-priced/huge quantity button cells, as they're
likely to be of the worst quality, IMO.

I've found SR44s at reasonable prices maybe 6 on a card, and will buy
several cards if my remaining stock is short, when I see them.. I also mark
the cards with the month/year so when I'm going thru my stock I can see
which ones are older.
If I encounter older ones that are low, I'll just throw them away and select
a more recently purchased set/package.

For electronic calipers, and possibly other devices stored in a protective
case, there's often ample room in the case liner/foam to cut out extra round
holes to hold a couple of spare button cells (+ side up so they don't get
shorted).. this eliminates the need to go looking for/fetch fresh cells.

--
WB
..........


wrote in message
...

Don foreman posted this in 2006:-

There are two chemistries that the batteries fitting these calipers
use. One is called alkaline and the other is silver oxide. The LR44
battery is the alkaline type and the SR44 is the silver oxide type.
Many battery packages will say that the LR44 can be used instead of
the SR44. This is true but the LR44 voltage drops quickly whereas the
SR44 doesn't. The caliper thinks the battery is dead when the voltage
drops below a certain level. So even though the caliper won't work, or
has a flashing display, the LR44 battery will still work in an LED
light or similar application. I have found that even my Mitutoyo
calipers get about 45 days with the LR44 battery. The SR44 batteries
will run the same calipers for about 20 months. I'm pretty sure the
LR44 will deliver more milliwats over its lifetime than the SR44 will,
just at a lower voltage.
ERS

LR44 and SR44 are both 150 mah cells, the difference is the voltage
droop on the alky LR44. SR44 is the same as 357/303. Energizer
also has a 357/303H that is 175 mah. 357's from some some other mfrs
are 165 mah. As Nick noted, there are cheap cells out there but they
have very poor life. Go name brand -- Energizer, Renata,
Varta,Duracell etc.


This was very interesting to me because I had been using the LR44
batteries in both my digital calipers and my bicycle computer and they
didn't seem to last very long. After switching to SR44 I have been a
happy camper.

Lewis

*****