I have a small battery-operated calculator that I rarely use, but when
I do need it, I want to be sure the battery hasn't run down. The
button cell can be a LR54, LR1130, D189, RW89, 389, SR54, or one of
several other codes, Either silver or alkaline. Does anyone know
which type of battery has the lowest internal self-discharge?

On Mar 4, 3:42*pm, "hr(bob) "
wrote:
I have a small battery-operated calculator that I rarely use, but when
I do need it, I want to be sure the battery hasn't run down. *The
button cell can be a LR54, LR1130, D189, RW89, 389, SR54, or one of
several other codes, *Either silver or alkaline. *Does anyone know
which type of battery has the lowest internal self-discharge?

Keep in mind, that a lot of battery chemistries have the following
quirk:

shelf life years!, unless...
measure the battery's voltage under load [in other words, use it once]
and a process starts that runs the battery down very quickly with
shelf life into even the 3 month range. [which means it's not good to
test the batteries in those emergency kits]

Anyone have numbers for this effect?

On 3/4/2010 4:01 PM Robert Macy spake thus:

On Mar 4, 3:42 pm, "hr(bob) "
wrote:

I have a small battery-operated calculator that I rarely use, but when
I do need it, I want to be sure the battery hasn't run down. The
button cell can be a LR54, LR1130, D189, RW89, 389, SR54, or one of
several other codes, Either silver or alkaline. Does anyone know
which type of battery has the lowest internal self-discharge?

Keep in mind, that a lot of battery chemistries have the following
quirk:

shelf life years!, unless...
measure the battery's voltage under load [in other words, use it once]
and a process starts that runs the battery down very quickly with
shelf life into even the 3 month range. [which means it's not good to
test the batteries in those emergency kits]

Anyone have numbers for this effect?

The Heisenberg uncertainty principle? Schrödinger's cat?


--
You were wrong, and I'm man enough to admit it.

- a Usenet "apology"

I don't "know", but I suspect the silver cells have a longer shelf life.
They also have a higher energy density.

On Mar 4, 7:29*pm, "William Sommerwerck"
wrote:
I don't "know", but I suspect the silver cells have a longer shelf life.
They also have a higher energy density.

That's also what I found in going to Wikipedia, so I'll look for the
silver cells at my local Menards Hardware store. It's enuf closer to
where I live than HD or Lowes to make it my store of choice, as long
as I get a name brand. For unnamed stuff, I am dubious about the
quality Menards sells ever since I bought some unnamed boxed finishing
nails and found them to be about as durable as uncooked spaghetti.

On Thu, 4 Mar 2010 15:42:28 -0800 (PST), "hr(bob) "
wrote:

I have a small battery-operated calculator that I rarely use, but when
I do need it, I want to be sure the battery hasn't run down. The
button cell can be a LR54, LR1130, D189, RW89, 389, SR54, or one of
several other codes, Either silver or alkaline. Does anyone know
which type of battery has the lowest internal self-discharge?

I often sort of hate it when people undermine an OP by suggesting
something entirely different from what he wants, so please forgive me
for doing just that.

How about a solar-powered calculator? I have a cheap one that does so
many functions I'll never use a bunch of them that runs off the
ceiling light, or the desk lamp. It may have been 20 dollars, years
ago, when there was a sale at Radio Shack. But no batteries. Here it
is, Radio Shack 10-digit Scientific Calculator EC-4032. It has logs
and trig and exponenets and I got it because it has hex, bin, and oct
arithmetic which I once in a while used as a programmer. Probably
something similar with a different model number now.

On Mar 6, 1:35*pm, mm wrote:
On Thu, 4 Mar 2010 15:42:28 -0800 (PST), "hr(bob) "

wrote:
I have a small battery-operated calculator that I rarely use, but when
I do need it, I want to be sure the battery hasn't run down. *The
button cell can be a LR54, LR1130, D189, RW89, 389, SR54, or one of
several other codes, *Either silver or alkaline. *Does anyone know
which type of battery has the lowest internal self-discharge?

I often sort of hate it when people undermine an OP by suggesting
something entirely different from what he wants, so please forgive me
for doing just that.

How about a solar-powered calculator? *I have a cheap one that does so
many functions I'll never use a bunch of them that runs off the
ceiling light, or the desk lamp. * It may have been 20 dollars, years
ago, when there was a sale at Radio Shack. *But no batteries. *Here it
is, Radio Shack 10-digit Scientific Calculator EC-4032. It has logs
and trig and exponenets and I got it because it has hex, bin, and oct
arithmetic which I once in a while used as a programmer. * *Probably
something similar with a different model number now.

Thanx, it turns out that the ribbon connector from the calculator PWB
to the LCD display also came off when I opened it to take the
batteries out, and I ended up throwing eerything into the trash, I
probably don't need anything more than sine, cosine and tanget and
exponents so another calculator I have can handle those.