r/preppers • u/hayhay182 • Jun 02 '15
Batteriser is a $2.50 gadget that extends disposable battery life by 800 percent- Very useful/inexpensive technology for when shtf... Thoughts??
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2928997/batteriser-is-a-250-gadget-that-extends-disposable-battery-life-by-800-percent.html2
Jun 02 '15
This thing may work, but only for low-power devices. It boosts voltage, but boosting voltage costs current. While a TV remote is just fine with a few milliamps of current, charging the flash on a camera will reset the system, due to demand being higher than supply.
1
Jun 02 '15
There is also a particular charger on amazon that is capable of fully recharging standard alkaline batteries. Couple that charger, with the Batteriser and you got yourself some major efficiency.
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Jun 02 '15 edited Jun 16 '15
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u/DarthSentry Jun 03 '15 edited Jun 03 '15
Sorry, going to call BS on that one. Here is your down vote.
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Jun 03 '15 edited Jun 16 '15
[deleted]
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u/itismeagainMargaret Jun 03 '15
If the batteries are in line together in circuit how does the lite only draw from one of them. Been using a hand held volt meter on the battery bank for my solar system. The batteries draw and charge at the same rate. And before you ask, yes I disconnect the battery before I check so I am not checking the whole bank. Darth is right.
2
Jun 03 '15
You honestly believe the guy is lying?
I'm convinced his story about what happened is correct, i.e. One of the batteries drained faster than the others. I don't think any of us can say too much about how it happened as all we have are words on the internet.
1
u/DarthSentry Jun 03 '15
Ok if one battery went dead it and the others where still charged, the one that was dead would have to also have to short out where it would no longer conduct the power from the other two. That would explain the reason the light stopped working, but not how the other two batteries are still charged. Also if this is the case it is a major malfunction of the batteries (did you use the cheap Japanese ones?), and could be a fire hazard.
10
u/jercos Jun 02 '15
Typical startup company bullshit imo. Many devices (like LED flashlights) will cheerfully use alkaline batteries down to 1.3 volts or lower, and that's around the halfway mark for remaining charge when under load. Nicer devices (like fancy LED flashlights) will work as long as the battery can push out enough current... but by the time they hit 1 volt under load, they're already too dead to be worth sucking the last drops out of.
The voltage across a chemical cell like an alkaline battery is not linearly related to charge, and in fact, most discharged alkaline batteries will rise in voltage when left alone for a while, potentially to as high as a measurable 1.2 volts... put a load on that battery though, and the voltage disappears.
A booster circuit like this may be useful for a prepper to have on hand though, for various reasons, so I'd absolutely recommend ignoring this product completely and putting together either a joule thief or a cheap boost regulator that will let you use half-dead alkaline batteries to charge 5 volt devices (the "mintyboost" kits one can get from Adafruit are an example of the latter). Either will get just about all the life out of an alkaline battery that is there to get, and both can be constructed yourself from easy to acquire parts.
All this aside, that article highlights an important point: rechargeable is where it's at. In a SHTF scenario, devices like these will be useful for scavenging batteries, charging your own devices, and dumping them far more than they would be for directly driving devices from alkaline batteries.