Comparing Results from MarkCZ's Controlled Testing and my Detector Testing
There is a lot that can be determined by both of these approaches to battery testing.. One, for instance, is that you can not always determine which battery brand source offers the best buy. Sometimes, yes, but not always. For example, some of the batteries came from a major retailer while others came from where some people figure what they sell is 'cheap' or inferior.' Not always the case. Some batteries are a 'House-Brand' that was made for them and it could be higher-priced, where as some 'House-Brands' provide exceptional performance at a very reasonable cost. Example here would be the 'Signature' batteries I buy at Albertsons Grocery that cost me only 21¢ each.
In that case they are a Made in the USA battery, but some brands are not and we have to also look at the source that makes the batteries. Take a look at MarkCZ's Final Spreadsheet and notice what the
Top-Five batteries were, and where those were made. Those
Top-Five are the ones that scored an
A+ grade. All made in the USA except #5 that was made in China. Those are your
'Premium Grade' batteries, but there are a lot of excellent choices in the
'Best' 'A' Grade range and
'Better' 'B' Grade group as well. The
'Average' 'C' Grade count is limited, but still not a bad pick if batteries died and you need something quickly. The
SYM is a suggestion for the
'Poor' 'D' Grade and
'Fail' 'F' Grade batteries. It suggests
Save
Your
Money.
Dates and Costs: Those are the two things I look for when I am shopping for batteries. I always try to find the
Use-By Date and try to buy the newest or freshest set of batteries. Most, but not all, suggest a 10-Year shelf-life. Note that it will not always be the best indicator, but the freshest you can by,
in theory, ought to last the longest. Notice that in the 10 batteries I tested, the Top 5 still have a U-B Date that is 7, 8, 9 or 10 years away. But it's not always the case if you look at the worst performer in the detector.
Then, too, I am a bit frugal and I like to shop for the
Beat Price which is the cost per battery. That's why I have been using the 'Signature' batteries for several years now. They raised the Retail price of them at Albertsons, so the package I bought earlier this month, went up from $10.99 to $12.49 retail store price. But that is for a 60-Pack and that makes the per-battery cost only 21¢. Only 84¢ to run a 4-AA powered model from Fisher, Makro, Nokta or Teknetics, , or a whopping $1.68 for my 8-AA powered White's.
Note the Battery test of the JobSmart alkalines from Tractor Supply on MarkCZ's spreadsheet. They got over 7¼ Hours which put them in the
'Average' 'C' Grade group, but also note that these have a U-B Date of 9-2023. So, if they are a 10-Year shelf-life, they have already used up almost 6½ years and would likely have done better if a fresher or newer battery. I have been using them since 2016 a lot in many things around the home, such as flashlights, clocks, remote controls, and metal detectors. Why? Because they work 'OK' and the performance is there, maybe just for a little less operating time. I still have two or three hundred of these JobSmart batteries in my tote because I bought them well. Their Retail price is $9.99 for a 48 pack which is 21¢ each. But when I walked in the store to shop for something else, there was an end-display by the check-out registers for them at $5.00 for a 48 pack. Well, at 10½¢ each, and we can round that to 11¢ for easier math, that is a lot of battery for little cost to provide an ample amount of Run-Time in a metal detector.
Run-Times, and this one takes some understanding: If a battery costs a lot, such as the Duracell 'Dura-Lock' or AM VOLT in my testing above, but the Run-Times in a metal detector are not very impressive, then I am not interested in buying them. Cost was too high and Performance was too low
BASED ON THE PERFORMANCE I GET IN THE DETECTORS I USE. And that can make a difference. Today we have a mix of older analog-based detectors, most modern digitally designed circuitry models, and a lot of analog/digital 'blend' circuitry designs, and they can all work differently. Not just in end-performance, but the duration they can operate based oh how they were designed and the regulated power required to make them work. And when I say "regulated power" I am not referring only to the voltage. Some also require more mAH juice to make the detector happy.
I get serious about my detecting and I like to own and use makes and models that provide me the in-the-field performance I want and need. They might go through batteries a bit faster than others, but I've taken on some rough country to get a 4-wheel drive vehicle into places the family sedan wont go .... and they ate more gas to do it, too. I don't care, it got the job done. Some of my detectors are not as battery-thirsty and work great for other applications and batteries live a lot, lot longer. That's fine, but doesn't matter to me that much as long as the detector does what it is supposed to do and does it well.
I used my Nokta Relic for this particular Detector-Battery Test because I know what it can do, and I could take advantage of the 'STOP' it came to when the power supply finally hit the bottom limit it required. I noticed this with my Nokta FORS CoRe I started using a bit over 5 years ago, and then with the Makro Racer, and the favored models from them I have enjoyed, to include my Nokta Relic which joins my CoRe in being the two best all-purpose performers I have ever used in the very dense iron-contaminated ghost towns and other trashy places I hunt. I mention this because these and my Racer 2 have a more
'controlled' power requirement. They will work hard and perform to maximum depth and efficiency right up until they can't, at which time they just 'STOP' and display a battery image or say 'LO' to alert the user it's time for fresh batteries.
So looking at my 10-Battery test results tells you a lot of things, but looking at the order they placed in MarkCZ's spreadsheet, based more on just the Voltage required for that Run-Time draining, you are going to see even longer Run-Times from other detectors that are not so controlled. I had quite a supply of the Harbor Freight Thunderbolt batteries, Their 'bargain' or 'budget' alkaline offering that is black and orange in color. So many that when I filled my Relic for the test, I also filled up 4 in my CoRe, 4 in a Teknetics T2, 8 in my modified IDX Pro, and 4 in my Makro Racer 2 and started them all within 5 seconds to see which would give me the longest Run-Time on a Thunderbolt with a U-B Date of 12-2022.
For those who use, or used to use, some of those analog-based detectors, remember how you knew the batteries had been in there a long time and as they were in their final moments, maybe the last hour or two, you started to notice a little weaker audio? Not quite as loud as the last time out. Or the depth-of-detection seemed to be a little less and the target response didn't have quite the oomph? Maybe just a hint of them dying, but they dwindled a bit faster with each passing hour or minute, and THAT let you know there was a power loss and you need batteries? Well, things are different when we move to a lot of digital circuitry that might have a lower power draw. Or other things to consider..
I knew my Relic and the Racer 2 would have a more controlled battery drain and shut down, but was surprised by the Thunderbolt alkalines that I also got at a great lower price. Remember, too, that these were a
'Better' 'B' Grade battery in Mark's test as seen on the spreadsheet. In my Relic I still was just 4 minutes short of a 10 Hr. run when it came to a STOP. Well, that cut don on some of the noise here in my den that had me wearing headphones and listening to music it was so disrupting, especially with several detectors squawking away.
Finally, I just gave in and turned the other detectors 'OFF'. The Racer 2 quit on it's own and later my CoRe, but the Teknetics T2 ran from 6:25 AM Saturday until 10:55 AM on Sunday and was still showing the last battery bar on the detector. 24 Hr. and 30 Min. of Run-Time with similar settings as the Relic, and using the 5" DD coil still responded fine to a wheat-back cent at 5". And my modified IDX Pro was still making noise and running OK for another hour when I finally shut it off after checking a Wheatie, dime and trade token and nail without noticing any loss of depth or performance. All of that was with the same Thunderbolt alkaline batteries.
Sorry this is long-winded. but what I learned fro both my detector testing and especially from mark's work to test and record so many, many batteries was this:
• Find a few batteries that work well in your detectors and flashlights, etc.
• Select batteries that are relatively available to use because not all regions have the same store or chains.
• Always look for the freshest batteries you can find.
• Shop for the best per-battery value you can find from a decent, serviceable battery.
• Be alert to not over-pay just because of a name brand, and don't hesitate to buy foreign-made. There were a lot from here and elsewhere that worked just fine.
Sunrise in about 30 minutes and I'm planning on detecting. That will keep my fingers away from this keyboard. Sorry to ramble.
Monte
which to mean I knew all this electronic stuff breaks down to a math figure, and I know that if any two are known, Volts, Watts, or Current the other can be figured! but I failed math 
but, your right in that with a 1.5 volt battery and 4.7ohm 5-watt resistor I knew wasn't going to smoke the resistor!! plus I could tell after a couple of minutes by touching the resistor that it wasn't getting hot enough to hurt it.
well, I didn't know how to do the math to get what I wanted, but I figured somewhere around 4-ohms would half the drain times (well near half) I started out using 10-watt resistors, to which I knew a 1.5v battery couldn't hurt and I had them on hand, so after I determined what I needed I went on ebay and order 10 of the 5-watt resistors and setup the drainers for 4-cell test, and rest is history!
I mean I don't know of any place to take them to be recycled? and I can't think of any other use for them, I wonder if I tried my Renu-it battery charger if I could put enough life back into them to maybe give them away as a recycled battery?? any other ideas? Yea, I know that the trash is always an option! LoL!