aa Battery's Race To 0.8v How Much Interest Is There?

[#1Leatherneck]

My inquiry for the last year, or so, with the expensive replacing batteries, is simply this: Why have the manufacturers not put a metal detector on the market that is solar powered?
My wrist watch is solar powered, and my wife's is solar powered. They are both approximately (15) fifteen years old.
The only time any metal detector is used is outside in the sun! Not always, 'almost always'!
My wrist watch stays on the night stand almost always, it is an expensive dress watch.
A metal detector with a solar equipped battery and the provisions for allowing the sun to keep it charged could not possible weigh anything! Almost nothing!
And, the size could not be hardly noticeable? ? ?
Now, when this is marketed I want to keep all copyright to the issue. lol ROFL

 

[bklein]

You need the solar panel to perpendicular to the sun to work. And it has to be full sun,like mid-day. If you can’t guarantee these then you need a larger solar panel and it will be necessary to have a battery in the machine to function when the above conditions aren’t met. In other words, it won’t work well. Better to use the panel as a charger if you are on an extended trip with no access to a power source to charge your battery.
The efficiency of solar panels is cut almost 50% if you place it behind your car windshield plus much more if at an angle to the sun or its a cloudy day.

 

[MarkCZ]

My inquiry for the last year, or so, with the expensive replacing batteries, is simply this: Why have the manufacturers not put a metal detector on the market that is solar powered?
My wrist watch is solar powered, and my wife's is solar powered. They are both approximately (15) fifteen years old.
The only time any metal detector is used is outside in the sun! Not always, 'almost always'!
My wrist watch stays on the night stand almost always, it is an expensive dress watch.
A metal detector with a solar equipped battery and the provisions for allowing the sun to keep it charged could not possible weigh anything! Almost nothing!
And, the size could not be hardly noticeable? ? ?
Now, when this is marketed I want to keep all copyright to the issue. lol ROFL

Well you have some good points, BUT! (Lol) about any wrist watch will run near five years on the smallest of hearing aid batteries, and the power cell in the solar charged (powered) watches only needs a few minutes a day in ANY good light. So, in the reality of that all the total power used by those watches in say five years probably wouldn't even power up a decent metal detector. I load tested a batter powered quarts wall clock in this thread to find out that they only sip a tiny bit of energy on each movement of the second hand, and its OFF between movements.
So, a watch and or clock can run on almost NO energy. If you remember YEARS ago there was a company that made this clock that ran on sticking two probes into a Potato, and if a potato didn't rot so fast it could run a watch forever.
Heck, you might be able to power your wife watch on a decaying hostess twinky for EVER! or for sure a McDonalds decaying fry.
This is good conversation to help ease the mental stress of all that's going on with COVID-19 right now!
Stay Healthy Everyone!

 

[#1Leatherneck]

Thank you for your response! With an understanding of Ohm's law my inquiry is still that I believe it is possible. (E) Voltage (I) Current (R) Resistance
Very respectably how much (I) Current does a metal detector have while turned off for days, weeks, and months between the time it is in use? The answer is zero!
How much current does a watch have while it is sitting on a night stand? The answer is, it is still drawing current?
To understand the possibility study the jet that flew on solar!
With all considered those who make their own lithium Ion battery for their metal detectors, my concern is do they alter (E) (I) (R)?
Some of the batteries compensate for the variance by built in protection in the battery.
In an automotive application this can cause problems in wiring that disturbs (E) (I) (R).
Some metal detectors with sophisticated technology I would be concerned in disturbing (E) (I) (R).
Technology is moving very fast.
Batteries are expensive! Rechargeable batteries are an alternative. The rechargeable lithium are expensive. The ones that are being made by the metal detector hobbyist seem to be a work around, and are considerably less expensive. Somewhere around 50% of the cost of the factory.
This has been an interesting study! Thanks!