Tejon batteries.......

[D&P-OR]

What brand AA batteries are you Tejon users having the best success with in the Tejon ( as far as longest running & general performance)?----Is it worth messing with re-chargeables in the Tejon?

 

[V3i/MXT Pro]

Duracell , Energizer and Panasonic all make quality alkaline AA batteries. If you look around online you can buy a brick for .35 to .40 cents per battery. They have up to a 10 year shelf life. The warehouse clubs also sell them by the brick and almost as cheap. NiMH rechargeable batteries are great if you have a lot of equipment that uses AA. However, the initial cost of quality rechargables, and a smart charger, is much higher than disposable alkaline batteries. NiMH also run at a slightly lower voltage than alkaline batteries. Some believe that lower voltage can negatively impact a detector's depth capabilities.

 

[Monte]

I had three Tejón's, and also some Pantera's, Golden Sabre II's, and other AA powered Tesoro's. I have checked out various types of rechargeable AA batteries, and also ran an assortment of Alkaline and Super Heavy Duty AA batteries from many different manufacturers.

My primary purpose for doing testing through many years, especially starting about 1977, has been to monitor three things:

• Detector performance when batteries are fresh, as well as when they are close to a full discharge.

• Monitor the 'battery Life' to provide a functional detector for service.

• Compare battery expense against the functional "run-time" of the different makes of detectors and different brands and types of batteries.

Most of my evaluating of batteries was done between 1977 and 2001, and I used quite a few makes and models of detectors, and a good assortment of batteries and kept track of the actual 'run-time' they provided. There was one brand of Heavy Duty batteries I used from '86 thru '89 that were very affordable and the battery life was better then several Alkaline batteries. Generally, however, it was the Alkaline batteries I concentrated on, and I narrowed the field of batteries I liked based upon never using the worst brand over the duration I evaluated, and relying on the few that gave me very good performance, a longer operating time, and were more affordable.

The 'affordable' part was somewhat important because while the detectors I used provided anywhere from 20 hours to 50 hours of use per set of batteries, back then [size=small](when I was younger and much healthier)[/size], I might have to replace batteries in two or three detectors a week. I did compare 9-volt batteries as well, mainly because I used them after 1990 in my Tesoro Bandido, Bandido II, Bandido II µMAX, Silver Sabre II, Silver Sabre µMAX and Eldorado, plus a few other detectors that would come-and-go.

[size=small](Note: See the models I used to use that provided some of my all-time best success? I kept an 'original' Bandido and yesterday finally completed re-outfitting my arsenal with these All-Time Favorites as noted in my Signature below. :thumbup )[/size]

Manufacturers purchase in bigger quantity than we do in order to control the budget in making and shipping their detectors ready-to-go, and often some of those batteries can provide ample 'run-time' and work well. For the consumer, however, it is more difficult to go shopping and find those batteries, which could be Nova or Panasonic or several other brand names. Looking at the most regular and consistent performance from battery pack to battery pack, my #1 favorite was Duracell, and the performance was almost matched by Eveready.

Generally, I only use Duracell or Eveready alkaline batteries, or Panasonic if these other two aren't available, .... with two exceptions.:

1.. I shop at Costco and use their house-brand, 'Kirkland' AA alkaline batteries. They are made for them by Proctor & Gamble .... the same folks who make Duracell. A pack of 48 Kirkland alkaline costs under $13, the last time I bought a 48-pack, and that breaks down to about 27¢ per battery, so it would be ± $2.16 to power up any 8-AA powered model, such as the Téjon, and with their very good operating time that is very cost efficient.

So my regular-use AA batteries are Kirkland, followed by Duracell or Energizer and then Panasonic if my supply runs low. It usually doesn't.

2.. I also look for seasonal sales on off-brand alkalines that work well enough that they last fine for the price I pay. I am not down to 8 AA alkaline Utili-Tech batteries I bought at Lowe's pre-Christmas of 2011 and in May of 2012. Yes, they are a made in China brand, but Lowe's goes through a lot of batteries so they are reasonably fresh, their ruin-time and been quite good, considering they were sell a box of '30' alkaline batteries for $4 or $5 per box as a holiday sales lead. I think they were more like $4, but even 30 alkalines for $5 is only 16.[size=small]6[/size]¢ each so you could fill your Tejón for about $1.33, so even if you only got 25 hours of operation out of that Tesoro, it would only cost about 5.[size=small]3[/size]¢ per hour.

One of the nice things about the Téjon is that it does operate on 8-AA alkaline batteries and that can be a little more 'affordable' compared with the cost of quality 9V batteries that I need to power up my current Tesoro 6-detector arsenal.

Unless you can get a killer deal price-wise, I'd suggest the Kirkland, Duracell, Energized and Panasonic in order of shopping.

Monte

[size=small]PS: Give some thought to making our September Ghost Town Outing in Nevada, 9th thru 13th, and bring all your good old-site/iron-trash detectors with, including a Tejón. As of Sunday, we have 11 people on the 'to go' list and there's plenty of room for more to join the fun! The two of you could easily get to the towns and RV the entire trip.[/size]

 

[D&P-OR]

Thanks guys for your response to the battery question.-----Very interesting reading your battery evaluation over the years in metal detectors Monte.-----I will look in on purchase of mentioned batteries as (hopefully) special sales prices comes up on them.

 

[BarberBill]

The subject of rechargeable batteries seems to come up fairly often. I'm with Monte on using good quality Alkalines due to the light battery drain on most modern detectors and, at least personally, would be tickled if the battery issue or expense becomes a problem because that would mean I've been doing a lot of detecting. In the end though, use what YOU like.
BB

 

[amberjack]

I use rechargeables heaps cheaper in the short and long term specially for 9 volts buy good ones they last for years and better for the environment also, cheap enough to set up.

and I don't have a pile of battery's that are half used laying around use them in the pin pointer also.

AJ