Dreadful modern batteries

[mykel]

Just tried that over here.

After adding 1 x 4-pack of LADDA HR6 AA, proceeding to checkout and entering my postal code, IKEA are happy to deliver to my door a $9.99 pack of batteries for $14.99 delivery charge, despite there being an IKEA catalogue/pickup store down the road that I could almost drive a golf ball past from where I am sitting.

Should I prefer to collect, I have the option of Burlington, Etobicoke, North York, or Vaughan, the closest of which would be a 3hr round trip; that is, assuming I get a parking spot near to the door, use the employee only shortcuts, and opt out of partaking in the consumption of any claimed to be delicious meatballs that are on offer.

Again, there is an IKEA catalogue/pickup store down the road that I could almost drive a golf ball through the front window of from were I am sitting.

IKEA - Swedish for we haven't a clue!

Strange....

I just put 2 packs of 4 into my cart($19.98) and checked shipping charges....$7.99

Which still makes them half the price of Eneloop black from Amazon...

I wonder if it has anything due to my lack of access to said Golf Cart or proximity to a pickup location?

 

[Craig B]

Strange....

I just put 2 packs of 4 into my cart($19.98) and checked shipping charges....$7.99

Which still makes them half the price of Eneloop black from Amazon...

I wonder if it has anything due to my lack of access to said Golf Cart or proximity to a pickup location?

I've just upped my order to 2 x 4-packs and still get a $14.99 delivery charge.

Are you still living in the same town?

P.S. I ran the quantity up to the max value of 999 units and it said that they couldn't process my order, and suggested I try again tomorrow.(?)

IKEA - Swedish for WTF.

 

[davidsrsb]

.... and opt out of partaking in the consumption of any claimed to be delicious meatballs that are on offer.

IKEA meatballs in Malaysia are halal and very tasty.
One of the few things that they localize.

 

[Craig B]

IKEA meatballs in Malaysia are halal and very tasty.
One of the few things that they localize.

I'll have the kosher rechargeable batteries, hold the getting schtupped, please.

 

[Pete MB&D]

£4 delivery for me, charger and AA and AAA batteries.

Pete

 

[AudioAl]

I Have a 100 box of Amazon AA they last no time at all before dead , Won't be buying again.

 

[Paul L]

I’ve been uncomfortable with this for a while, I certainly won’t buy from anything other that very big name stores that one can have some confidence have a direct account with the regional distributor. As an example I’m still in need of some AA size Eneloops to finally purge my remaining alkaline batteries to the bin and Amazon are out of stock, so I’ll just wait it out. No way am I going to Marketplace sellers or eBay, just way too much risk and uncertainty.

Yes, I was talking to a mate of mine Tony who said exactly that, said he had been stung with various online purchases including Duracell which he measured and found as little as 25% of claimed capacity.

Then sucked it up paying more in a supermarket and those met the spec and clearly lasted far longer than others. Tells me he has subsequently found this with both single use and rechargeable so doesn’t restrict himself from Eneloop, Sanyo, Duracell etc (having had suspected fakes in all of them) but has just become really fussy about where he buys them and doesn’t buy cheap. Also says he reckons it’s so bad that direct sell will probably be their next step.

 

[davidsrsb]

Amazon, eBay, AliExpress, Alibaba etc are no go0 for batteries, nearly everything is fake

 

[Paul L]

Can you trust Amazon though? My mate has had issues from them and not just marketplace. Edited - Sorry, just realised we’re agreeing.

 

[davidsrsb]

Price is no guarantee either. If it is cheap it is certain to be fake, but sometimes the scammers charge normal prices too

 

[Tony L]

Yes, I was talking to a mate of mine Tony who said exactly that, said he had been stung with various online purchases including Duracell which he measured and found as little as 25% of claimed capacity.

I’ve held this view with batteries for a very long time though, i.e. I’m very confident the Duracell and Energiser alkalines I’ve had leak recently were legitimate.

Can you trust Amazon though? My mate has had issues from them and not just marketplace.

I’ve not had anything obviously bad from Amazon, though I only buy from them, never from Marketplace sellers. No eay in hell would I trust the Marketplace, that really is scam central. The ones I have all have embossed codes, all measure as expected aside from the couple that have failed. I do often measure new batteries too just to make sure they are good and fresh. I’m currently throwing out perfectly good batteries as I no longer want any alkaline technology in my kit and most still measure 1.3V or better. It pains me to chuck them, but I’ve lost all confidence in this whole class class of battery and don’t want to risk expensive or rare kit to it.

I suspect if one must use alkaline batteries the way to do it is to go round all your kit every three to six months or so with a multimeter and chuck out any sets of 1.5V batteries where any one/all are measuring about 1.2V or less. Even this doesn’t explain a pair of Energiser AAs I stuck in the remote of my old Sony CRT ‘retro computing’ TV. They went from fresh to one just starting to leak within 6 months or so despite hardly any use. Annoyingly they are long gone now so I can’t measure them, though the three Duracell AAAs in the Lego remote where one leaked were all totally flat and they’d been in for a couple of years. I’m wondering with these two whether something could have been leaning on them pressing a button causing drain, but I think that is very unlikely given how they were located (e.g. the Lego remote was sitting buttons up in the digger’s bucket). I would like to understand the failure mechanism, though I suspect it is actually just crap quality product.

PS I’m throwing so many alkaline batteries out at present I’ve actually just dug them out of the litter bin as I really need to find a way to recycle them. IIRC the local Aldi has a recycling bucket, so I’ll keep them until The After Times.

 

[gintonic]

Can you trust Amazon though

I've never had a problem with Amazon direct. Marketplace yes. If the fakes get through the supply chain to Amazon themselves, then the supply chain is so badly tainted, that the likes of Tesco, Boots, Asda etc etc will also be suffering.

 

[davidsrsb]

chuck out any sets of 1.5V batteries where any one/all are measuring about 1.2V or less.

1.4V is already a well used battery and as far as I go for equipment that I don't use every day. Alkalines start off above 1.6V when new

 

[Arkless Electronics]

I've found modern batteries in general to be much better as far as not leaking goes than the one's when I were a young un...

 

[Craig B]

For quite some years now, our Dollarama (akin to Poundland in the UK?) have been selling Panasonic brand Carbon Zinc, and Alkaline cells. Up until I started on the LADDA rechargeable cells I ran these in everything. I still use the Carbon Zinc in some remotes, flash lights, smoke detectors, etc. The Alkaline ones, I used in anything electronic, especially so, high use items like the Apple peripherals where Carbon Zinc won't last. Regardless, I've long since gotten into the habit of pulling batteries from things that aren't being used for any length of time; less used remotes, and seasonal things like bike lights.

Panasonic AAA Carbon Zinc, 4+1 pack, $1.25; also available in AA 4 pack (never had one leak):

Panasonic AA or AAA Alkaline 4 pack, $2.00; great shelf life, never a leak, not even in the electronic thermostat where a pair of AA would often sit for two years (carelessly left a pair in for 3 years recently - no leak):

 

[Pete MB&D]

I've found modern batteries in general to be much better as far as not leaking goes than the one's when I were a young un...

Yep local cells due to impurities in zinc made holes that let the acid out.

Pete

 

[Craig B]

Good news for Canucks who don't happen to live near an IKEA; just back from a very early Saturday visit to Dollarama (in an effort to avoid any unnecessary exposure) and they've begun carrying Panasonic BK-3LGAA2BDR Ni-MH HR6 AA LSD cells, 2-pack for $4.00. These are spec'd at up to 1100mAh (min 1000mAh), intended for low drain devices. As such, these should be a good substitute for IKEA's now discontinued 1000mAh LADDA AA cells (one pictured in the VINNINGE charger on the previous page) which seem to last forever on a charge in the remotes, and are great in the cordless home phones, despite the latter being anything but low drain whilst in use. Panasonic is claiming 'up to 1500 charges' on the packaging.

Regardless, I'll be giving this pair the Apple Magic Mouse (1st gen) torture test, and will report back here after they've had a couple of charge cycles to settle in.

 

[Tony L]

I just ordered a few packs of Ikea Ladda given it appears that they are Eneloop Pros or very, very close to them (same factory apparently). £4 delivery charge, so way cheaper all-in than buying Eneloops. Worked out at £32.50 for three four-packs of both AA and AAA. That is incredibly cheap per-battery!

 

[Craig B]

I just ordered a few packs of Ikea Ladda given it appears that they are Eneloop Pros or very, very close to them (same factory apparently). £4 delivery charge, so way cheaper all-in than buying Eneloops. Worked out at £32.50 for three four-packs of both AA and AAA. That is incredibly cheap per-battery!

I suspect that Panasonic insisted that the IKEA HR6/AA OEMs be labeled 50mAh less than their own Eneloop sleeved ones.

I've just now double checked and it was 3 years ago this winter that we bought these in. The old Apple Magic Mouse is a battery charge killer, and these LADDA 2450mAh jobbies are having none of it. I was all set to go back to wired mice until these came along.

 

[Tony L]

I suspect that Panasonic insisted that the IKEA HR6/AA OEMs be labeled 50mAh less than their own Eneloop sleeved ones.

I’ve seen suggestions that the Ikea may be Eneloop Pro batches that narrowly fail final QC. I’ve not seen anyone actually cut them both open and compare though. The implication is they pretty much have to be if they are made in Japan as the label suggests as there is apparently only one Japanese factory with the capability of making them, and that they appear under other brand labels too (Fujitsu being one). Ikea having huge economies of scale, needing no national distributors etc, and having no need to advertise them at all is able to sell at very little mark-up.

For me they’ll sink or swim based on how long they hold a charge, which is the Eneloop strength. If I stick one in a clock or whatever I don’t want to have to deal with it again for a year or two!

PS I have a MkI Magic Mouse too so will likely try some in there. Current ones are 2300mAh Energisers I think.