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Some Thoughts On Batteries


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4 hours ago, brogansown said:

There are some neat protective caps from Keystone Electronics to put on your reserve 9 volt batteries available.

I was out one time with the Fisher Gold Bug Pro and Garrett Carrot pinpointer (each needs a single 9V battery) and following my Boy Scout days' advice/motto ("Be Prepared"), headed out with two (brand new) 9V batteries in my pocket.  After hiking a while I noticed things were heating up in my pocket!  One of them shorted out against the other.  No major safety issue resulted, but I sure lost a lot of juice out of the one that shorted.

It's amazing to me that after how many years that 9V batteries have existed, they still don't all come with the kind of protective cap or insert as in your photo.  Heck, I even remember from my (not so smart) high school years testing them with my tongue.  (Don't laugh, Phrunt -- I bet you did too!)

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I still test them that way too! But i also always put scotch tape over each one in my battery box to keep from shorting and catching the house on fire! (Yes, it can happen!)👍👍

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6 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

I still do that!

Dumb question for the group. 

What exactly does 'testing' them with your tongue tell you?  I know it gives a little zap but what does that mean? 

It is a 100% full battery?  It is greater than 90%?  Greater than 50%?  It's just fun, it doesn't tell us anything worthwhile and it is even funnier when you get a kid to do it for the first time?   🤣

In my life the only thing that I seem to come across that uses 9V batteries are the syringe drivers at work.  We have to change them when they get to 43% capacity - which the driver tells us.  They are still working at that point but the thought is that 24 hours later when the syringe needs to be changed again it will have dropped into 'not 'working properly' territory.  

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9 minutes ago, phrunt said:

a strong tingle on your tongue indicates a battery with a strong charge

You got a battery tester Phrunt?  Be funny to get a Tingle Test Table that also shows an actual % of charge  🤓

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2 hours ago, Northeast said:

It's just fun, it doesn't tell us anything worthwhile and it is even funnier when you get a kid to do it for the first time?   🤣

I hope we don't see you on the evening news (and I don't mean for finding a large nugget)....

2 hours ago, phrunt said:

It does work, a strong tingle on your tongue indicates a battery with a strong charge, you get to know your tingles after a while 🙂  It can tell a newbie flat or good!

I've 'graduated' to multimeters ('vometers' we used to call them, but that's too puerile today, too).  I keep one in my detecting travel pack.  I can buy them on sale for about $10 and they seem to be accurate enough.  (Then again, I never calibrated my tongue like you sickos.)

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