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It failed often enough that it wasn’t all that useful. A cheap battery tester is better. And for 9volts you can also use the tongue test, lol (don’t really though). My grandfather used to do that all the time.
What’s wrong with the tongue test for 9 volts? I know it tickles some but is it actually harmful? I’ve been doing that for over 30 years…
It’s not much power, so it’s not likely to cause major or permanent damage, but it may affect others differently and could cause burns if left on too long like if someone is less sensitive and doesn’t think it’s live.
And if the person is grounded and if they touch the hot side of the battery first there’s a chance the charge could travel through the body rather than just the tongue. It’s not enough to affect a heart, but might disrupt a pacemaker or other embedded device.
And of the battery is leaking, it could cause permanent damage from chemical burns from the alkaline and poisoning from heavy metals which while unlikely to be deadly with just one battery, heavy metal poisoning is cumulative across a lifetime.
So under ideal circumstances it is safe, but there are always risks with electricity and toxic chemicals, though relatively small.
The tongue test works great. Be warned, though, that a full battery will make your tongue go numb. It’ll feel like you have a big hole in the middle. Try it.
Ouch, I never had that problem, but I only barely touch it, lol. It’s a little shock and slightly numb briefly. But fortunately I never had full numbness that lasted more than a second or two. But I haven’t done it in a long time since I have a tester now. 😁
Everytime i test a battery like this, my wife just shakes her head and reminds me that I’m definitely from Kentucky lol
I remember those.
Would be nice to have them on my 18650s
This I can get behind.
I don’t need it on all my 18650s, but a few would be nice. Also 21700s.
Someone bring this back.
The voltage-to-capacity radio for lithium is much less linear compared to alkaline so it wouldn’t really work well :(
They checked out
I have a really distinct memory of finding a bunch of these in a friend’s house when I was a kid and every one was empty. After watching the TC video I think it’s more likely I just wasn’t pressing hard enough and had no way to know that. Anyway, I can see why they stopped making them.
I ended up buying a couple testers from Walmart for like $5 and they’ve been super useful! Definitely worth having in every household
Yea, you have to press till it hurts, lol
But the video purports that normal people don’t really test batteries.
Yeah, it was a novelty that increased the price to manufacture and didn’t actually add anything of value to users.
Either you put batteries in something and they worked or they didn’t, and if they stopped working the next step is try different batteries whether or not the little gauge showed it had charge left.
Now if it was added to rechargeable batteries, it would be pretty useful because tou could do something with the knowledge of a battery being at 50%. But a lot of systems with rechargeable batteries have them built in and some other way to show remaining charge like a percentage on a screen.
I concur about rechargeables - it doesn’t seem common for devices that take AA or AAA to have a battery gauge and it would be nice to be able to check the level on my rechargeables stock so I can know if I should top them off without needing to put each of them into the charger.
And pairing them correctly for paralel charging too!
It was pretty useful as a kid for feeding my Gameboy and Game Gear with batteries I rescued from the junk drawers of friends and family. If they were low, I knew I had to save more often to avoid losing progress if they went dead while I was playing.
I think all of your points were covered in the video, sometimes almost verbatim.
Neat!
I didn’t bother watching the video, so I guess the reasons were pretty obvious.
How dare you ignore Alec’s video? 😤
Select one or more of the following.
- Too lazy.
- I assumed it was a rickroll.
- Figured the video was just another version of the article.
- At work and didn’t headphones handy.
I selected all and it’s still not enough of a reason!
Bow to Alec! Let Alec consume you!
Now if it was added to rechargeable batteries, it would be pretty useful
I think the reason we haven’t seen that is that NiMH rechargeables have fairly stable voltage during discharge while alkalines don’t.
It turned out that batteries randomly lying around are always empty. Functioning batteries are still in the device it’s operating or in the box it was sold in.
He draws similar conclusions in his video.
Video on technology connections: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsA3X40nz9w
Nice try, Alec Watson…
Naw, we’re all just his stans.
I mean I’d rather Alec get the direct views than this weird hackaday article that’s just a description of his video with a link. Not trying to knock hackaday but this is real close to freebooting.
Ok now I am trying to knock hackaday after learning the ownership chain goes up to Siemens. Frigg off with this corpo garbage.
Yeeaah I drew the line at the printscreens, it was a really interesting video with a lot of effort and research put in, unlike this article.
it was a really interesting video with a lot of effort and research put in
Like all of Alec’s videos :)
“Wait, is that a Duracell battery check?”
Oh man that transition. Chef’s kiss. Amazing
Does anyone remember the battery testers that were built into the packaging? I think they were based on the same concept.
I do
They are mentioned in the video.
I was a kid then, but I remember that I had to push so hard my fingers hurt… I used a multimeter.
Well the pros and cons of the multimeter are addresses in the video! He uses a meter on a dead battery and it still shows a deceptively reasonable voltage when not under load. The built-in tester draws more current.
My technique is to use the 10a mode on the multimeter and check the battery. A full AA will do nearly 10 amps and dead ones much less. Careful with larger cells or rechargeables since you might blow the fuse in your meter.
That sounds a little like testing matches “Yes, that one works. I mean: worked.”
you just had to put one of the other fingers on the battery groumd and not push that hard iirc
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Let me introduce You to these spent uranium fuel rods.
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Just use your $200+ Fluke to check the batteries, problem solved.
If they are not rechargeable, they don’t make sense, you just use them and throw them in the used up recycle pile. And if they are rechargeable, you already have a charger that does it.
It also has to be a waste of some resource that is rare to not use up and throw away like this.
It never went away. I have a duracell battery with power check sitting next to me on my desk
What sizes are still sold with the on-battery tester? AFAIK it’s now only available on the multipack box.
I think it was a 4-pack
also germany, actually
So the US said later, indicator, while Germany said $punchlineRemainderPls
“Es ist aber smarter mit so einem Indikator!”
😆
My dad used to just put them on his tongue for a power check. Not entirely sure how that worked. Personally I just use a multimeter.
You can do that with the 9 volt batteries and feel how much “tingle” they have, but never heard of it working with aa batteries. Wouldn’t he have to stick the whole thing in his mouth to complete the circuit?
I did know a girl in college …
Even if you did (don’t eat batteries), the voltage range is much lower and you probably wouldn’t feel anything.
-Are you testing batteries again? -(with my mouth full) nogh
It’s pretty shocking, but I can fit 2 Ds in my mouth.
ah, I love it when mothers teach their kids valuable skills
Your mother must be so proud.
Yeah. Doesn’t make any sense honestly. I think he thought he could power check it but didn’t understand the actual mechanics of how it works. Glass onion eh.
I do this with AAs. Basically put the side with the bump (positive) on the tip of the tongue and touch the flat (negative) side with a wet finger. It gives out a mild but distinctive ‘taste’, not enough to tingle but definitely something I am able to notice, when the cell has decent juice.
It broke too many thumbs.
There were cheaper ones with a tester attached to the box, maybe they were energizer?
Oh, I remember that! It was inside the little packet
