Why Alkaline Batteries are not in my flight bag

MooneyDriver78 said:
You can’t wear one of those headlamps without looking like a geek. ;-)
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I can’t see what I look-like when wearing it, all I can see is it turns night into day. ;)

I also wear a fanny-pack when flying my glider. I know they are horribly out of style, but in a cramped single-person reclined cockpit with a parachute on my back, it’s the only way to carry my snacks and stuff with me in that small space, so I don’t care how I look.

Now if you had an unpainted polished-AL finish airplane, that might be a problem for ya…

Edit to add:
The polite thing to do when around other people, is to wear it down around your neck like a necklace. so you can still see, but don’t blind others.
 
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I like flashlights. I always had three in my airplane before I sold it. Two handheld flashlights and one headlamp. I also kept a cyalume in the airplane, perfect low light if needed and no batteries to worry about.

Alas, I rarely fly at night anymore, especially this time of year when darkness arrives so late in the day.
 
BMan said:
Duraleaks strike again. Their battery guarantee isn't worth the hassle of time/convenience lost, IMHO.
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I just ran across another one that leaked while sitting around.
 
Back when Kodak was in the process of becoming a shell of its former self, I bought an LED flashlight from a discount store, and it came in a package with 18 or 24 Kodak-branded AA alkaline batteries.
No idea who was the actual manufacturer, but a good portion of them leaked while still in date and not installed in equipment. Unfortunately, some were installed in some low drain devices and caused damage.
Last time I purchased anything with that name on it.
 
The only problem I have really found with the lithium is once they die they die. No warning usually. Just working fine and then dead. My Lightspeed Zulu headset recommends alkaline and I put lithium in and when the batteries ran out, the ANR just stopped. No low voltage warning.

Knowing this, I still only stock the lithium in my flight bag...
 
LIPO batteries in planes makes me nervous. Yeah I know that everything has lipo batteries but still. One of those catching fire in a plane and it's not going to go well. I'll stick with NiMH/ LIFE instead.
 
I use tape to tape batteries ends so they don’t touch other stuff and that usually helps a lot.
 
Matthew said:
Many devices have agreements with battery manufacturers to replace damaged units caused by battery leaks in pre-expiration date batteries. Mag light wouldn’t replace my flashlight after the 10yr past expiration date Ray-O-Vacs exploded inside.
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Not anymore. Duracell used to be great about replacing stuff damaged by their batteries. They can't afford to anymore because their batteries are garbage. I have a collection of devices ruined by coppertops. And they don't care. I wouldn't use Duracells in anything I cared about if you gave them to me for free.
 
francisco collazos said:
LIPO batteries in planes makes me nervous. Yeah I know that everything has lipo batteries but still. One of those catching fire in a plane and it's not going to go well. I'll stick with NiMH/ LIFE instead.
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Just to be clear to everyone else, most of this conversation is _not_ talking about “LiPO”, which are “Lithium Ion Polymer” the flat pack / pouch style rechargeable batteries that you have in your smartphone and Tablet, for example.

TLDR: yes LiPo (polymer soft packs) deservedly have a bad reputation, but that doesn’t apply to all other Lithium chemistry’s, and : I wish everything would just all go to LFP (lithium iron phosphate) because that is an inherently safer chemistry.


The long details:
A lot of RC planes use LiPo “soft packs” for lightweight, and yeah they are a fire hazard in multiple ways. (If you ever see it “puff up” or expand/swell in any way, put it outside and away from anything important).

When we say Lithium Primary (non-rechargeable) that is a totally different tech (from Li-Ion rechargeable), that is called Lithium Metal battery and has been around for many decades (started in coin cell batteries and specialty photography batteries but now mainstream in AA/AAA and 9v for smoke detectors).

Even in this thread’s later conversation about rechargeable, I mentioned 18650 cells which are hard-walled cylindrical cells, those usually have internal protections and are Lithium Cobalt or NMC. (Still lithium-ion, but Not as dangerous as LiPo packs)

Like you said, the LiFePO4 is much better inherently safer chemistry:

en.wikipedia.org

Lithium iron phosphate battery - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

I use LPF rechargeable to power my Glider, they basically can-not have a the bad thermal run-away the way that LiPo batteries got a bad reputation. LFP batteries are basically just as-safe as the Lead Acid batteries we’ve all grown up with.

I miss the old NiMh packs for cell phone… that was an interesting stepping stone in the tech ladder…
 
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ACK issued an Installation Advisory in 2019 recommending replacing any Duracell alkaline batteries in their ELT remotes and noisemakers with Eveready or Energizer equivalents or several lithium alternatives. Unfortunately I just found out but fortunately there was no damage.

Nauga,
and assault with battery
 
ChopAndDrop said:
I can’t see what I look-like when wearing it, all I can see is it turns night into day. ;)
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My friend was wearing one of these on the 4th when we were out shooting fireworks. I threatened to stick it somewhere where the sun doesn't shine, you know, to help him out! Every time someone said something to him, he looked over and blinded everyone!!
 
mandm said:
I use tape to tape batteries ends so they don’t touch other stuff and that usually helps a lot.
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I use these for carrying batteries in my plane. Keeps them from touching each other, keeps them organized, etc. When I pull old batteries out of my headsets, I put them back in the hold upside-down so I don't lose them. Battery Holder
 

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Lowflynjack said:
My friend was wearing one of these on the 4th when we were out shooting fireworks. I threatened to stick it somewhere where the sun doesn't shine, you know, to help him out! Every time someone said something to him, he looked over and blinded everyone!!
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The considerate way to wear it, when around other people, is to pull it down around your neck like a necklace. The light is still where your chest/body is pointing to see the ground ahead of you, makes you visible to others (eg car traffic) but…. Doesn’t blind other people when talking to them or they look at you, because the light is down lower.
 
Lowflynjack said:
I use these for carrying batteries in my plane. Keeps them from touching each other, keeps them organized, etc. When I pull old batteries out of my headsets, I put them back in the hold upside-down so I don't lose them. Battery Holder
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If you need to carry a lot, or for storage at home:
You can also use an ammo organizer box (for reloaded / hand loading) to hold 20 or 50 batteries safely…. search online for which “caliber” to buy for AA vs AAA storage.

For my rechargeable NiMh batteries I used to segment them in the box, or use tip up vs tip-down to indicate which are full vs need to be recharged. Until they all went dead and wouldn’t take a charge anymore.
 
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guest user said:
Perhaps a nicely worded email to Duracell would get them replaced as they obviously did not last until Mar 2025.
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So I did that and just got a $5 coupon in the mail today.
 
ChopAndDrop said:
A lot of RC planes use LiPo “soft packs” for lightweight, and yeah they are a fire hazard in multiple ways. (If you ever see it “puff up” or expand/swell in any way, put it outside and away from anything important).
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I was still flying RC (glow fuel) when these were becoming popular with the e-flyers. The accepted protocol was to charge them in a clay flower pot, and not too close to the cars. They did sometimes get ‘exciting’
 
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