A Long-Lived Battery...

[CitroJim]

A few weeks ago the spark igniter packed up on my gas cooker... I assumed it was a self-powered piezo job and put it down to it being life expired after 20 years of hard use... Certainly the igniter button had a bit of a 'piezo' feel about it...

So I bought a gas lighter disguised as a cigarette lighter on steroids... It worked well even though a bit of impromptu yoga was needed to light the oven.

Today I gave my cooker a good, deep clean. In the process, I discovered the igniter is not piezo but appeared to be battery operated...

It was well hidden but eventually I found the battery An ordinary AA Cell... I never knew it existed until today...

This battery has given 20 years of faithful service on a very heavily used cooker... I'm very impressed with it... It was not even leaky. Top marks to Energiser for making a very high quality industrial cell. Clearly Cannon, the maker of the cooker, knew the best battery to fit.

I know it's 20 years old as I bought the cooker brand-new when I moved to my current residence and that was 20 years ago this month...

Even now the battery registers just over a volt when checked on a multimeter!

A new battery has restored normal igniter operation although I doubt it'll last another 20 years...

Can anyone beat an ordinary AA battery living longer? Not even in my clocks do they last that long...






..

[mickthemaverick]

Some credit for this battery's longevity must also go to Cannon Jim, not for choosing the right battery, but for designing a battery powered circuit which clearly has absolutely no leakance at all when not in use!! Quite a feat these days as very often dry cells will have some leakance to their environment - a slightly conductive atmosphere etc, Nevertheless a remarkable performance in my view!!

[mickthemaverick]

It would appear they are renowned for their longevity!:

https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/ne ... ida-551165

[mickthemaverick]

As the record identified in my last post was for the Lithium AA cell by Energiser, I have advised them of the performance of your Alkaline cell Jim in the hope that they may offer you a lucrative advertising contract!! (I'm on 10% )

[bobins]

Not an AA battery, but I know of a wet-cell Ni-Cad bank that must be 30+ years old still capable of starting a 125kVA genset. Wouldn't like to buy a replacement set of those

Off on a tangent - were the wet cell 2volt(?) glass back-up battery banks used in telephone exchanges known for their longevity or were they turned over frequently ? Always used to see them in odd places.

[mickthemaverick]

As I remember it bobins the set of glass cells in Watford ATE's battery room were never replaced during the 13 years I worked there. They were actually used to provide a seperate supply for metering known as the positive battery supply. The main supply for the 50V working equipment was provided by lead acid open cells, floated across the output of 3 phase rectifiers, each of which had a hydrometer floating in the electrolyte allowing the engineer in charge, usually known as the Power Man, to monitor continuously the state of the batteries and top up as and when necessary.

We also had a seperate set of glass cells down in the diesel room which provided the power for the starter motors on the twin diesel generators. Likewise they were never replaced during my residence there from apprentice through to Manager of the Group Switching Centre. !

[CitroJim]

Not an AA battery, but I know of a wet-cell Ni-Cad bank that must be 30+ years old still capable of starting a 125kVA genset. Wouldn't like to buy a replacement set of those

Ahh yes! We had a few of those installed in some of our unmanned hillltop microwave relay stations... Chosen for their long life and not needing a lot of attention... 30+ years easily... Ours were a lot smaller as they only needed to run microwave link equipment and not start any standby generators...

Off on a tangent - were the wet cell 2volt(?) glass back-up battery banks used in telephone exchanges known for their longevity or were they turned over frequently ? Always used to see them in odd places.

I can't comment on telephone exchange batteries but we had two massive 440V banks of 2V glass lead-acid batteries to run our comcen UPS during power cuts... Life was infinite as they could be, if ever needed, rebuilt... A monthly task for us was to check their SGs and top up where necessary.

In the 25 years or so I was involved with them, they never deteriorated and not one ever failed... They spent almost their whole life on float-charge...

On the subject of lead-acid batteries, the OE battery in my youngest's Pixo lasted 11 years and was not failed when I swapped it out. I look after it and it's still capable of starting a car. Bluebell was the last it started!

It would appear they are renowned for their longevity!:

https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/ne ... ida-551165

Wow! So mine's nothing special then!

As the record identified in my last post was for the Lithium AA cell by Energiser, I have advised them of the performance of your Alkaline cell Jim in the hope that they may offer you a lucrative advertising contract!! (I'm on 10% )

Thanks I may yet get my 15 minutes of fame And yes, Cannon did indeed position the battery with care, away from all heat and any potential cooking spills - hence why it was so hard to find

It's right at the bottom of the inset plinth in its own compartment and well sealed by a cover secured by Allen screws!

[xantia_v6]

Last year while creating space in the garage, I dusted off an old wooden case STC magneto telephone dating from about 1920. I was surprised to see that it still had its dry cell batteries, with a replacement date of 1962. They had not leaked, but I did not think to check for voltage.

[CitroJim]

Last year while creating space in the garage, I dusted off an old wooden case STC magneto telephone dating from about 1920. I was surprised to see that it still had its dry cell batteries, with a replacement date of 1962. They had not leaked, but I did not think to check for voltage.

60 years ago! Now that is long-lived... I've seen a few photos of some very old batteries in the vintage radio forum but invariably they're little more than lumps of corrosion... Grid Bias batteries could live a long time though...

Shame you never checked them Mike... I'd wager they may still have produced a bit of voltage...

[myglaren]

Even older



182 years!