As a traveling diver, chances are
you tote something that uses alkaline
batteries. But, which should
you buy? Is that drum beating
bunny better than all the others?
Not according to Consumer
Reports recent tests of eight
brands. While they judged all the
batteries to be “excellent,” divers
should avoid some than drain to
raidly in high drain usage such as
strobes.
In the AA category, rated by
overall score, with the best listed
first, were GE Sanyo, Panasonic,
Duracell, Kodak, Eveready, Radio
Shack, Rayovac and Sears. Sears
rated “worse than most in high -
and maximum-drain tests.”
C size ratings were Duracell,
Rayovac, GE Sanyo, Panasonic,
Kodak, Sears, Radio Shack, and
Eveready. Sears and Eveready
were “worse than most in
maximum drain test.”
D size, rated with the best first,
were Duracell, Rayovac,
Panasonic, GE Sanyo, Sears,
Kodak, Eveready, and Radio
Shack. Sears and Eveready rated
“worse than most in maximum
drain test.”
Buy according to price, says
Consumer Reportes, and
Pricewise, the GE Sanyo won
hands down, especially in the AA
category where the average
national price for the fourpack
was $1.84.
Panasonic rechargeable Nicad
AA tested significantly better than
three others: Eveready, Radio
Shack, and GE Sanyo. Panasonic
is available only at BJ’s and
Costco.
And, does cold storage keep
your batteries fresher? Not by
much, they conclude. They’ve
been sorting batteries in a refrigerator
since 1994 and find that
while the AA’s remained nearly
perfect, those stored at room
temperature retained 96 percent
of their charge. The C and D
cells stored in a refrigerator had a
ten percent greater charge than
those at room temperature.