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How much current does a flashlight battery offer?

W

wylbur37

Jan 1, 1970
0
For the typical flashlight battery (AAA, AA, C, D),
all of them are 1.5 volts, but how much current do they offer?
(I'm guessing it's around 100 to 150mA, and it varies according
to the type of load that's on it).

And does it differ according to the battery size?
(does a "D" cell offer more current than an "AA"?)
or is it just that the D lasts longer?
 
W

Watson A.Name - \Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\

Jan 1, 1970
0
wylbur37 said:
For the typical flashlight battery (AAA, AA, C, D),
all of them are 1.5 volts, but how much current do they offer?
(I'm guessing it's around 100 to 150mA, and it varies according
to the type of load that's on it).
And does it differ according to the battery size?
(does a "D" cell offer more current than an "AA"?)
or is it just that the D lasts longer?

It depends. For AA cells, the digital cameras draw more than a half amp
at times. D cells can handle much more than an amp. If you want the
batteries to last longer, then the current drain should be less. We're
talking about alkalines here.
 
A

Al

Jan 1, 1970
0
For the typical flashlight battery (AAA, AA, C, D),
all of them are 1.5 volts, but how much current do they offer?
(I'm guessing it's around 100 to 150mA, and it varies according
to the type of load that's on it).

And does it differ according to the battery size?
(does a "D" cell offer more current than an "AA"?)
or is it just that the D lasts longer?

Google search yielded:

http://professional.duracell.com/start.asp?section=product_data&page=alka
line&hardload=chemistrylist&chemistry=alkaline&lang=english

al
 
R

Roger Hamlett

Jan 1, 1970
0
wylbur37 said:
For the typical flashlight battery (AAA, AA, C, D),
all of them are 1.5 volts, but how much current do they offer?
(I'm guessing it's around 100 to 150mA, and it varies according
to the type of load that's on it).

And does it differ according to the battery size?
(does a "D" cell offer more current than an "AA"?)
or is it just that the D lasts longer?
Two seperate ratings involved. The 'current' is limited by the internal
resistance of the battery, the resistance of the load, and by the way the
chemistry behaves. A dead short across even a AA battery, can produce
currents over 10A, for a short time, with some battery designs (NiCad in
particular). Yes, the available current does rise with battery size, with
more volume for the chemistry, and areas/thicknesses for the electrodes.
The second rating, is the mAHr rating. This gives a figure for how much
current can be delivered for how long. This figure is normally based upon
the current that will discharge the battery in 10 hours. So a battery with
a 1000mAHr rating, should be able to deliver 0.1A, for 10 hours.
Now a typical AA Zinc-Cabon battery might offer perhaps 1000mAHr, while a
D cell will perhaps offer 4000mAHr. Note that the latter implies a 'test'
current 4 times as high as that used on the smaller battery.
Some battery chemistries function better at high discharge rates than
others. So (for instance), a NiCad D battery, may well support operation
at 50* it's 'ten hour' current, and still give perhaps 25% of the full
capacity, while designs like zinc-air, will only deliver low currents,
even into a dead short.
When multiple 'capacity' versions of the same battery exist, the extra
capacity is often gained at the cost of other features. So (for instance),
on NiMh batteries, where versions with higher capacities exist, these
often show higher internal resistance (so will work less well at high
loads), and increased 'self discharge' rates (they will run down quicker
when not in use).
A typical zinc-carbon D cell, delivering half an amp, will run for perhaps
4 hours. A high quality alkaline manganese dioxide battery into the same
load, will top 20 hours. The internal resistance of the D cell, will
typically be less than 0.2ohms, while the AA of the same type, may well
have an internal resistance over 0.4ohm.
Generall, AA batteries offer some of the best volumetric, and gravimetric
power output (pack the most 'power' into the least weight, and volume).

Best Wishes
 
J

Jacques Carrier

Jan 1, 1970
0
Watson A.Name - \"Watt Sun said:
It depends. For AA cells, the digital cameras draw more than a half amp
at times. D cells can handle much more than an amp. If you want the
batteries to last longer, then the current drain should be less. We're
talking about alkalines here.

Here is what you need to know.

acell Alkaline MN1300 1.5V 14AH D "D" CELL
Duracell Alkaline MN1400 1.5V 7.0AH C "C" CELL
Duracell Alkaline MN1500 1.5V 2.45AH AA "AA" CELL
Duracell Alkaline MN1604 9V .565AH 9V "9V" SIZE
Duracell Alkaline MN21 12V .038AH CAR ALARM REMOTE BATTERY
Duracell Alkaline MN2400 1.5V 1.1AH AAA "AAA" CELL
 
C

CWatters

Jan 1, 1970
0
wylbur37 said:
For the typical flashlight battery (AAA, AA, C, D),
all of them are 1.5 volts, but how much current do they offer?
(I'm guessing it's around 100 to 150mA, and it varies according
to the type of load that's on it).

GP 3000/3300 Sub C NiMH cells (not quite typical flashlight batteries) have
been used in model aircraft to power motors drawing 150A+ (yes that's One
hundred and fifty Amps). In shorts bursts I should add.

http://ewc2004.users.btopenworld.com/BEFA/photographs.htm

One team had a few cells explode - not surprising really.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=288470&stc=1
 
J

James Sweet

Jan 1, 1970
0
wylbur37 said:
For the typical flashlight battery (AAA, AA, C, D),
all of them are 1.5 volts, but how much current do they offer?
(I'm guessing it's around 100 to 150mA, and it varies according
to the type of load that's on it).

And does it differ according to the battery size?
(does a "D" cell offer more current than an "AA"?)
or is it just that the D lasts longer?

Batteries are rated in amp-hours, which is the amount of current that can be
supplied for an hour (within a certain range). Even the lowly AA alkaline
can probably supply over an amp for brief periods, a D will be capable of
much more. When you get talking rechargeables some of them can supply tens
of amps.
 
P

Peter A Forbes

Jan 1, 1970
0
Batteries are rated in amp-hours, which is the amount of current that can be
supplied for an hour (within a certain range). Even the lowly AA alkaline
can probably supply over an amp for brief periods, a D will be capable of
much more. When you get talking rechargeables some of them can supply tens
of amps.

Non-Nicad cells are rated in Milliampere-hours, but the rate of discharge is
very restricted, and I doubt you would get anything near an amp out of them due
to the high internal impedance. They are designed for very low discharge
currents.

Nicad cells are a different beast, and up to 20 or more amps can be drawn
short-term, in fact we have had battery pack links melted through
short-circuits.

I seem to remember that D cells are 4.5AH in Nicad and 15000 mAH in
Alkaline-Manganese, 0.6AH for AA Nicad and 1500mAH for A-M. In all cases the
Alkaline cells are much higher in nominal capacity, but that capacity is only
available at very low discharge rates.

Peter
 
C

CWatters

Jan 1, 1970
0
Nicad cells are a different beast, and up to 20 or more amps can be drawn
short-term,

Way more than that even. 70A is possible and recent Sub C size NiMH cells
have been used at 150A (4 second bursts every 20 seconds until empty)
 
W

Watson A.Name - \Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\

Jan 1, 1970
0
Roger Hamlett said:
Two seperate ratings involved. The 'current' is limited by the internal
resistance of the battery, the resistance of the load, and by the way the
chemistry behaves. A dead short across even a AA battery, can produce
currents over 10A, for a short time, with some battery designs (NiCad in
particular). Yes, the available current does rise with battery size, with
more volume for the chemistry, and areas/thicknesses for the electrodes.
The second rating, is the mAHr rating. This gives a figure for how much
current can be delivered for how long. This figure is normally based upon
the current that will discharge the battery in 10 hours. So a battery with
a 1000mAHr rating, should be able to deliver 0.1A, for 10 hours.
Now a typical AA Zinc-Cabon battery might offer perhaps 1000mAHr, while a
D cell will perhaps offer 4000mAHr. Note that the latter implies a 'test'
current 4 times as high as that used on the smaller battery.
Some battery chemistries function better at high discharge rates than
others. So (for instance), a NiCad D battery, may well support operation
at 50* it's 'ten hour' current, and still give perhaps 25% of the full
capacity, while designs like zinc-air, will only deliver low currents,
even into a dead short.
When multiple 'capacity' versions of the same battery exist, the extra
capacity is often gained at the cost of other features. So (for instance),
on NiMh batteries, where versions with higher capacities exist, these
often show higher internal resistance (so will work less well at high
loads),

In my experience, the opposite is true. The newer high capacity AA
Ni-MH cells of 2000 mAH and higher have very low internal resistance,
and last longer in my digital camera than the older ones. And digital
cameras, especially mine, with autofocus and flash, use a lotta current,
probably much more than an amp at times. You might think, why does he
seem to imply that the length of time has something to do with the
internal resistance? Well, in this case, when the four AA cells start
to get discharged, the camera starts to do things like shut off the LCD
while the flash is recharging. And it takes longer to 'boot up' the
camera when the batteries are low. Finally the camera's LCD won't come
on and the battery symbol just flashes. Time for another set of freshly
charged AA cells. But the cells aren't discharged that bad, their
internal resistance has just gone up.
and increased 'self discharge' rates (they will run down quicker
when not in use).

Yeah, that seems to be the case. I've left charged batteries in my
camera case for a couple months and I notice they last a lot shorter
time in the camera. So now I'm putting a post-it on the battery
carrying case with the charging date. And I check them and recharge
when they've sat around a couple months.
 
A

Al

Jan 1, 1970
0
Nicad cells are a different beast, and up to 20 or more amps can be drawn
short-term,

Way more than that even. 70A is possible and recent Sub C size NiMH cells
have been used at 150A (4 second bursts every 20 seconds until empty)
[/QUOTE]

Many years ago I knew someone who worked at a cell manufacturing
company. There was, ahem, a certain amount of leakage at the gate. After
his car battery died, he used 6 "A" sized cells connected in series to
start his Volkwagen. Yes, it was in the days when they used the 6V
battery system.

Al
 
T

The Phantom

Jan 1, 1970
0
GP 3000/3300 Sub C NiMH cells (not quite typical flashlight batteries) have
been used in model aircraft to power motors drawing 150A+ (yes that's One
hundred and fifty Amps). In shorts bursts I should add.

I have a 50 amp full scale (panel type) ammeter with heavy copper
sheet about 2 inches long attached to the terminals. Applying this
dead short to a 2100 mah AA Panasonic NiMH, I get 40 amps! I can well
believe that if you do this for long, you might get a burst cell.
 
T

The Phantom

Jan 1, 1970
0
For the typical flashlight battery (AAA, AA, C, D),
all of them are 1.5 volts, but how much current do they offer?
(I'm guessing it's around 100 to 150mA, and it varies according
to the type of load that's on it).

And does it differ according to the battery size?
(does a "D" cell offer more current than an "AA"?)
or is it just that the D lasts longer?

Go have a look here for the alkaline type cells:
http://data.energizer.com/datasheets/contents/alkconsumeroem.htm

and here for the NiMH cells:
http://data.energizer.com/datasheets/contents/nimh.htm

It's interesting to note that the internal resistance of the D
alkaline (173 milliohms) is larger than than that of the AA cells (146
milliohms).

It's also interesting to note that the volume of a D cell is 6.9 times
that of an AA cell, and the capacity of an alkaline D is 6.3 times
that of an alkaline AA (numbers taken from the Energizer site).

But the capacity of a NiMH D cell is only 3.7 times that of a NiMH AA
cell (calculated using 8500 mah for D cells, and 2300 mah for AA
cells, currently near the state of the art).

It looks like the battery folks have been really working hard to
squeeze more into the NiMH AA cells.
 
K

Ken Weitzel

Jan 1, 1970
0
The said:
Go have a look here for the alkaline type cells:
http://data.energizer.com/datasheets/contents/alkconsumeroem.htm

and here for the NiMH cells:
http://data.energizer.com/datasheets/contents/nimh.htm

It's interesting to note that the internal resistance of the D
alkaline (173 milliohms) is larger than than that of the AA cells (146
milliohms).

It's also interesting to note that the volume of a D cell is 6.9 times
that of an AA cell, and the capacity of an alkaline D is 6.3 times
that of an alkaline AA (numbers taken from the Energizer site).

But the capacity of a NiMH D cell is only 3.7 times that of a NiMH AA
cell (calculated using 8500 mah for D cells, and 2300 mah for AA
cells, currently near the state of the art).

It looks like the battery folks have been really working hard to
squeeze more into the NiMH AA cells.

Hi...

Think of capacity not in terms of volume, but
rather as a function of exposed surface area.

Ken
 
T

The Phantom

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hi...

Think of capacity not in terms of volume, but
rather as a function of exposed surface area.

Ken

Think of a hollow cube, 1 inch on a side. Now take a bunch of 1 inch by 1 inch metal
plates, .1 inch thick. 10 of them will fit in the cube, and with each plate having a
surface area of 2 square inches (neglecting the edges), this will give a total of 20
square inches of plate surface area in the cube. Now increase the size of the cube to 2
inches on a side, and increase the plates to 2 by 2 inches. Now each plate has a surface
area of 8 square inches, and 20 of them will fit in the cube for a total of 160 inches of
plate surface area in the cube. The bigger cube has 8 times the volume of the smaller and
8 times as much plate surface area will fit in the bigger cube. This same principle also
holds if the plates are wound in a spiral and pressed into a cylinder, so the exposed
surface area is in fact directly proportional to the volume of the container.
 
J

James Sweet

Jan 1, 1970
0
The Phantom said:
Go have a look here for the alkaline type cells:
http://data.energizer.com/datasheets/contents/alkconsumeroem.htm

and here for the NiMH cells:
http://data.energizer.com/datasheets/contents/nimh.htm

It's interesting to note that the internal resistance of the D
alkaline (173 milliohms) is larger than than that of the AA cells (146
milliohms).

It's also interesting to note that the volume of a D cell is 6.9 times
that of an AA cell, and the capacity of an alkaline D is 6.3 times
that of an alkaline AA (numbers taken from the Energizer site).

But the capacity of a NiMH D cell is only 3.7 times that of a NiMH AA
cell (calculated using 8500 mah for D cells, and 2300 mah for AA
cells, currently near the state of the art).

It looks like the battery folks have been really working hard to
squeeze more into the NiMH AA cells.

That and most rechargeable "D" cells are really just sub-C or even AA's in a
D shell. You can get real D cells but they're expensive.
 
D

Dr. Neutron

Jan 1, 1970
0
Batteries are rated in amp-hours, which is the amount of current that can be
supplied for an hour (within a certain range). Even the lowly AA alkaline
can probably supply over an amp for brief periods,

At the Energizer web site I referenced in another post, they say that the internal
resistance of a fresh alkaline AA cell is .146 ohms. When I short a fresh alkaline AA
cell with my 50 amp meter, I get 11 amps, just about what you get when you divide 1.5
volts by .146 ohms.

a D will be capable of
 
W

Watson A.Name - \Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\

Jan 1, 1970
0
The Phantom said:
Go have a look here for the alkaline type cells:
http://data.energizer.com/datasheets/contents/alkconsumeroem.htm

and here for the NiMH cells:
http://data.energizer.com/datasheets/contents/nimh.htm

It's interesting to note that the internal resistance of the D
alkaline (173 milliohms) is larger than than that of the AA cells (146
milliohms).

It's also interesting to note that the volume of a D cell is 6.9 times
that of an AA cell, and the capacity of an alkaline D is 6.3 times
that of an alkaline AA (numbers taken from the Energizer site).

But the capacity of a NiMH D cell is only 3.7 times that of a NiMH AA
cell (calculated using 8500 mah for D cells, and 2300 mah for AA
cells, currently near the state of the art).

It looks like the battery folks have been really working hard to
squeeze more into the NiMH AA cells.

Baloney! They're putting _less_ into the D cells! The D Ni-MH cells
that I've seen are just AA cells inside D sized shells.
 
D

Dave Platt

Jan 1, 1970
0
But the capacity of a NiMH D cell is only 3.7 times that of a NiMH AA
cell (calculated using 8500 mah for D cells, and 2300 mah for AA
cells, currently near the state of the art).

It looks like the battery folks have been really working hard to
squeeze more into the NiMH AA cells.

Baloney! They're putting _less_ into the D cells! The D Ni-MH cells
that I've seen are just AA cells inside D sized shells.[/QUOTE]

Some yes, some no.

It looks as if the Energizer DNH2 is a 2200-mAh AA-type cell in a D
jacket... at an online price of $7 each at one dealer. YUCK.

On the other hand, the "Powerizer NMH9500" from ZBattery.com is a 9500
mAh battery, for $6 each.

Sometimes, you do _not_ get what you pay for!
 
W

Watson A.Name - \Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\

Jan 1, 1970
0
Dave Platt said:
Watson A.Name - \"Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\"

Some yes, some no.

It looks as if the Energizer DNH2 is a 2200-mAh AA-type cell in a D
jacket... at an online price of $7 each at one dealer. YUCK.

On the other hand, the "Powerizer NMH9500" from ZBattery.com is a 9500
mAh battery, for $6 each.

Sometimes, you do _not_ get what you pay for!

Exactly. They give you 1/4 the capacity for 1/2 the price. Simple
economics - make more $ for less.

That's the same thing that they are doing with the "USB 2.0" cables.
Nobody realizes that that the USB 2.0 signals were intended to work over
1.0 and 1.1 cables.
AE6EO
 
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