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Best Deals on Batteries

2K views 24 replies 13 participants last post by  Dark_Lightning 
#1 ·
I have several digital gauges that us CR2032 batteries. Buying them at a big box store is expensive and buying them online is a crap-shoot.


Has anyone found a good source for batteries that provides low cost and fresh batteries?
 
#6 ·
I just looked in the drawer at the CR 2025 and CR 2032 I have. I bought them to replace the ones in car key fobs, digital indicators, etc. about 5 years ago. They are all Energizer and IIRC they were like $12 for a strip of 10 with free shipping. I just used Google to search for the battery by number. I think that mine came from New York.
 
#8 ·
I buy the cheapest CR2032 batteries I can find on eBay. I bought an unlabeled pack of 20 for $1.95 shipped from China in January 2017. I have a few left and was telling myself last week that I need to order more. I put them in car remote fobs, the garage remote controls, and the high ceiling fan remote, and there are many other uses. They work well enough. It does not feel like I am replacing them more often than brand-name batteries.

At that price, my biggest concern might be whether the manufacturer could be cheating on environmental regulations, either through its manufacturing process or the metals and chemicals in the batteries themselves for future disposal. It is only a thought; I have no evidence one way or the other.

I stock an assortment of replacement "button" batteries in my home office. I keep them in a small plastic tub, the kind that sandwich meat comes in. My spouse has a large number of inexpensive costume jewelry watches. At least I was able to teach her to pull out the stem to stop the watch before putting it away. It isn't about the cost of batteries, it is my time to replace them. She has so many of those cheap watches that it seemed like I was replacing batteries every day until she learned to turn the watches off, other than "today's watch."

Side note:
I do not understand the disparity in shipping costs from China to the US, versus the other direction. How anyone can sell 20 CR2032 batteries from China, deliver them to my front door, and make a profit, all for $1.95 is beyond me. If I buy something from China, I assume it is "no return policy" because the cost for me to return those same batteries back to China would be very high. As my father said, "You pays your money and you takes your chances."
 
#11 ·
Are you certain that they are not counterfeit? I found this interesting article in a web search:

https://www.microbattery.com/counterfeit-sony-watch-coin-batteries

I have seen reports that Amazon has been made more aware of counterfeit products and may be improving in that regard. How much improvement there has been since the article in the link above was written, I cannot say. I do not know about eBay, but it would not surprise me to learn that eBay is still rife with counterfeit products.

Among other things in the article, I learned that the batteries from China are being shipped to the US by illegal methods. Until I read the article, I did not know that it is illegal to ship lithium batteries by air. CR2032 batteries are lithium batteries.
 
#14 ·
I have had several Duracell AA batteries leak in the past few months. It didn't hurt anything but I had to clean it up. I called them and they said the batteries have a vent hole and sometimes they leak. They did send me a coupon for free batteries.
 
#16 ·
I always use rechargeable batteries, not that much more expensive really. I have many things using batteries, I just keep a few extras charged and ready to go for replacement. As much as we recharge them and whatnot they literally can last us ten years or more before needing replacement. From what I have seen the cost of the non rechargeable batteries isn't that much cheaper than rechargeable these days.
 
#17 ·
Energizer Lithium 6-pack in a blue & white package (do NOT get the red package) at Lowe's $13. 10 count single packs on Amazon for less, BUT they are not the same battery - the 6 pack batteries at Lowe's are made in Indonesia, the single pack ones from Amazon are made in China or various other countries. The 6-pack ones from Lowe's are the longest lasting 2032 battery I've found. I was going through 2 regular cr2032 batteries about every 6 weeks in my digital kitchen scale with standard 2032's. I put a pair of the Energizer Lithium's in it about 10 months ago, and still going on the same pair.


If you prefer to pay less per battery, try the 24 pack of AC Delco Lithium cr2032 from Amazon for $15. Not sure how they would compare to the Energizer, but for the price difference.....
 
#18 ·
I’ve had bad luck with rechargeable batteries in the past. They self discharged if removing them from the charger after being charged, and they got ruined if left in the charger after being fully charged.

Has that changed in recent years? Are you using rechargeable button batteries?
 
#19 ·
Depends on which rechargeable chemistry you're using, and how you're using your batteries.

Rechargeables are designed to be used regularly, not stuffed in a drawer, sitting in a flashlight that is used once a month or less, etc... There's no tech or chemistry currently in use that would allow you to leave any battery on a charger and maintain full charge till you're ready to use it that will not damage or degrade the battery over time. Even lead acid batteries left on a maintainer will go bad if left on the maintainer without regular use.

There is a newer NiMH rechargeable that is low self drain, i.e. more than a year to drain below usable level instead of a few months. Lithium Ion and Lithium Polymer rechargeables hold their charge capacity for much longer than NiCad & NiHM, and have more energy, but is recommended not to charge fully if they're going to be sitting around unused for months on end - you would just top them up before use.
 
#24 ·
The CR2032 batteries have not arrived yet, but I also ordered CR2450 batteries the same day from a different eBay US source.

The CR2450 batteries just arrived. The unpadded cardboard envelope has two five-pack strips of CR2450 button batteries inside, which are larger and thicker than CR2032s.

The back of the envelope has a large sticker that says: "UN3090 - For more information, call: 800-424-9300" and "Surface Mail Only Lithium Metal Batteries Forbidden for Air Transport" UN3090 is a dangerous materials code for lithium metal batteries. The 800 phone number goes to a company called Chemtrec. It is their "Emergency Response Line."
 
#25 ·
I needed a new battery (LR44 equivalent) for my digital calipers. When I went to LOWES, it was $6 for three of them. :surprise2: I looked online and found a source on feebay for 40 batteries (Eveready brand) for $10, shipped. When they arrived, I noticed that they went out of date in 2020. OK, but at 25¢ apiece, how can I complain? I have 20 left, which I'm considering taking over to the senior center and leaving for people to use if they need them. Those batteries also work in a couple of LED flashlights that we have, but we've reloaded all of those in the last few months.
 
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