[Probably OT]-Button batteries

[HVS]

There are a lot of button batteries out there with the same diameter and voltage, and which differ only in the thickness of the battery. If you buy a card of them, there'll often be 2 each of 4 sizes.

I invariably only want one size, and the others are completely surplus to requirements, which seems a waste.

The difference in thickness is sometimes minor, so is there any particular/dangerous reason why I can't use one of the others (assuming it fits in the battery compartment without forcing anything)?

[charles]

If it's too thick, you wont be able to close thelid, if it's too thing it probably won't make an electrical connection.

I've never seemn batteries sold as mixed sizes,

[John Rumm]

With thinner ones you can sometimes add some packing to make it up to the normal thickness.

[Thomas Prufer]

Nahh.

You can take a too-thin one and shim it with something conductive, avoiding the side where the shim could cause a short.

I wouldn't use the cheap&cheerful cells from the poundshop blister with twenty cells on anything where a leaking cell would be more than a minor annoyance, though. Car key fobs can be very expensive, so that gets a fresh, new, brand-name cell...

Thomas Prufer

[newshound]

+1. Branded ones in all sizes are readily available from eBay, and not expensive. I'll just buy a pack of four if I want a single one.

[Harry Bloomfield, Esq.]

charles expressed precisely :

Poundland do them.

[mm0fmf]

And with care genuine branded ones are available from eBay as well!

[Robert]

I always buy Renata ones from eBay, used to be in boxes of 10 now on "cards". 90% of the time its a 377 in a watch.

[Max Demian]

I've never seen the point in those mixed packs of button cells, though I've bought one of coin cells: CR2016/25/32 - a reasonable selection.

It's still better to buy the ones you want, though singly or in pairs from ordinary shops is very expensive.

I buy Duracell LR44 button cells through Amazon - £5 or so for 10.

[Fredxx]

When you buy 12 button cells for £1 it makes your Duracell look expensive.

YMMV

[Scion]

And when you replace the one in your car fob every eight weeks when the branded one lasted years, buying 12 for £1 looks like somewhat less of a bargain.

[polygonum_on_google]

We have a timer which uses a tiny cell (not to hand and cannot remember exactly which size). The original cell didn't last very long, nor did replacements. A few weeks each. I happened to have some next-size-up cells and found they would just fit. (The lid of the receptacle is awkward to turn with the thicker cells.) But they last many times longer - months.

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

That depends on the profile and the spring inside. Some,like tie clip mikes can have a big spring, while other low profile things like clocks tend to not have, and the edges are often used as the contact. You can buy all of the correct type though on a card with a kind of rotating dispenser for quite reasonable prices.

Brian

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

I'd never buy any battery from them. Most are rubbish in my experience. I buy from boots in the main and have found the life to be much greater, plus you can get them in larger amounts and they will keep. Brian

[Martin Brown]

You are kidding right? Every Poundshop has them! (other brands available). Finding a friend who wants some other size and doing a swap might work but so many watches use the same size cell :(

[charles]

I've only been in a Poundshop once and I wsn't looking for batteries.

My watch hasn't had a replacemnt battery since I was given it, 15 years ago.

[Harry Bloomfield, Esq.]

Max Demian expressed precisely :

I keep a £1 pack of both the small ones and the larger ones, in the drawer. They are not quite as good as the expensive ones, but they work.

[Harry Bloomfield, Esq.]

It happens that Scion formulated :

The £1 CR2016's have lasted years.

[Harry Bloomfield, Esq.]

Brian Gaff (Sofa) formulated on Tuesday :

The black and red Kodak multiple AA and AAA carbon cells are absolute rubbish. I find the orange/black alkaline version sold by Home Bargains work well for most things.

[Dave Plowman (News]

They do seem to have a pretty good shelf life so will get used eventually?