CR123A lithium Battery shelf life question

A couple of years ago I bought several 123 batteries and never used them.
Now I find that some of them have developed high internal resistance. My
camera, an Olympus Stylus, will show either low battery or not turn on at
all.

I measured the voltage across the batteries while in the camera and got 2.9
to 3 volts.

The batteries are stored in my bedside drawer and are well within the 10
year supposed shelf life.

The camera is not to blame as when I installed one of the newer batteries, 1
year old, it works perfectly.

Anyone else experienced this?

Allan

Forgot to mention that of the four batteries tested so far, three that have
the problem are made by, Energizer, Panasonic and Duracell. The one that
works is a GE/Sanyo.


"Allan" wrote in message
...
A couple of years ago I bought several 123 batteries and never used them.
Now I find that some of them have developed high internal resistance. My
camera, an Olympus Stylus, will show either low battery or not turn on at
all.

I measured the voltage across the batteries while in the camera and got
2.9
to 3 volts.

The batteries are stored in my bedside drawer and are well within the 10
year supposed shelf life.

The camera is not to blame as when I installed one of the newer batteries,
1
year old, it works perfectly.

Anyone else experienced this?

Allan

"Allan" wrote in message
...
Forgot to mention that of the four batteries tested so far, three that
have
the problem are made by, Energizer, Panasonic and Duracell. The one that
works is a GE/Sanyo.


I am surprised to see that you listed Duracell in your list of failed
batteries. In a test report I saw recently on TV (I don't remember where),
they said that Duracell batteries were the longest lasting batteries, both
in use and in storage life. (Here is a little bit of trivia: Did you know
that the 'AA' - size battery outsells every other size of battery?)

~Robert C.

Robert C. wrote:

"Allan" wrote in message
...

Forgot to mention that of the four batteries tested so far, three that
have
the problem are made by, Energizer, Panasonic and Duracell. The one that
works is a GE/Sanyo.



I am surprised to see that you listed Duracell in your list of failed
batteries. In a test report I saw recently on TV (I don't remember where),
they said that Duracell batteries were the longest lasting batteries, both
in use and in storage life. (Here is a little bit of trivia: Did you know
that the 'AA' - size battery outsells every other size of battery?)

Not from TV, personal experience, Duracell alkaline's are indeed the
longest lasting. And their button type batteries seemed to last longer
both in the camera and as spares in the camera bag.

Their NiMH batteries, at least the first generation ones I bought in
2003, don't take or hold a charge as well as Energizers, although the
second generation Duracells I bought last month seem to be better.

.... ask me again in a couple of years.

"Allan" wrote in message
...
A couple of years ago I bought several 123 batteries and never used them.
Now I find that some of them have developed high internal resistance. My
camera, an Olympus Stylus, will show either low battery or not turn on at
all.
I measured the voltage across the batteries while in the camera and got
2.9
to 3 volts.
The batteries are stored in my bedside drawer and are well within the 10
year supposed shelf life.
The camera is not to blame as when I installed one of the newer batteries,
1
year old, it works perfectly.
Anyone else experienced this?
Allan

Any chance that there's oxide on the terminals?

--
M Stewart
Milton Keynes, UK
http://www.megalith.freeserve.co.uk/oddimage.htm

The battery and the camera contacts are clean.

If I put the other batteries back into the camera, they still show low or
the camera won't turn on.

So, it is the batteries that are defective.

Allan

"Malcolm Stewart" wrote in
message ...
"Allan" wrote in message
...
A couple of years ago I bought several 123 batteries and never used
them.
Now I find that some of them have developed high internal resistance. My
camera, an Olympus Stylus, will show either low battery or not turn on
at
all.
I measured the voltage across the batteries while in the camera and got
2.9
to 3 volts.
The batteries are stored in my bedside drawer and are well within the 10
year supposed shelf life.
The camera is not to blame as when I installed one of the newer
batteries,
1
year old, it works perfectly.
Anyone else experienced this?
Allan

Any chance that there's oxide on the terminals?

--
M Stewart
Milton Keynes, UK
http://www.megalith.freeserve.co.uk/oddimage.htm

Allan wrote:

A couple of years ago I bought several 123 batteries and never used them.
Now I find that some of them have developed high internal resistance.
My camera, an Olympus Stylus, shows low battery or fails to turn on.

I measured the voltage across the batteries while in the camera and got
2.9 to 3 volts. The batteries are stored in my bedside drawer and are
well within the 10 year supposed shelf life.

Forgot to mention that of the four batteries tested so far, three that have
the problem are made by, Energizer, Panasonic and Duracell. The one that
works is a GE/Sanyo.

Thanks for the info about brand stability.

I store lithium batteries in the refrigerator. Is there anything about
the drawer next to your bed that would result in bad storage conditions?
Near a heater? High humidity?

"Bill Tuthill" wrote in message ...
Allan wrote:

A couple of years ago I bought several 123 batteries and never used
them.
Now I find that some of them have developed high internal resistance.
My camera, an Olympus Stylus, shows low battery or fails to turn on.

I measured the voltage across the batteries while in the camera and got
2.9 to 3 volts. The batteries are stored in my bedside drawer and are
well within the 10 year supposed shelf life.

Forgot to mention that of the four batteries tested so far, three that
have
the problem are made by, Energizer, Panasonic and Duracell. The one that
works is a GE/Sanyo.

Thanks for the info about brand stability.

I store lithium batteries in the refrigerator. Is there anything about
the drawer next to your bed that would result in bad storage conditions?
Near a heater? High humidity?

There shouldn't be, but colder is always better. I have taken to storing all
the batteries from equipment that I don't use very often in the
refrigerator. I have had too many flash units ruined by old leaking
batteries because I didn't use them for a long time, and just left the
batteries in them. Now, I never leave my flash units stored with batteries
in them. When I am going to use them, I take the batteries out of the fridge
and install them in the unit, use it, and then return its batteries to cold
storage again. I do the same for camera bodies that I don't use very often.
It only takes a few minutes, and I sleep a lot better.......

William Graham wrote:
... Now, I never leave my flash units stored with batteries in them.
When I am going to use them, I take the batteries out of the fridge
and install them in the unit, use it, and then return its batteries
to cold storage again.

I use NiMH batteries in my accessory flash units. They don't benefit
from storage (due to self-discharge) so I just make sure to recharge
them before use.

Does it help to store unused NiMH batteries in the fridge?

"Bill Tuthill" wrote in message ...
William Graham wrote:
... Now, I never leave my flash units stored with batteries in them.
When I am going to use them, I take the batteries out of the fridge
and install them in the unit, use it, and then return its batteries
to cold storage again.

I use NiMH batteries in my accessory flash units. They don't benefit
from storage (due to self-discharge) so I just make sure to recharge
them before use.

Does it help to store unused NiMH batteries in the fridge?

If you are going to recharge them before use anyway, it probably doesn't
matter. It never hurts to store batteries in the fridge, but it may not be
necessary if they are rechargeables, and fridge space is valuable too.