Luxury Lithium coin cells - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: nukie
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2025, 12:40:22 pm
content: I have been buying cheap primary lithium coin cells for many years, and recently I had enough. I have tried many different brands; they are all okay... as a motherboard backup battery. Over the years I added a few more smart sensors in my house. They run on CR2032. The battery life isn't great, but I can deal with swapping the cells every 6 months. But it's the CR2025 in my car keyless remote that broke the last straw. I remember clearly the original Panasonic battery lasted more than four years before I had to change it. You can never forget your first time.The remote would work fine the first few weeks. Then after three months or so, it would be very unreliable. So I either have a go at penetrating the keyhole or squeeze the buttons on the remote, hoping that the battery would summon enough charge to send some radio pulse. If it doesn't work, then I would press the buttons rapidly as if it would build up enough voltage to fire the IC. So after a few weeks of suffering from weak radio transmission, I unwillingly swap the battery. The used battery has enough charge to light up a green 5mm LED, so my son would inherit it to go with his LED collection.Finally, one day when walking past the battery display at Kmart, I decided to purchase the $6 CR2025 2pk Duracell. At that moment, I feel disgusted for supporting overpriced branded luxury goods. Plus, what do I do with the other cell? It would sit unused, it would self-discharge, and it won't be fresh when I need it next time. Why don't they sell it for $3 1pk when most devices only need 1 cell? I would even pay the $3.50 greedy price. Does pricing an expensive $6 2-pack coin cell trick consumers into believing it's the best? Am I a victim? Why is it so much more expensive than the Kmart Anko brand $5 4-pk cells? Will it be 2x the performance? Questions like this flew over my mind while watching the old lady curse at the self-checkout machine.Anyway, I got to the car park, and with zero self-restraint, I tried to unseal the luxurious Duracell; unfortunately, I failed miserably due to the child-safe design. I guess that's where part of the $6 goes. Preventing coin cell electrolysis from happening in little kids intestines... So I had to penetrate the door keyhole again, and the steering column lock would also share the same key and action. They seem happy, clearly evidenced by the explosion going on in my little 4-cylinder air-fuel-powered engine.When I got home, I tested the Duracell, and I'm glad it works. It sends the rolling codes effortlessly, and I would walk away further and try to beat the distance at risk of draining the cell. More than 2 years have passed the same luxury cell has been in my remote, giving me a good radio service daily. I feel stupid I should have paid the luxury tax in the first place.Recently, I began to wonder, are there no high-performance cheap cells? How do you tell them apart? I googled, but I didn't get a conclusion. Most people are happy buying cheap Amazon cells. Oh, remember the other twin CR2025 luxury cell? I took it out and poked it with the trusty DMM. 3.3xx volts open load. I have seen this with the cheap cells, so it's not distinctive of a luxury cell. Next, with my octopus-like fingers, I manage to hook up a 5mm white LED and chopsticks hold with the DMM probes. The result is much more obvious. The voltage drop of the luxury Duracell cell is way less than those of cheap brands.I remember I have an RC3564 internal resistance tester. The Duracell CR2025 measured 19 ohms, a slightly used Maxell CR2032 20 ohms, and a new Energiser CR2016 22 ohms. Then, all of the fake and cheap brands vary from 40 to 120 ohms. They were purchased recently; I spent about $45 on many various brands, including branded fakes. I do not know if a low IR is an indication of a good cell, it's just based on my findings.So I finally have some conclusion. I have not done a full discharge curve test, so I don't know how well these cheap cells do in the long run. I also haven't test them with various loads. However, we know from the loaded white LED test that the voltage drop was enough to determine the cell performance under load. Secondly, there are lots of manufacturers it's just my poor luck I haven't been able to source good cells. The fake cell out there is an enormous industry. Don't believe in cheap 'genuine battery' claims. Of course it's a battery; what else can it be? Only buy from trusted sellers, pay the luxury tax, and get fresh, genuine stock.Finally, cheap cells have their place. They are perfectly fine in super low-drain duty, such as a motherboard backup battery, a digital watch or a simple LCD clock. For high-drain devices, liberate yourself with some luxury cells.

author: Haenk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2025, 12:57:56 pm
content: I don't consider Duracell being a premium brand any more. They are now venture capital-driven, aka "optimized to squeeze out every last penny".Unfortunatey, it is very hard to source good quality batteries, I try to go with Panasonic, Maxell, Sony, Renata and Varta - but it's almost impossible to judge, wether those are cheap chinese knockoffs or original.And yes, there is a huge difference in quality. For testing devices, I often purchase a blister with dozens of cells for laughable money at my local discounter. The Lithium cells are dead after 2-3 years, while sealed top brand batteries are still fine after a decade of storage.

author: Kean
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 31, 2025, 01:36:26 pm
content: I had a similar issue in the past with crap coin cell batteries, so I bought a 100 pk of Panasonic CR2032 from my wholesale battery supplier (Master Instruments in Sydney). In bulk they were only $0.37 each. Of course that was in 2009, and now ~15 years later I still have half of them unused but they are past their use by data and do not last very long. I haven't tried doing an impedance measurement but I am sure it will be on the high side.Anyway, these days I probably mostly buy Renata or Varta cells. The other day I discovered a pile of non-functioning watches dropped on my bench by my wife so I bought some muRata watch batteries on Amazon for about $2 each. I was happy paying a premium for muRata over the randomly named products, although I suspect many other shoppers wouldn't know that brand either. My next choice would have been PKCell who have an OK reputation, and I've dealt with them on Alibaba.I don't think there is such a thing as a premium battery brand anymore, but the Japanese coin cells brands are probably slightly better than others. It still mostly comes down to shelf life and current draw, and occasional fakes.

author: faraday
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2025, 02:01:37 pm
content: I use Maxell CR2032 for years and never had problem (for remote controls).

author: ftg
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2025, 02:39:55 pm
content: I think I'd classify Ruuvi's CR2477 as a luxury battery.It's a branded boutique battery with extended temperature range (-40°C to 85°C).https://ruuvi.com/products/cr2477t-battery/If this is out there, there's bound to be others as well.

author: artag
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2025, 02:46:51 pm
content: If it's only the waste that bothers you and not the inconvenience of changing them, there are the LIR2032 rechargeable cellsI have a preference for the Renate cells especially for tiny watch batteries and specials like silver oxide, but I don't really know if they suffer from the cloning curse.

author: Kean
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 31, 2025, 03:15:02 pm
content: Quote from: ftg on March 31, 2025, 02:39:55 pmSounds more like an industrial battery. I've never come across a product using a CR2477, but CR2450's are common in industrial gear.

author: Haenk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2025, 03:50:08 pm
content: Quote from: ftg on March 31, 2025, 02:39:55 pmThere you go:https://eu.mouser.com/c/power/batteries/coin-cell-battery/?battery%20chemistry=Lithium%20Manganese%20Dioxide%20%28LiMnO2%29However *ordering* is another story, everything is unavailable it seems, due to shipping restrictions.

author: bdunham7
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2025, 03:57:53 pm
content: I just got done replacing the coin cell in my R&S CMU200 and believe me if there was a $20 "luxury" battery available I would have bought it. I had to settle for Energizer.

author: bitwelder
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 01, 2025, 06:56:20 am
content: In addition to the CR-series there should be a BR-series which is equivalent, but it has at least an extended temperature range.It was used for CMOS batteries by some server vendors (IIRC Sun Solaris servers)

author: Bill W
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 02, 2025, 12:02:15 am
content: There are two completely different constructions internally and with different cathode materials.The 'very low drain for ever' typically for PC CMOS and the 'short high drain' for car remotes.The latter is more expensive to make.The problem is the 'size is all that matters' approach where the cheaper CMOS types get sold under the higher power coding just because they are the same shape.CR should be right for a car keyfob, BR is not.Explanations on Panasonic OEM sitehttps://industry.panasonic.eu/products/energy-building/batteries/battery-cells/primary-batteries/lithium-batteriesBill

author: bson
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 14, 2025, 05:06:04 am
content: I last bought Panasonic CR2032's from Mouser, in a 100 pack. At about $.20 per, that's $20 for 100. They have a downloadable datasheet that I'm sure is reasonably accurate.I see Muratas are cheaper now (it's been maybe 6 or more years), so as I'm getting low I'll get those next time. The shelf life for Lithium Manganese Oxide batteries is very long.I couldn't even count the number of things I have that use CR2032s...These things are unbelievably high priced for retail!

author: mikerj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 15, 2025, 09:03:06 pm
content: Panasonic, Renata and Varta are my choices for coin/button cells. The cheap ones just don't last ime.