What type 9V battery for light meter

grain elevator · Jan 13, 2021

Hello all,
The title says it all. Are Lithium batteries with their long life, supposed safety from leakage and cold hardiness worthwhile? Even the ultra long life type for smoke detectors? Or does a typical digital meter suckle enough power to make this consideration irrelevant? Just some of the better alkaline types then? What do you use?

JBrunner · Jan 13, 2021

My meters are rare enough now that I use rechargeable because having hard to replace meter messed up by a leaky battery was keeping me awake. I hadn't heard that the lithium disposables didn't leak, but it stands to reason. Power wise, it depends on how much you use it, but even using the rechargeable it has never been an issue for me, and with a 500x charge cycle, ill never need another.

BradS · Jan 13, 2021

I’ve never given a moment of thought. I just buy whatever 9v battery I find at the store. I guess I usually end up with Duracell or Energizer...just because those seem to be what’s commonly available.sometimes they have both - in which case I choose which ever is less expensive.

for reference, the only light meter I have that uses a 9v battery is the Gossen Luna Pro SBC

MattKing · Jan 13, 2021

I've always used Alkaline - Duracell or Costco's house brand.
I've never had a 9 volt battery leak.

AgX · Jan 13, 2021

BradS said:
I’ve never given a moment of thought. I just buy whatever 9v battery I find at the store. I guess I usually end up with Duracell or Energizer...just because those seem to be what’s commonly available.sometimes they have both - in which case I choose which ever is less expensive.

The question of the OP was not the brand, but the electrical system involved.

There are several types:

primary batteries
-) Carbon Zink (still available?)
-) Alkali Manganese
-) Lithium Manganesedioxide (10.5V)
-) Lithium Thionylchloride

rechargable batteries
-) Nickel-Metalhydrid (8.4V and 9.6V)

wiltw · Jan 13, 2021

For those not aware, there are indeed lithiium 9V batteries, just as there are lithium AA batteries...same voltage as one expects from alkaline chemistry.
When you have different chemistries in a size, the benefit of Lithium cells of that size is a LONG SHELF LIFE.
For example, the emergency beacons carried aboard boats/ships are generally not used from time to time, and it is very important WHEN it is used that the BATTERY WORKS!
In a smoke alarm, the battery of any chemistry is depleted in a year (not dealing with modern alarms with 10 year battery -- and then you throw away the alarm and buy new), so no reason for a 'long shelf life'...unless you have an AC powered smoke alarm and the battery is there for periods of AC power loss.

I see no reason to spend the higher amounts of money for Lithium 9V particularly for a light meter...it is NOT a Life & Death usage, and it is not like it is impossible to find alkaline 9V batteries an,ywhere in the world!

Chan Tran · Jan 13, 2021

wiltw said:
For those not aware, there are indeed lithiium 9V batteries, just as there are lithium AA batteries...same voltage as one expects from alkaline chemistry.
When you have different chemistries in a size, the benefit of Lithium cells of that size is a LONG SHELF LIFE.
For example, the emergency beacons carried aboard boats/ships are generally not used from time to time, and it is very important WHEN it is used that the BATTERY WORKS!
In a smoke alarm, the battery of any chemistry is depleted in a year (not dealing with modern alarms with 10 year battery -- and then you throw away the alarm and buy new), so no reason for a 'long shelf life'...unless you have an AC powered smoke alarm and the battery is there for periods of AC power loss.

I see no reason to spend the higher amounts of money for Lithium 9V particularly for a light meter...it is NOT a Life & Death usage, and it is not like it is impossible to find alkaline 9V batteries an,ywhere in the world!

I don't feel the need for extra long shelf life lithium battery for a meter but I wouldn't use rechargeable (NiMH) because it almost guarantees that I have to charge the battery before every time I want to use the meter.

wiltw · Jan 13, 2021

Chan Tran said:
I don't feel the need for extra long shelf life lithium battery for a meter but I wouldn't use rechargeable (NiMH) because it almost guarantees that I have to charge the battery before every time I want to use the meter.

I agree. My meter uses one AA, and using alkaline AA is cheap enough and battery change need is infrequent enough that long term rechargeable usage isn't economical enough alternative. Not like for flash use where you need a full charge over and over and over during the year.

BTW, low self discharge rechargeables make the issue of needing the before-outing recharge into a non-issue.

rick shaw · Jan 13, 2021

My Sekonic gets use a lot even in the dead of winter outside. It doesn't use a 9v battery but the single CR123 lasts so long, I have a reminder to change it every year and never give it another thought,

grain elevator · Jan 14, 2021

rick shaw said:
My Sekonic gets use a lot even in the dead of winter outside. It doesn't use a 9v battery but the single CR123 lasts so long, I have a reminder to change it every year and never give it another thought,

Ha! That's a lithium battery AFAIK.
I think I'll give Lithium a shot. From Ebay, the cheaper ones cost something between store brand alkalines and brand name alkalines in the drug store. Of course they could be fakes... A 9 V block is large enough that I don't want to carry a spare around, so long life is worth something to me.
EDIT: Ebay website was just not responding to me selecting the lithium type, they are more expensive. Then not worth it to me, especially as no leaks form 9V alkalines have been reported.
Thanks for the input everyone.

RalphLambrecht · Jan 14, 2021

grain elevator said:
Hello all,
The title says it all. Are Lithium batteries with their long life, supposed safety from leakage and cold hardiness worthwhile? Even the ultra long life type for smoke detectors? Or does a typical digital meter suckle enough power to make this consideration irrelevant? Just some of the better alkaline types then? What do you use?

Iuse rechargeables because, I have to replace them often.

What type 9V battery for light meter

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AgX

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Chan Tran

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grain elevator

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What type 9V battery for light meter

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