PaulW - 12-7-2015 at 08:27 AM
SPOT recommends using lithium AAAs
Heads up ---
FYI, Now days Energizer sell two lithium flavors - Ultimate and Advanced.
By some quirk I ended up with both kinds and sure enough I had 2 Ultimate's and one Advanced in my unit and the thing quit with a red light during my
trip up Huatamote. (Second day trip with these fresh batts). The Advanced batt tested lower that the two Ultimate's - used and removed.
December consumer reports came up with testing for AA cells and revealed that the Advanced is not as good as Ultimate. The Advanced is not as good as
a plain old Duracell and several other cheap alkalines. The Ultimate is the top of the list for the test results (and the most expensive).
If one does not mind changing batts for every use then Kirkland batts could be used 5 times for the price of one set of Ultimate's based on price. I
don't do that because I do not know if the Kirkland's will last for a long trip.
I always carry fresh backup batteries so I just changed all three with what I had which were Ultimate's and all is now good. And I know the fresh
Ultimate's are good for several weeks of continuous use - and then some.
The batts are expensive and in the past with Ultimate's I usually get a years worth of service for my many usages. Not so with one odd ball one in
the batt pack.
Paul
Batteries
bajaguy - 12-7-2015 at 08:33 AM
Always use Kirkland (COSTCO) alkaline with my Gen 3 SPOT. Change after every trip, and carry two sets of spares.....never any problems.
TMW - 12-7-2015 at 10:59 AM
A good rule of thumb is never mix batteries except in maybe a flashlight. For best results do what the manufacture recommends.
StuckSucks - 12-7-2015 at 12:08 PM
Interesting to hear about the two different flavors of lithium batts. I think my Spot 3 batts last a couple months - it's on 100% of the time, but
sleeps when I' not moving.
AKgringo - 12-7-2015 at 12:50 PM
For anyone traveling by air, lithium batteries may not be accepted in checked baggage.
PaulW - 12-9-2015 at 02:10 PM
BTW, I got around to reading the label for lithium Energizer Advanced. Uses recycled stuff inside and now have "ECO" on the package. I guess that
explains the low performance. They charge more by a few pennies compared to lithium Energizer Ultimate.
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