# Best kind of LR44/AG13 batteries, and where to buy



## 901-Memphis (Feb 28, 2010)

I use these things in everything. I bought a pack of 50 off ebay for like $10 + shipping and they seem to go fast. 

I have no idea what type they are as all they say on the back is "AG13 Button Cell"

I am assuming the alkaline types are the better ones but how can you be sure your getting good ones and where can i buy them in bigger than single quantities? A 10 pack would be good, or more if the price is right.

Thanks in advance


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## paulr (Feb 28, 2010)

Alkalines are the cheap/worse kind. The good ones are silver oxide, designated SR44.


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## 901-Memphis (Feb 28, 2010)

paulr said:


> Alkalines are the cheap/worse kind. The good ones are silver oxide, designated SR44.



Oh wow, thanks for the info.

Any idea on the best places to get them? The only place i have really seen that i know of is battery junction. Are these good ones you think.

Eneregizer 357, according to wiki is the same size

http://www.batteryjunction.com/en35siox.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LR44_battery


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## 901-Memphis (Feb 28, 2010)

Am i safe with Eneregizer? Even though they are a bit expensive. I want to use the best ones i can in my handgun laser sights


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## paulr (Feb 28, 2010)

901-Memphis said:


> Am i safe with Eneregizer? Even though they are a bit expensive. I want to use the best ones i can in my handgun laser sights



Should be fine.


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## Dave_H (Feb 28, 2010)

paulr said:


> Alkalines are the cheap/worse kind. The good ones are silver oxide, designated SR44.


 
Silver-oxide is great for low-current applications (watches, clocks
etc.) but not so great for high-current (LEDs etc.). Depends on the
application.

BTW I get LR44 alkalines at 5/$1.00 at a dollar store; why buy
a big bunch of unknowns off Fleabay...

Dave


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## 901-Memphis (Mar 1, 2010)

So are there a big difference between the mAH between Silver Oxide and Alkaline?

I still am undecided between the two, i don't know who to believe. Its for a laser sight, so Alkaline or Silver Oxide?


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## Mr Happy (Mar 1, 2010)

Sounds like you should get the alkaline ones from a dollar store.


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## 901-Memphis (Mar 1, 2010)

Well i don't know if they have them at my local stores but i can check.

I am just unsure because of the two different theories on if alkaline are better or not.

They should make these in lithium styles, or better yet make button cells that are 3 cells long but are really 1 bigger cell for higher capacity since a lot of applications use 3 AG13s that i know of .


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## paulr (Mar 1, 2010)

Alkalines aren't good at high currents either. Tiny cells and high currents don't mix.

Photon Fanatic shipped silver oxide cells with the LPK when he was making them and they worked quite well. I think there are some runtime graphs around someplace. I'd expect the laser to use a comparable amount of power.


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## don.gwapo (Mar 1, 2010)

Go silver oxide. I use silver oxide on my Led Lenser K3. I got more runtime when I switch to silver oxide. I used either Duracell or Energizer. You can find them at your local store in single, three or nine pieces per pack.


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## paulr (Mar 4, 2010)

901-Memphis said:


> Well i don't know if they have them at my local stores but i can check.
> 
> I am just unsure because of the two different theories on if alkaline are better or not.
> 
> They should make these in lithium styles, or better yet make button cells that are 3 cells long but are really 1 bigger cell for higher capacity since a lot of applications use 3 AG13s that i know of .



There is a 3 volt lithium cell called 1/3N (one third of an N cell) that might be able to replace two SR44's. I don't feel like looking up the measurements right now to check though.

Once you're up to three or four of those cells unless it's an economy device, it's probably more sensible to use something like a CR2, or that tiny 12 volt cig lighter battery (I forget the designation) if you want more volts at low mA.


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## 901-Memphis (Mar 13, 2010)

paulr said:


> There is a 3 volt lithium cell called 1/3N (one third of an N cell) that might be able to replace two SR44's. I don't feel like looking up the measurements right now to check though.
> 
> Once you're up to three or four of those cells unless it's an economy device, it's probably more sensible to use something like a CR2, or that tiny 12 volt cig lighter battery (I forget the designation) if you want more volts at low mA.



Great find and i confirmed it!

"The CR 1/3N is the same size as two SR-44 silver-oxide batteries, and in a pinch you can tape together two SR-44 cells, which can be bought just about anywhere. They won't last as long, but they're good in a pinch"

Source

http://www.photoethnography.com/ClassicCameras/index-frameset.html?batteries.html~mainFrame


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## Egsise (Mar 13, 2010)

My mother-in-law uses DX sku 00060 cheapos in her hearing aid, one lasts for about a week, 50-pack costs $4.65 incl shipping.


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## 901-Memphis (Oct 15, 2013)

Looking for some new batteries again for an audiobook, SR44s are kinda expensive. Anyone got any hot tips on sales??


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## mattheww50 (Oct 15, 2013)

The issue isn't capacity, it is corrosion. Alkaline cells are built on Potassium Hydroxide, and they tend to vent corrosive gases and/or leak KOH. Unless the equipment was specifically designed to use alkaline cells, don't use them in anything of significant value.


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## 901-Memphis (Oct 15, 2013)

It's hard to distinguish what the item was designed for. The things i need them for are audio books that run on 3 of them or so. 

The battery door only says 1.5v*3= 4.5v - AG13, LR44. From this can it be determined that it should be using with alkaline since Silver Oxide is 1.55v? 


From what i have read silver oxide is a complete replacement for inferior alkaline button cells... Can this be true?


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## mattheww50 (Oct 16, 2013)

Actually I believe the alkaline cells were designed to be a low cost replacement for the Silver Oxide cell. Silver Oxide button cells have been around for a VERY long time. The real driver for Alkaline Button cells was the banning of mercury. Most of the button cells in the 1960's and 1970's were in fact Mercury batteries. Mercury batteries were quite attractive because of relative high capacity, and very good voltage stability over the life of the battery. Anyway, once mercury in batteries was banned, there were a lot of applications that were up the proverbial stream with a paddle. Unfortunately the higher voltage of the Alkaline cells can be troublesome in some applications (most mercury cells were a 1.35 volts IIRC).


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## ginbot86 (Oct 18, 2013)

When it comes to SR44 silver-oxide cells, there are generally two flavors of them: high-drain and low-drain.

The SR44W is the high-drain version, and is sometimes referred to as a 357 cell. This type is the one you'd generally want to use.

The SR44SW is the low-drain version, and is sometimes referred to as a 303 cell. This is used more for memory-backup applications or small clocks.


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## jason 77 (Oct 18, 2013)

I get my button type batteries from cheapbatteries online, I live in the US though so shipping isn't a problem....


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## Mr Happy (Oct 19, 2013)

901-Memphis said:


> Looking for some new batteries again for an audiobook, SR44s are kinda expensive. Anyone got any hot tips on sales??



Check out dollar stores. You can often get LR44's on a card at 3 or 4 for a dollar.


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## 901-Memphis (Nov 1, 2013)

Are LR44s at dollar stores silver oxide? Would they typically be the low drain type, which appears lower quality?


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## ginbot86 (Nov 1, 2013)

If it's specifically marked *L*R44, then it won't be a silver oxide cell. If it's an actual *S*R44, then if it lacks an S or SW suffix it'll be a 'medium drain' battery (ie. it won't do optimally at low or high discharge currents, but will still produce better performance than an equivalent alkaline cell).


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## EngrPaul (Aug 23, 2014)

Energizer Ratings:

*Alkaline:*

*A76* 153 mA*h to 0.9V (6.5 Kohm load)
"Designed for applications which require high rate pulses"
1-5 ohm impedance
Compare to LR44, a "General Purpose" cell.

*Silver Oxide:*

*357-303* 150 mA*h to 1.3V (6.5 Kohm load)
"Designed for continuous low drain & high pulse on demand"
2-8 ohm impedance
Compare to SR44SW & 303 "Wristwatch, LOW drain"

*357-303H* 175 mA*h to 1.3V (6.5 Kohm load)
"Designed for continuous low drain & high pulse on demand"
2-8 ohm impedance
Compare to SR44W & 357 "Wristwatch, HIGH drain"

The difference between these two is the "H" does not tail off in voltage until nearly 600 hours, the standard version takes about 400 hours. See datasheets for more.

*EPX76* 200 mA*h to 0.9V (6.5 Kohm load)
"Developed specifically for photo use"
5-10 ohms impedance
Compare to SR44, "General Purpose, Long Life"

So you see, the cell you need depends on how you will be using it. For instance, photographers need longest life and the cells and can tolerate a higher impedance... probably because they use multiple cells in series. 

The only thing I would use Alkalines in is inexpensive toys and lights, mainly because I want cheap compact power and I'm willing to take the risk of leakage. 

Otherwise, I buy Energizer Silver Oxide 303/357 from Amazon or Ebay at around $10 for a pack of 10. Mostly for devices of value (low risk of leakage), or places I expect to leave the cells in for years of low-drain or occasional service.

Usually when you buy these cells, you'll only be able to specify alkaline or silver oxide from retail sources. The various forms of silver oxide cells have probably been consolidated into one common 357-303 specification for consumers.


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## menowantsmellyfish (Jan 11, 2017)

EngrPaul said:


> Energizer Ratings:
> Otherwise, I buy Energizer Silver Oxide 303/357 from Amazon or Ebay at around $10 for a pack of 10. Mostly for devices of value (low risk of leakage), or places I expect to leave the cells in for years of low-drain or occasional service.



I know this is an old thread, but I just have to comment. I owned a camera store for years in the late 80s and early 90s and we had changed thousands of silver oxide batteries that powered SLRs light meters and I can tell you that I have seen them LEAK a lot and often. Used to have customers come in, and I am not kidding with leakage in $2000.00 Leica cameras. I have seen alkaline leak also, but not at a significantly higher rate. The biggest cause was that the camera was stored until the next vacation two years later. During the time, the batteries would die which greatly increases the risk of leakage. As a rule of thumb NEVER LEAVE BATTERIES IN A DEVICE THAT IS NOT GOING TO BE USED. Always take them out! This will solve 90% of risk no matter alkaline or anything else.

One great things about the silver oxide is that we would keep them, and when we had around 5lbs or so we were able to send them to a company that extracted the silver and we would get a nice check a month or so later.


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## Lynx_Arc (Jan 11, 2017)

In 1980 I bought a calculator at a college campus bookstore it was on clearance and it came with alkaline batteries but the clerk gave me a free set of SR44 batteries (silver oxide). The SR44 batteries went bad and leaked on me about 6-7 years later while the alkalines were in the calculator for over 20 years before they got too weak to see the display and never leaked. I didn't use the calculator very often with the advent of computers I end up most often using the calculator programs on computer than a hand held calculator when at home. I've had plenty of button cells (LR44 etc) leak on me in things on occasion they spew badly but often they just leak a little white powder around the seals. I buy my button cells as cheap as I can find them as often they go bad before I get around to using them (years later) regardless of the brand I get. You can pay 20 cents or more for a button cell battery and it may last 20% longer than a battery costing a dime which may last 10% longer than one costing a nickle. 
I've purposely replaced all devices that use button cells with ones that use AAAs or AAs if possible as button cells may be useful for an occasional device operation but serious usage will find you replacing them often and things not work or be dim etc in the case of lights.


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## chillinn (Jan 11, 2017)

This appears to be the encyclopedia thread for all things LR44/SR44. Maybe this should be a sticky? I am posting to mention the existence of a 6V primary cell called 4LR44 (Duracell 28A or PX28AB, and Energizer A544), which is actually 4xLR44 cells wrapped up, and would work in any application that uses 4 stacked LR44 cells, or 2 stacked 1/3N cells. Interestingly, it is roughly the same size as a 4.2V 10180 Li-ion secondary cell, which highlights the fact that the LR44 has a diameter around 10mm, just like a AAA/10440 cell, which I believe is as tall as 9xLR44 or perhaps 10xLR44.

from wikipedia:


> The battery nomenclature is defined by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) in its 60086-3 standard (Primary batteries, part 3 Watch batteries). The letter "L" indicates the electrochemical system used: a zinc negative electrode, manganese dioxide depolarizer and positive electrode, and an alkaline electrolyte. "R44" indicates a cylindrical ("round") cell 11.4±0.2 mm diameter and 5.2±0.2 mm height.


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## Lynx_Arc (Jan 11, 2017)

chillinn said:


> This appears to be the encyclopedia thread for all things LR44/SR44. Maybe this should be a sticky? I am posting to mention the existence of a 6V primary cell called 4LR44 (Duracell 28A or PX28AB, and Energizer A544), which is actually 4xLR44 cells wrapped up, and would work in any application that uses 4 stacked LR44 cells, or 2 stacked 1/3N cells. Interestingly, it is roughly the same size as a 4.2V 10180 Li-ion secondary cell, which highlights the fact that the LR44 has a diameter around 10mm, just like a AAA/10440 cell, which I believe is as tall as 9xLR44 or perhaps 10xLR44.
> 
> from wikipedia:


Don't forget the car remote battery I think A23 which years ago in the forum some people who couldn't find a cheap source of AG13/LR44 batteries would take apart because they contain 8 batteries in them. You used to be able to buy them for about $1.25 each in a 2 pack at Walmart but now that 2 pack is closer to $4.


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## TinderBox (UK) (Jan 11, 2017)

Lynx_Arc said:


> Don't forget the car remote battery I think A23 which years ago in the forum some people who couldn't find a cheap source of AG13/LR44 batteries would take apart because they contain 8 batteries in them. You used to be able to buy them for about $1.25 each in a 2 pack at Walmart but now that 2 pack is closer to $4.



That`s 23A i bought a pack of 5 for my front door bell i bought 5 years ago and it`s still on the battery it came with.

So if i run out of LR44 i will get the pliers out.

John.


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## Lynx_Arc (Jan 11, 2017)

TinderBox (UK) said:


> That`s 23A i bought a pack of 5 for my front door bell i bought 5 years ago and it`s still on the battery it came with.
> 
> So if i run out of LR44 i will get the pliers out.
> 
> John.


I would tear them apart and use them if you don't think you would ever use the batteries as alkaline button cells tend to go "stale" after 4-5 years although at times they can be fine for even 20 years later it is not a good gamble to put trust in them not leaking or going bad. I've found at times with devices using multiple batteries something only one goes bad or leaks the rest may be fine so even if you have an A23 that measures low you may be able to rip it apart and find 5-7 good button cells in the mix.


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## TinderBox (UK) (Jan 11, 2017)

Lynx_Arc said:


> I would tear them apart and use them if you don't think you would ever use the batteries as alkaline button cells tend to go "stale" after 4-5 years although at times they can be fine for even 20 years later it is not a good gamble to put trust in them not leaking or going bad. I've found at times with devices using multiple batteries something only one goes bad or leaks the rest may be fine so even if you have an A23 that measures low you may be able to rip it apart and find 5-7 good button cells in the mix.




They have been in the refrigerator since i bought them, I have 6 EverReady Gold D alkaline in there for like 10 years and they seem to be OK.

John.


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## Lynx_Arc (Jan 11, 2017)

TinderBox (UK) said:


> They have been in the refrigerator since i bought them, I have 6 EverReady Gold D alkaline in there for like 10 years and they seem to be OK.
> 
> John.


I got rid of a lantern with 8 D cells dated 2007 expiration that worked that were never in the fridge and lived through 110 degree weather (90 indoors). The thing is I haven't figured out why some button or coin cells go bad without use and others are good for a decade but the chance of it happening is a lot higher than larger batteries for me.


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## dennck (Jan 12, 2017)

Those tiny cells in the 23A are not the same size as LR44. I think they are closer to LR41 in size.


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## TinderBox (UK) (Jan 12, 2017)

dennck said:


> Those tiny cells in the 23A are not the same size as LR44. I think they are closer to LR41 in size.



I will bust one open and report back.

*EDIT: They have LR932 written on them.*

John.


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## Lynx_Arc (Jan 12, 2017)

TinderBox (UK) said:


> I will bust one open and report back.
> 
> *EDIT: They have LR932 written on them.*
> 
> John.


I learn something every day...... I just took it for granted that was what was in it since someone reported in the forum that they took one apart. I just looked up the LR932 the closest size is the AG9 but no direct cross reference in wiki and are a little smaller with about 2/3 of the capacity of AG13/LR44. Even though they are smaller and lower capacity I guess they make work in a pinch in some devices. In LED applications 4 of these could possibly squeeze in the same space as 3 LR44 batteries perhaps.


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## TinderBox (UK) (Jan 12, 2017)

Lynx_Arc said:


> I learn something every day...... I just took it for granted that was what was in it since someone reported in the forum that they took one apart. I just looked up the LR932 the closest size is the AG9 but no direct cross reference in wiki and are a little smaller with about 2/3 of the capacity of AG13/LR44. Even though they are smaller and lower capacity I guess they make work in a pinch in some devices. In LED applications 4 of these could possibly squeeze in the same space as 3 LR44 batteries perhaps.




Well i hope nobody ordered any 23A battery to get the LR44 out of them 

John.


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## Lynx_Arc (Jan 12, 2017)

TinderBox (UK) said:


> Well i hope nobody ordered any 23A battery to get the LR44 out of them
> 
> John.


I doubt anyone has as LR44 button cells aren't hard to find and 23A batteries have gotten more expensive such that it isn't really worth the trouble of buying them to harvest batteries from them.


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## TinderBox (UK) (Jan 12, 2017)

I was just on amazon UK, they had 50 cr2032 for £10 and they got good reviews, my 3d TV glasses use them if I use them any more. 

John


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## Lynx_Arc (Jan 12, 2017)

TinderBox (UK) said:


> I was just on amazon UK, they had 50 cr2032 for £10 and they got good reviews, my 3d TV glasses use them if I use them any more.
> 
> John


 bought a bunch of 2016s once from an asian website and half of them went bad sitting around waiting to be used. I use 2032 in my bathroom scale and was having a hard time finding one to not give me a low battery warning even though they test over 3V. I've also had a batch of about 12 AG13(LR44) go bad on me 2 years after I bought them on ebay but the 8 I used paid for the whole batch as it was cheaper for those 8 than buying them locally. 
I have a few things that use 2016,2025, and 2031 batteries. I had an idea once to use a pair of 2032 in remote controls instead of alkaline AAA/AA batteries. That is remotes I use only on occasion not daily or often but need now and then. I have a fan remote in the living room that twice has had 2AAA alkalines leak in it. My only drawback is the holder for one 2032 cell costs about 1.65 or so if you wanted to use 2 that would be 3.30 plus figuring out a way to hook up to the remote.


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## DickDaMann (Dec 5, 2019)

901-Memphis said:


> I use these things in everything. I bought a pack of 50 off ebay for like $10 + shipping and they seem to go fast.
> 
> I have no idea what type they are as all they say on the back is "AG13 Button Cell"
> 
> ...



link to battery types and uses - https://www.deepcyclemarinebattery..../lr44-ag13-lr1154-sr44-303-357-batteries.html


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## Burgess (Dec 5, 2019)

Welcome to CandlePowerForums !


:welcome:
_


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