# DURACELL QUANTUM Batteries



## dlong (Jul 15, 2013)

Anyone have any information on these alkaline batteries?

Do they change states when you try to measure them?


----------



## SaraAB87 (Jul 16, 2013)

I just saw these advertised in the paper this week and was wondering what they were


----------



## tobrien (Jul 16, 2013)

I can't find anything on Duracells site either


----------



## Yamabushi (Jul 17, 2013)

I think that's a new release of the version with the built-in capacity tester. IIRC they tried that in the Ultra Power without much sales success.

EDIT: I saw an ad for them at toysrus.com and they were red with a copper top.


----------



## bshanahan14rulz (Jul 17, 2013)

I can't find any info on them except that you could get them for free at walgreens with a certain coupon


----------



## tobrien (Jul 27, 2013)

snapped this pic of them today at Walmart (small town Georgia, USA), sorry for the bad quality:


----------



## StorminMatt (Jul 27, 2013)

So what's supposed to make these guys special above and beyond any other alkaline battery?


----------



## RCM (Jul 27, 2013)

StorminMatt said:


> So what's supposed to make these guys special above and beyond any other alkaline battery?


Maybe they leak more?  Duracell seems to be changing a lot lf things lately.....


----------



## StorminMatt (Jul 27, 2013)

RCM said:


> Maybe they leak more?  Duracell seems to be changing a lot lf things lately.....



Maybe. It would sure help the economy along if more batteries leaked. You would need to buy both more batteries AND replacements for devices destroyed by leaking batteries. But yes, Duracell DOES seem to be changing ALOT. First, it's these guys. Then, it's the new 2400mAH 'Ion Core' NiMH batteries at Walmart. Now Target is dumping Duraloops at half price, presumably to replace them with something else. And on top
of it all, their website says nothing about ANY of this.


----------



## appliancejunk (Jul 27, 2013)

RCM said:


> Maybe they leak more?



Oh man, that made me laugh...


----------



## 880arm (Jul 27, 2013)

I know it's just marketing hype but I get a kick out of this statement on the package:

*World's Longest Lasting*
Duracell AA Alkaline

I guess saying "Our longest lasting AA alkaline" just wasn't good enough :laughing:


----------



## tobrien (Jul 28, 2013)

880arm said:


> I know it's just marketing hype but I get a kick out of this statement on the package:
> 
> *World's Longest Lasting*
> Duracell AA Alkaline
> ...



good catch haha

btw whenever I'm back in Walmart I'll take a couple more shots of the Quantum stuff. I'll take a clearer front shot and a second shot of the back of it for whatever use it may be


----------



## tobrien (Jul 28, 2013)

clearer shots (I think I need to clean my iPod touch's lens hah):

_back of packaging_: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/34749650/flashlights/quantum back.JPG

_front of packaging_: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/34749650/flashlights/quantum front.JPG

I think the main selling point of the back is "*GUARANTEED 10 YEARS IN STORAGE*" which is Li-ion territory right?

edit: outside of the 10 year guarantee, there's nothing new about these as far as I can tell. I don't know if the capacity is any different though


----------



## jw461 (Jul 28, 2013)

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/07/2...ers-praise-and-power-for-everyday-heroes.html

Looks like this is the same as the Duracell Ultra. Just a color change. Oh, and disappointment


----------



## StorminMatt (Jul 28, 2013)

jw461 said:


> http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/07/2...ers-praise-and-power-for-everyday-heroes.html
> 
> Looks like this is the same as the Duracell Ultra. Just a color change. Oh, and disappointment



Well, a color change and a flashy new name. But if there is any improvement as far as capacity or current capability, I'm sure it's VERY minimal. Alkaline batteries are a pretty 'maxed out' technology.


----------



## DougPenhall (Aug 8, 2013)

jw461 said:


> http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/07/2...ers-praise-and-power-for-everyday-heroes.html
> 
> Looks like this is the same as the Duracell Ultra. Just a color change. Oh, and disappointment



According to Home Depots website these batteries contain 3922 mAh of energy. The best I've found in any other 1.5v AA battery is 3000 mAh.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Duracell...-8-Pack-004133366280/204286990#specifications

They're also a lot cheaper than the Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries that I just bought at Home Depot because even though their inventory system says they have 23 packs in stock but nobody knows where they are. The price of the 8 pack of Energizer batteries was $17.97 but they gave them for me for $11 since they couldn't find the Durracel Quantum batteries for me.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Energizer-Ultimate-Lithium-AA-Battery-8-Pack-L91SBP-8/100635437

But still, $11 for 8x 3000 mAh batteries sucks compared to $7.48 for 8x 3922 mAh batteries. I haven't tried them yet, but if the specs are accurate, they're definitely not the same old copper top of the past.


----------



## BobG (Aug 8, 2013)

Remember that your 3000 mAH Lithiums have a very different discharge profile due to vastly less internal resistance. In a high-amperage device that really drives the battery the Lithium chemistry is probably still significantly better. It isn't how much energy is in the battery it is how much you can get out under the conditions of usage. An Ultimate lithium in your clock is probably a terrible waste of money, but in a high drain device it will live up to its' reputation.


----------



## ChrisGarrett (Aug 8, 2013)

BobG said:


> Remember that your 3000 mAH Lithiums have a very different discharge profile due to vastly less internal resistance. In a high-amperage device that really drives the battery the Lithium chemistry is probably still significantly better. It isn't how much energy is in the battery it is how much you can get out under the conditions of usage. An Ultimate lithium in your clock is probably a terrible waste of money, but in a high drain device it will live up to its' reputation.



Yep. HKJ just tested Panasonic's latest and greatest AA alkaline and yeah, it might have ~2400mAh of capacity at .1A, but it only had 1000mAh under a 1A load, which is common for LED lights. I don't know where Home Depot is getting that ~3900mAh rating from, for the Quantum, but most people using the latest alkalines in flashlights, or camera flashes, might be a bit disappointed.

Still, I think they have improved the alkaline's capacity over the years, so I'm not willing to bash them.

I'm fiddling with about 20 (partially used) D batteries from Energizer and Duracell. These are stamped with 2003 codes on them, so I believe I bought them in '98-99ish, when I got my two 6D Maglites.

A couple leaked in the blister packs, but I most are testing above 1.53v, with some below 1.50v and I'm running the better ones in a 12v 10" fan just to see how long I can go with them, but they've gotta be at least 14 years old and are still plugging away. 


Chris


----------



## DougPenhall (Aug 8, 2013)

BobG said:


> Remember that your 3000 mAH Lithiums have a very different discharge profile due to vastly less internal resistance. In a high-amperage device that really drives the battery the Lithium chemistry is probably still significantly better. It isn't how much energy is in the battery it is how much you can get out under the conditions of usage. An Ultimate lithium in your clock is probably a terrible waste of money, but in a high drain device it will live up to its' reputation.



Well, actually, the 3000 mAh Lithium might be better for low amperage usage than the 3922 mAh battery because the Lithium battery claims a 15 year shelf life while the other one only claims 10 years. Therefor if you're using such a low amperage that you won't use up the full capacity of the battery within 15 years, I think it's better to have a battery that will actually last 15 years than one that will only last 10. I had a volt meter once that lasted me about 20 years and I never swapped the batteries ever. After 20 years someone left it outside and it got all rusty and ruined. It was a radio shack volt meter that had radio shack batteries in it, and I got it when I was a kid. The issue I guess is that it was using very low amperage whenever I used it and I didn't use it often enough to use up the battery. But otherwise I agree with you.

My issue is that I have a sprinkler timer that lasted a whole year with the batteries that came with it, then lasted just over a month with some cheap Fry's branded batteries. Then lasted a week with some old Tenergy Lithium batteries I took out of a remote control I bought. I'm now using 1.2 volt NiMH batteries for the remote control, but those batteries last only a day in my sprinkler timer because 1.2v just isn't enough for it to operate. When I tested the volts on the Tenergy batteries they contained 1.75v, so I assumed they were pretty new, but I guess they were nearly used up. They claim to have 2900 mAh when new, but were used for who knows how long before I put them in the timer so I didn't expect them to last.


----------



## DougPenhall (Aug 14, 2013)

I picked up a couple of 8 packs of the Duracell Quantums from Home Depot for $7.48 a few days ago. Tonight I was at Safeway and they had a 6 pack for over $8. Home Depot is a much better deal. I haven't used them yet since my Energizers are still in the sprinkler timer, so I'll be saving them until the Energizers are used up. The Home Depot 8 pack Quantums are a better deal than the Office Depot 16 and 24 packs as well.


----------



## BobG (Aug 14, 2013)

My Costco has 30 packs for 14 or 15 dollars. My wife picked them up on Sunday and i wasn't around so I don't know if a coupon was involved or if it was some form of introductory offer.


----------



## tobrien (Aug 14, 2013)

I've been seeing ads for these Quantums on TV now and on Facebook (mostly "hero themed" ads like of firefighters, etc.)


----------



## bshanahan14rulz (Aug 14, 2013)

I've seen them at almost every store I've gone to.
http://www.duracell.com/en-us/products/all-purpose-batteries/duracell-quantum < there is now a page at duracell.com. Not a lot of info. But there's a cool picture of an army guy, so these are probably top of the line >.>


----------



## DougPenhall (Aug 14, 2013)

BobG said:


> My Costco has 30 packs for 14 or 15 dollars. My wife picked them up on Sunday and i wasn't around so I don't know if a coupon was involved or if it was some form of introductory offer.



That seems way too cheap. 50 cents or less per battery with 3922 mAh! (If the rating is true that is) I hope someone here will test some to verify under different load conditions. A test like the following would be awesome.
http://lygte-info.dk/info/ComparisonOfAABatteryChemistry UK.html
(Found in another thread)

Is this new technology Duracell has come up actually cheaper to manufacture than the old technology? If 3922 mAh is accurate and the graphs are of similar shape to the Energizer Ultimate Lithium AA in the above comparison, they're flooding the market with extremely low cost high quality batteries. All the other manufacturers might be pushed out of the market.


----------



## mikekoz (Aug 15, 2013)

StorminMatt said:


> Maybe. It would sure help the economy along if more batteries leaked. You would need to buy both more batteries AND replacements for devices destroyed by leaking batteries. But yes, Duracell DOES seem to be changing ALOT. First, it's these guys. Then, it's the new 2400mAH 'Ion Core' NiMH batteries at Walmart. Now Target is dumping Duraloops at half price, presumably to replace them with something else. And on top
> of it all, their website says nothing about ANY of this.




I just bought a pack of these and I would swear they were rated at 2000mAH. I need to look at them again when I get home!


----------



## 5Sport (Oct 2, 2013)

*Duracell Quantums*

Has anyone tried or reviewed these batteries? Although not an Alkaline fan, I think they do have their place. Are these any better than the Coppertop Alkalines?Thanks


----------



## Flic (Oct 3, 2013)

*Re: Duracell Quantums*

Found a review here: http://jwsoundgroup.net/index.php?/topic/19021-duracell-quantum-aa-alkaline-battery-test/

However, I saw an 8-pack AAA on sale at Shoppers Drug Mart (in Canada). Decent price but one of the cells had leaked badly in the package. I'll sit on the sidelines until I hear more real life experiences about these.


----------



## bshanahan14rulz (Oct 3, 2013)

*Re: Duracell Quantums*

Trying to push the rechargeables off the market, I wonder?


----------



## HKJ (Oct 3, 2013)

*Re: Duracell Quantums*



5Sport said:


> Has anyone tried or reviewed these batteries? Although not an Alkaline fan, I think they do have their place. Are these any better than the Coppertop Alkalines?Thanks



It does not look like I can get them around here. I.e. I will not be reviewing them in the near future.


----------



## StorminMatt (Oct 3, 2013)

*Re: Duracell Quantums*



bshanahan14rulz said:


> Trying to push the rechargeables off the market, I wonder?



I doubt that will do it. Even if these batteries have close to 4000mAH, I'm sure you still get very little of that if you try to use them in a digital camera (which has always been a stumbling block for alkalines from a marketing standpoint). Any, of course, flashlights will still dim. And you will still have to buy more when they go dead.


----------

