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20 November 2012 11:32 AM

Total Posts: 10

Joined 2012-07-13

Does anyone have any long-term C-cell battery lifetime data they could share? We're considering developing an ANT beacon, with average current on the order of 50-100 uA, and would like to know how long it would last with C-cell batteries of any chemistry, i.e. alkaline, lithium, NiMH, etc. There's an abundance of information out there for loads 5 mA and up, but nothing in the uA range.

I've attached a capacity plot for a Lithium C cell, in case anyone is interested. It only goes down to 100 uA though.

It would sure be nice to have comparable plots for other chemistries.

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20 November 2012 03:31 PM #1

alejandra Moderator

Total Posts: 662

Joined 2012-10-09

Energizer's Application Support Team, in cooperation with Nordic Semiconductor, conducted tests on Energizer CR2032 coin cells considering the usage patterns of ultra low power wireless applications, and published the results here
http://www.eetimes.com/ContentEETimes/Documents/Schweber/C0924/C0924post.pdf

While this is not precisely what you are looking for, it may be worth contacting Energizer's Application Support Team for more insight on your particular scenario.

24 November 2012 12:51 AM #2

old_man_biking Sr. Member

Total Posts: 296

Joined 0

When I take your max. drain of 100µA and the capacity from your diagram (approx 7Ah), a short calculation gives 7 years of life time. 50 µA would result in 14 years.

This is longer than the "use until" lifetimes on normal alkaline cells and of course much longer than self-discharge times of normal NiMH cells.

So I wouldn't bother searching for other charts. NiMH is a no go, lithium puts you on the safe side, alkaline saves you a few bucks.
Using C cells for an application of this type is like adding a 5000 liter fuel tank to a car - a very precautious approach

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Long-term C-cell Battery Lifetime with ANT

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