Lithium Batteries?

[BobT]

I read this in one of the threads but don't recall which one or who it was the posted it but the comment was made that lithium batteries could be used in a Garmin GPS instead of alkaline. After reading that I have done some digging and it appears that lithium batteries, although more expensive by about 50%, have a number of advantages over alkaline batteries. 

• They don't discharge on the shelf nearly as fast and in fact have about double the shelf life of alkaline batteries.
• They are far more efficient at delivering consistent power for longer periods of time, particularly for heavy load applications such as cameras. Alkaline battery output voltage begins to drop off much earlier. 
• I haven't yet been able to find concrete data about how much longer they will power a given load over alkaline but they are advertised to be anywhere from 6x to 9x longer depending on whether you get lithium or ultra lithium. Even if they last twice as long it would be worth the expense.
• They have a better effective temperature range, particularly with cold weather so they are good choices for outdoor devices.
• Alkaline batteries are more prone to leaking and damaging the device.

There were a couple drawbacks that I found and one of them is the reason for my post here.

• They have a higher potential for explosion than alkaline although the potential is very low, but it is higher nonetheless.
• The initial output voltage from lithium batteries can be a bit higher than standard AA batteries so some devices may be sensitive to this.

My question is if this extra high initial voltage is a problem for Garmin GPS units? Does anyone have any information about that?

Thanks.

[leech~~]

My old ifinder h2o use to eat batteries when I used it in the winter for ice fishing like crazy. I switched to using lithium batteries and they worked great and lasted way longer then the Alkaline.

[MN Mike]

The first time I had to run Lithiums in my Garmin was when I bought a Colorado 300 a number of years ago, Alkaline batteries only lasted about 1/2 hour when working the menus with the backlight on, Lithiums run MUCH longer.

When we go out west either hunting or snowmobiling, I can get several days out of one set of Lithiums if I shut the GPS off at night.

One thing about Lithiums is that they deliver steady power and then die with little warning, when we use Avalanche Beacons snowmobiling, we run alkaline batteries, they discharge slowly over time and when we look at our battery indicators you'll see the batteries are getting weak without them just dropping you out of the blue.

Theres a lot of videos on youtube showing cheaply built batteries catching fire and exploding but I buy the Energizer Lithiums and have never had an issue.

I've run Lithiums in my Garmin's for many years, never had any issues, I feel they are definitely worth the money, I would imagine I only buy about 8 AA's over the whole year.

If you sit down and put pencil to paper, it's probably a wash or even a savings to run Lithiums in the Garmins considering how quick the newer models eat up Alkaline batteries, of course that would depend on how much you use your GPS.

Mike

[PRO-V]

I bought a Duracell Ion Speed 4000 charger and their best 2400mAh NiMH batteries. Works great in my Garmin Oregon 650T and recharges very fast. Better than the batteries that came with the unit.

[BobT]

Thanks for the replies. 

Fleet Farm has both the Energizer Advanced Lithium ($6.95/4-pack) and Energizer Ultimate Lithium ($9.95/4-pack). The Ultimates are advertised to deliver power about 50% longer than the Advanced. Any real life experience comparing these two? 

At any rate, compared to Coppertop at $3.79/4-pack it seems that the price is worth it if they last even twice as long. The literature I've been reading suggests that would be poor performance on the part of the Lithiums, particularly in the deer stand or out on the ice fishing when it's cold.

On 3/11/2016 at 9:25 AM, MN Mike said:

One thing about Lithiums is that they deliver steady power and then die with little warning,

I figured this would be the case looking at the power curves. I usually have extra batteries with me most of the time anyway.