ANR Headset Batteries , Why AA ?

[NZJR]

Simple question , Why when I pay $1500+nz for a high end ANR headset do they not come with mobile phone style rechargeable lithium batteries ?

Is there some reason im missing as to why you cant transfer modern style rechargeable batteries into Aviation headsets ?

[dublinpilot]

When your battery is dead and you've more flying to do, AA batteries can be easily replaced. A specialised one can be hard to purchase quickly!

[what next]

> Is there some reason im missing as to why you cant transfer modern style rechargeable batteries into Aviation headsets ?

As dublinpilot already wrote: AA batteries are readily available anywhere.
But: Why don't you use rechargeable AA batteries with your headset? I've been doing this for many years now. One spare set of recharged cells is always in my headset bag.

[mad_jock]

they are different voltages to what they are designed for.

Its always been a pain fitting rechargeables especially if you have a 9V battery required.

If you stick a rechargeable battery in even though it says 9V its actually a 8.4V and it does work for about 4-6 hours and then dies compared to a 9v Duracell at 25-30 hours. A rechargeable has about 200mAh and a lithium about 500mAh

Also I suspect but don't know that if you have them fitted and a charging circuit incorporated the authorities will very quickly require some form of testing to ensure it won't over heat while charging and go one fire aka 787.

Just by them in bulk.

I get mine from

Battery Force. Selling brand name batteries online at cheap discounted prices. Duracell Energizer Ansmann Panasonic Uniross Camcorder Camera Phone Watch Charger Tester Batteries (http://www.battery-force.co.uk)

you can get a bulk pack of Duracell procells AA's for 45p each.

Duracell Procell AA/LR6 Battery Box of 10 at Battery Force (http://www.battery-force.co.uk/detail_DUAAYY010A-Duracell-Procell-AA-LR6-Battery-Box-of-10.html)

Duracell Procell AA/LR6 Battery Pack of 30 at Battery Force (http://www.battery-force.co.uk/detail_DULR6Y030A-Duracell-Procell-AA-LR6-Battery-Pack-of-30.html)

for 40p

After your first order they give you a discount code and you get 5% off that price as well.

oh and get one of these as well so they don't short circuit in your bag.

Ansmann Battery Box 8 Plus at Battery Force (http://www.battery-force.co.uk/detail_AMBOXY001B-Ansmann-Battery-Box-8-Plus.html)

Never had any problem with security having a battery box with 4 9v in it. Which is about 100 hours flying for me. Saves have yet another gadget to haul around as well for charging.

Don't muck about with getting cheap ones either I always just go for Duracells or JCB, check the packaging as well as some of the industrial pack the cells come with protection caps fitted or individually shrinked wraped which will save the day if your bag gets soaked but the box does that.

[S-Works]

Not to mentions the fact that we expect a headset to last for years, long after a manufacturer end of life's the line. With a custom battery when the support line ends we have to bin what is normally a serviceable headset.

My Bose-X have more than 5,000hrs on them and have been superseded by the A10/20 range. I have no desire to change them so appreciate the fact that they use standard batteries.

[blue up]

Lead/Acid are 1.5 volts and Lithium are about 1.25 volts, aren't they?

[mad_jock]

I think its as low as 1.2.

But they will put out 1.25 to 1.28 for the first 3rd of the discharge cycle.

When they do drop down to there rated voltage that's when you get the annoying chirping as the electronics stops working at 2.5v 5v or 8.5V if your on 9volts. So if your on 2 AA it drops to 2.4, 4 it drops to 4.8 and 8.4 with the 9V.

DC used to have a 8 cell AA battery pack which worked very well with rechargeable's but they stopped making it 10 years ago now and changed it for a 9V single cell which is pants on rechargables.

The disposable cells have a much more linear static voltage over 95% of there life which is the rated voltage. Which is why they work better.

Also as well because your only really discharging a third of the rechargables store you are going to memory them pretty quickly then it will be a third of your previous 3rd etc etc. so all in all a bit rubbish if you think your going to get 1000 recharge cycles out of them. I would end up having to recharge mine 200 times a year. A bulk box of 50 for 70 quid does me for a couple of years and the smoke alarm and CO alarm gets a new battery as well. To be honest I tend to sell a few of them as well so at 2.50-3 a pop when they are about 3.50-4.0 in the shops you only have to sell 25 and you are paying virtually nothing for the others. They have a sell by date of 5 years.

[worrab]

Might be worth trying rechargeable alkalines. They're pretty inexpensive (around 2x the cost of a standard alkaline plus £10/$15 for a special charger) and not too easy to come by, but they do deliver a true 1.5v and have an excellent shelf life (in fact, they arrive fully charged in their blister pack). They have the additional property of working better when only partially discharged before being recharged so ought to be suitable for immediate post-flight recharging.

[mad_jock]

Aye but they are low cycle devices and also the voltage drops after every discharge and charge cycle depending how much you drain them by.

You only get 5-6 recharges if you completely discharge them and by the second or third charge cycle the voltage is to low to drive the headset.

Pretty much every pro pilot has started out down this route some get a days worth out of the rechargeable and then carry a couple of spares and rotate them which is fine if you get home every night. But the majority in the end get fed up with all the hassle and go back to disposable ones. Tight Scottish gits buy them in bulk but most just pick up a pack of batteries when they see and need them. AA's are pretty easy as most airports sell them and 24 hour garages. 9v ones can be a bit of a pain which is why I carry 4 of them. One for me one for the FO if they run out and a couple of spares because they fit in the box anyway.

opps just seen the OP is from NZ I will leave the links anyway for the UK folk.
I am sure you can find a bulk cheap battery wholesale industrial supplier in NZ.

[Piper.Classique]

Let me see now. Twenty hours flying cost between one and four thousand pounds according to what you own or hire. Two batteries which will work for around that time less than one pound. Get a life, people.

[dirkdj]

I would not put any lithium powered devices in the cockpit that you cannot throw out of the window in a hurry. Look up 'lithium battery fires' and you will see what I mean.

[Mickey Kaye]

You can get 9.6 volt PP3 (8*1.2). They set me back a tenner sadly they don't last any longer that a 99 pence 8.4 volt ebay knock off in my DCs

[Genghis the Engineer]

carry a couple of spares and rotate them which is fine if you get home every night

I don't use ANR all that much but do this with the AA rechargeables for the Kodak Z980 brodge camera which goes almost everywhere with me. Good quality rechargeables work for years that way.

G

[Desert185]

Lightspeed Zulu, Duracell AA's purchased in bulk and a caddy of spare batts.

Flew 60 hours since Aug 28...one battery change. Life is good. :D

[DBo]

I get 40-50 hours on a pair of Duracells in my Bose X. At that usage rate I prefer AA cells to rechargables. I always keep a spare pair in the headset bag so it's never a pain when they go flat.

D

[mad_jock]

Let me see now. Twenty hours flying cost between one and four thousand pounds according to what you own or hire. Two batteries which will work for around that time less than one pound. Get a life, people.



And the whole battery thing is a pain in the bum to be honest they always seem to go just as your on approach. And if your headset goes down in the first sector of 6 your feel noticeably more tired at the end of the day.

Its not really the cost per say its just the logistics of always having the thing working.

[Lone_Ranger]

Lead/Acid are 1.5 volts and Lithium are about 1.25 volts, aren't they?

Very confused post, where did lead acid come into it? (they are 2volt a cell anyway)

Alkaline 1.5 volt
Lithium 3.7volts, NiCd and NiMh 1.2v

[abgd]

The real problem isn't that the headsets don't have lithium batteries. It's that they have batteries at all. What the world needs is a single headset plug/socket that provides for audio, microphone and power in one. I think they exist.

If I ever get my homebuilt built, I shall wire in the ANR headset directly and leave the thing as a permanent fixture, batteries not required.

[riverrock83]

Other issue with rechargeables is that they have a flat voltage until they discharge. They sit at 1.2 (or so) volts over 80% of their capacity. Alkalines, however, reduce their voltage pretty constantly during discharge until they are dead.
What this means is that the device (such as a headset) has no way of knowing that the battery is soon to die when using rechargeables - so isn't going to warn you at the start of a trip.

Me - I use rechargables in everything except headsets!