"Bateroo" extends life of batteries 8X, for real!:

http://phys.org/news/2015-06-batteroo-batteriser-sleeve-battery-life.html

This is a device that looks like a sleeve that goes around the batteries, AA, AAA and so forth, with electronics inside where there is a contact for + and - which goes to the electronics and then output pins on top of the inputs but separated by an insulator.

Under normal use, a battery might get down to 1.3 out of 1.6 and you consider it dead because the device being powered by that battery no longer runs, needing at least 1.4 volts.

The trick with the Batteroo is to boost the voltage so you get your 1.5 or so but the actual battery keeps going down 1.4, 1.3, 1.2, etc. The battery is still able to supply enough current and the Batteroo just boosts the voltage so the device is happy.

This is great for the environment besides all the extra use you get out of a battery because now they will be in use much longer and not so many of the supposedly depleted batteries dumped in landfills.

You would think that if this worked then most devices would already have voltage boosters built in.

Originally posted by twhitehead
You would think that if this worked then most devices would already have voltage boosters built in.

You would think but that doesn't seem to be the case. I think this company is the only one to have hit on this idea and in such a small package it can be wrapped around the cells, even AAA cells.

Originally posted by sonhouse
You would think but that doesn't seem to be the case. I think this company is the only one to have hit on this idea and in such a small package it can be wrapped around the cells, even AAA cells.

Or so they say. Is there any independent verification for the claims?

Originally posted by twhitehead
Or so they say. Is there any independent verification for the claims?

Indeed. My hobby of amateur radio has a number of suppliers, one being "MFJ" which we affectionately call "Mighty fine junk"🙂

They have a product that does the exact same thing already but made for larger 12 volt batteries which cd we can use to keep portable transmitters going because radios like my 'Icom 706' transceiver won't run if the battery voltage drops lower than 11.5 volts. The device from 'MFJ' does exactly that, boosts the voltage only when it senses the battery voltage going too low. But this device is built with traditional electronic components in a fairly large box.

But it allows energy still left in the battery to power a device needing a specific voltage and no lower to keep running a lot longer than it could without it. This has benefits not obvious in one subtle way.

The nickel cadmium rechargeable battery has a problem called memory. If used in a device that requires a certain voltage to run and no lower but there is still energy available to be extracted and you start a recharge from the point where the device stops running, then after a few recharges something happens to the internal chemistry that prevents that Nickle cadmium cell from reaching it's full potential, permanently.

A device that boosts the output voltage allowing the battery to discharge to its natural low level before recharge will result in a battery that can be used to its full potential for the whole life cycle of that battery.

Mind you, that is only good for batteries that display that memory effect, L-ion batteries done have that problem but there are a lot of 'nicad' cells in use out there so the 'batteroo' can really extent the life of those kind of cells so it is a win win situation.