A Little $ Saving Tip for Trailcams...

[Cabin Fever]

When you have 6+ trailcams and change batteries a couple times each year, battery cost can sting! I've been buying Duracell AA batteries in lots of 100 for less than $.30/battery on eBay for a couple of years now. Here's one example, but they can be found for even cheaper. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pack-of-100-Duracell-Coppertop-Duralock-AA-Size-Alkaline-Batteries-EXP-2025-/322131783349?hash=item4b008ceeb5:g:PdQAAOSwBLlVQTr5   They're not old batteries either, as the expiration is 2025.  If you prefer lithium, they have those too!

I use to buy them at Walmart, because that was the cheapest place that I could find, for $.58/battery + tax. So buying on eBay is less than half of that!

I just ordered some from eBay, as I like to put in fresh batteries before all the rut-action starts!

[fasteddie]

Thanks for the heads up . Free shipping also .

[Cabin Fever]

Yep, that's another bonus that I forgot to mention!

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[Vince1]

I use rechargeable batteries but they go dead fast. lately i been going 4 rechargeable and 4 regular and been getting much better results. 

think i will be picking up a set of these now. 

Thanks 

[GreeneHunter]

Thanks for the info !

[Adkhunter1590]

Thanks for the tip! I was just about to pick up some more lithiums!


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[phade]

I use rechargeable batteries but they go dead fast. lately i been going 4 rechargeable and 4 regular and been getting much better results. 

think i will be picking up a set of these now. 

Thanks 

You are not mixing the batteries in the same cam are you??? I wouldn't do that.


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[phade]

AC Delco on eBay for $24...120 batteries.

Lowes utilitech (hard to find right now). 100 for $24.

Harbor freight orange batteries with coupon/sale is 4.99 for 24 batteries.

All else fails the dollar general alkaline work well for the $$$.

No point in overpaying for name brand. Not all, but some house brands will compete close to the name brands. Instead of spending $0.30 per battery, you spend $0.195 and get 90% of the lifespan of the Duracell or energizer alkaline.

You know how many batteries I need to change my cams out once? 300.

You better believe I am going to find a cheap reliable source of power, lol.



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[Cabin Fever]

8 minutes ago, phade said:

No point in overpaying for name brand. Not all, but some house brands will compete close to the name brands. Instead of spending $0.30 per battery, you spend $0.195 and get 90% of the lifespan of the Duracell or energizer alkaline.

You know how many batteries I need to change my cams out once? 300.

You better believe I am going to find a cheap reliable source of power, lol.



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Good to know about the off brands! I've ONLY fed my cams Duracells for the past ~15 years! I'll give the store brands a try... after I use up the 100pk of Duracells that I just bought that is!

[phade]

I'm testing the AC Delco now. So far so good.

The others are all good buys.


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[nyslowhand]

19 minutes ago, phade said:

You know how many batteries I need to change my cams out once? 300.

Holy crap dude, just how many cams do you have out?

[NFA-ADK]

Very cool heads up Cabin Fever!

[Vince1]

13 hours ago, phade said:

You are not mixing the batteries in the same cam are you??? I wouldn't do that.


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Whys that? Am i screwin somethin up by doin it

[growalot]

I only put this up here to say beware of all batteries...Mr.. B and I got a batch of "bad " Duracell AA and they leaked inside one cam and one of his really good flash lights....didn't damage the flash light but messed up the cam....new batteries...check for leakage after first use.

https://thecounterfeitreport.com/product/106/

[phade]

52 minutes ago, Vince1 said:

Whys that? Am i screwin somethin up by doin it

At a minimum you are reducing the performance of the camera and at maximum, you could have issues with the alkalines being asked to ramp up the amount of draw on them, causing leaks. Rechargeable run on a lower voltage. That is why cam directions say not to mix battery types.

Edited September 6, 2016 by phade

[fasteddie]

I have had good luck with the Job Smart alkaline batteries from Tractor Supply . I just bought a pack of 48 for $8.99 plus 72 sents tax . 20.2 cents per battery after tax .

[phade]

I haven't had the best experience with Job Smart AAs. Some people have, but I've tested them a couple times and they came up short for me. A lot of times it's just a quality control thing - I could have had bad batches, etc.

[dbHunterNY]

29 minutes ago, phade said:

I haven't had the best experience with Job Smart AAs. Some people have, but I've tested them a couple times and they came up short for me. A lot of times it's just a quality control thing - I could have had bad batches, etc.

the ones you previously posted are good though?  what's the preferred battery?

all my Bushnell and Cuddeback cams are pretty good on batteries now.  regardless I've pretty much used Duracell Quantum and then late season or real cold use Energizer Ultimate Lithium.  About out now but was using some up I picked up on super clearance from an Officemax closing up shop.

[wooly]

5 hours ago, phade said:

Rechargeable run on a lower voltage. That is why cam directions say not to mix battery types.

My Spypoint Force 10 says right in the manual that rechargeables are NOT recommended and the use of them could cause "operational issues"

Being a guy..., I skipped reading the manual before the initial set-up and plugged in a batch of 6 Energizer 2300mah rechargeables like I always do with any cam.

Long story short, the cam would enter rapid fire mode as soon as I closed the door and it armed itself. I thought I had screwed up the settings and left it in time lapse mode the first time I checked it because I was getting 8,000+ pics in a 24 hour period. After a few nights of THAT I thought the cam was probably defective.

I figured I'd put a fresh set of rechargebles in it and give it one more shot before contacting the manufacturer. I never got around to check on it for 3 days and when I did, I discovered I had 22,000+ (that's not a typo, 22 THOUSAND!) pics and a full card.

 

Before I called, I finally got around to reading the directions just to make sure I wasn't missing something and didn't make an azz out of myself with the complaints department!

 

 I've since filled it up with standard alkaline and the hyper fire feature has been resolved!

That was a close call for me winning Spypoints dumb azz of the year award,lol

[phade]

3 hours ago, dbHunterNY said:

the ones you previously posted are good though?  what's the preferred battery?

all my Bushnell and Cuddeback cams are pretty good on batteries now.  regardless I've pretty much used Duracell Quantum and then late season or real cold use Energizer Ultimate Lithium.  About out now but was using some up I picked up on super clearance from an Officemax closing up shop.

Utilitech if you can still find them are solid - I think Lowe's discontinued them, but they're best for general use. Harbor Freight is pretty reliable (orange label), and the DG alkaline (not the heavy duty) are also fine.

I am testing the AC Delco which have the best cost per battery. So far so good. I'm about 50% of the way through the 120 batteries and I haven't had one test bad yet. I'm running them on my Moultrie Traces which have very good power draw. They are made by Powermax, which is a known name in the industry.

Job Smart haven't done well for me, but I know a few people who run them fine. They're not as meticulous as I am and like the convenience factor of being able to get them at TSC. They've never once complained about them though.