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Did the power check work or was it snakeoil I remember trying to see it while hurting my hand.
It did, see Technology Connections’ latest video on it, he explains fully how it worked. Quite clever tbh.
The video is in the article.
It was gimmicky as hell. Did it work? Who cares. It was irrelevant for 90% of consumers.
What with the weird freebooting article? This ‘article’ is just a description of Alec’s video with the clickbait cranked up to ten. Gotta love a major corporation using small creators’ work for free ad revenue…
This is how hackaday posts have been… for like a decade. I guess it’s somewhere between articles and link aggregator.
And Alec’s video is mostly a freeboot off someone’s article.
So this is a full on article and YouTube circle jerk.
You know there’s a difference between using sources and just regurgitating a summary of something with AI right?
Yes. I didn’t misspeak.
ok bud
I’m fairly sure that the image is even a screenshot from the video. Uncredited I notice.
That’s what pissed me off the most.
It is, I just watched the video an hour or so ago.
edit: In fact, until I read this thread, I didn’t notice the URL and thought this was a link to the video.
You could add the link so people don’t contribute to ad revenue if you feel strongly! https://youtu.be/zsA3X40nz9w 💜
Someone already had, but good point.
Does someone have a content description so I can read instead of having to watch it?
Oh wait, here’s an article, nevermind.
Guess what you can also read? A transcript of the video dingus. Also there’s a source listed in the description, guess what it is? An article.
For anyone that couldn’t bother reading the above comment, I’ve given a summary…
hurrrrr I’m incapable of engaging the point people are making.
No, it’s about me not being able to arbitrarily sit down and watch a video due to various issues like attention span, hearing issues*, limited mobile data and being at work, where an article or summary is much easier and faster to read and can be interrupted at a moment’s notice unlike a video which I’ll have to pause, scrub back through if I missed a detail and wait for it to get to the right point, and I can more easily search for stuff.
My point is that there seems to be a habit of dismissing the value of textual summaries in favour of “just watch the video” in much of the online world, where I’ll be looking for a quick explanation and get presented with some video instead. Some people don’t do so well with videos so it’s not “just” watching the video.
There are advantages to text that I hate seeing people ignore.
(Besides, how would you know I’m incapable rather than just unwilling; or why would you assume either in the first place instead of considering inability?)
* That issue applies to voice messages and phone calls too. While videos occasionally have good CC, I haven’t found them to be reliable or ubiquitous enough. Additionally, they present the speech in fragments and usually are just as hard to search through. Either way, videos are a “sometimes” thing for me.
Preach brother. One of the best uses of generative AI for me would be transcribing videos into an article or tutorial depending on the content.
That’s enough YouTube videos just recapping an article. But I agree it’s lazy
Huh?
I think they mean the same thing happens alot in reverse: YT vids about news articles. Not wrong, but whataboutist.
also not relevant to Alex’s content either.
I remember those.
Would be nice to have them on my 18650s
The voltage-to-capacity radio for lithium is much less linear compared to alkaline so it wouldn’t really work well :(
This I can get behind.
I don’t need it on all my 18650s, but a few would be nice. Also 21700s.
Someone bring this back.
I was a kid then, but I remember that I had to push so hard my fingers hurt… I used a multimeter.
you just had to put one of the other fingers on the battery groumd and not push that hard iirc
Well the pros and cons of the multimeter are addresses in the video! He uses a meter on a dead battery and it still shows a deceptively reasonable voltage when not under load. The built-in tester draws more current.
My technique is to use the 10a mode on the multimeter and check the battery. A full AA will do nearly 10 amps and dead ones much less. Careful with larger cells or rechargeables since you might blow the fuse in your meter.
That sounds a little like testing matches “Yes, that one works. I mean: worked.”
as a kid I would shove them up my nose not to be seen again until out they would pop from the other side…miraculously charged.
Let me introduce You to these spent uranium fuel rods.
It turned out that batteries randomly lying around are always empty. Functioning batteries are still in the device it’s operating or in the box it was sold in.
He draws similar conclusions in his video.
Video on technology connections: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsA3X40nz9w
“Wait, is that a Duracell battery check?”
Oh man that transition. Chef’s kiss. Amazing
Nice try, Alec Watson…
I mean I’d rather Alec get the direct views than this weird hackaday article that’s just a description of his video with a link. Not trying to knock hackaday but this is real close to freebooting.
Ok now I am trying to knock hackaday after learning the ownership chain goes up to Siemens. Frigg off with this corpo garbage.
Yeeaah I drew the line at the printscreens, it was a really interesting video with a lot of effort and research put in, unlike this article.
it was a really interesting video with a lot of effort and research put in
Like all of Alec’s videos :)
It broke too many thumbs.
But the video purports that normal people don’t really test batteries.
Yeah, it was a novelty that increased the price to manufacture and didn’t actually add anything of value to users.
Either you put batteries in something and they worked or they didn’t, and if they stopped working the next step is try different batteries whether or not the little gauge showed it had charge left.
Now if it was added to rechargeable batteries, it would be pretty useful because tou could do something with the knowledge of a battery being at 50%. But a lot of systems with rechargeable batteries have them built in and some other way to show remaining charge like a percentage on a screen.
Now if it was added to rechargeable batteries, it would be pretty useful
I think the reason we haven’t seen that is that NiMH rechargeables have fairly stable voltage during discharge while alkalines don’t.
It was pretty useful as a kid for feeding my Gameboy and Game Gear with batteries I rescued from the junk drawers of friends and family. If they were low, I knew I had to save more often to avoid losing progress if they went dead while I was playing.
I think all of your points were covered in the video, sometimes almost verbatim.
Neat!
I didn’t bother watching the video, so I guess the reasons were pretty obvious.
How dare you ignore Alec’s video? 😤
Select one or more of the following.
- Too lazy.
- I assumed it was a rickroll.
- Figured the video was just another version of the article.
- At work and didn’t headphones handy.
I selected all and it’s still not enough of a reason!
Bow to Alec! Let Alec consume you!
I concur about rechargeables - it doesn’t seem common for devices that take AA or AAA to have a battery gauge and it would be nice to be able to check the level on my rechargeables stock so I can know if I should top them off without needing to put each of them into the charger.
And pairing them correctly for paralel charging too!
Does anyone remember the battery testers that were built into the packaging? I think they were based on the same concept.
They are mentioned in the video.
I do
He used old batteries, but I actually had new Duracell batteries with this feature very recently, in 2022 or so (Germany).
You could’ve saved him so much movie magic!
This guy is great. He can make anything sound interesting.
He makes everything sound interesting.
Ftfy
It never went away. I have a duracell battery with power check sitting next to me on my desk
also germany, actually
So the US said later, indicator, while Germany said $punchlineRemainderPls
What sizes are still sold with the on-battery tester? AFAIK it’s now only available on the multipack box.
I think it was a 4-pack
It failed often enough that it wasn’t all that useful. A cheap battery tester is better. And for 9volts you can also use the tongue test, lol (don’t really though). My grandfather used to do that all the time.
What’s wrong with the tongue test for 9 volts? I know it tickles some but is it actually harmful? I’ve been doing that for over 30 years…
It’s not much power, so it’s not likely to cause major or permanent damage, but it may affect others differently and could cause burns if left on too long like if someone is less sensitive and doesn’t think it’s live.
And if the person is grounded and if they touch the hot side of the battery first there’s a chance the charge could travel through the body rather than just the tongue. It’s not enough to affect a heart, but might disrupt a pacemaker or other embedded device.
And of the battery is leaking, it could cause permanent damage from chemical burns from the alkaline and poisoning from heavy metals which while unlikely to be deadly with just one battery, heavy metal poisoning is cumulative across a lifetime.
So under ideal circumstances it is safe, but there are always risks with electricity and toxic chemicals, though relatively small.
The tongue test works great. Be warned, though, that a full battery will make your tongue go numb. It’ll feel like you have a big hole in the middle. Try it.
Ouch, I never had that problem, but I only barely touch it, lol. It’s a little shock and slightly numb briefly. But fortunately I never had full numbness that lasted more than a second or two. But I haven’t done it in a long time since I have a tester now. 😁
Everytime i test a battery like this, my wife just shakes her head and reminds me that I’m definitely from Kentucky lol
There were cheaper ones with a tester attached to the box, maybe they were energizer?
Oh, I remember that! It was inside the little packet
My dad used to just put them on his tongue for a power check. Not entirely sure how that worked. Personally I just use a multimeter.
You can do that with the 9 volt batteries and feel how much “tingle” they have, but never heard of it working with aa batteries. Wouldn’t he have to stick the whole thing in his mouth to complete the circuit?
It’s pretty shocking, but I can fit 2 Ds in my mouth.
Your mother must be so proud.
ah, I love it when mothers teach their kids valuable skills
-Are you testing batteries again? -(with my mouth full) nogh
I do this with AAs. Basically put the side with the bump (positive) on the tip of the tongue and touch the flat (negative) side with a wet finger. It gives out a mild but distinctive ‘taste’, not enough to tingle but definitely something I am able to notice, when the cell has decent juice.
I did know a girl in college …
Even if you did (don’t eat batteries), the voltage range is much lower and you probably wouldn’t feel anything.
Yeah. Doesn’t make any sense honestly. I think he thought he could power check it but didn’t understand the actual mechanics of how it works. Glass onion eh.
