Alkaline batteries in trail cam???

[WoodBow]

If anybody else is in texas, Bucees is by far the cheapest place to buy rayovac batteries. Seems odd, I know. The 48 pack of AAs is $11.99 if i remember correctly. Walmart is close to double that.

 

[Huntin Fool]

Another vote for the Amazon batteries, buy 100 at a time and it’s a pretty good deal. I’ve never seen one leak and they last as long as any alkaline battery I’ve tried

 

[IndianaMatt]

If anybody else is in texas, Bucees is by far the cheapest place to buy rayovac batteries. Seems odd, I know. The 48 pack of AAs is $11.99 if i remember correctly. Walmart is close to double that.

Bucees for batteries and brisket

 

[Novashooter]

Another thing you could look into is rechargeable batteries, however, they probably don't make sense if you only have a single trail camera. They come with some drawbacks. The biggest is battery life. They do not have the same capacity as an alkaline AA or a Lithium AA. I also find they will loose charge during storage, so if you charge them in February, they are half dead by September. If you understand these drawbacks, they do work for certain trail cameras. I would not use them in cell cameras, they simply take too much energy. Some just don't work on the lower voltage of rechargeable, the manufacturer can tell you if it will or not. I've been running all of my cameras on rechargeable Energizer AA's for the past 4 years for some significant cost savings over 8 cameras. The batteries themselves were half the cost of lithium, and the charger was super cheap, like $15. Spread out over 4 years so far, it's way cheaper than spending $200+ on lithium's per year. I charge mine right before I use them, and get about 2-3 months from them. It kind of depends on how active the camera is. A camera that only takes 2 pictures a week might go 4-5 months. A camera that takes 2000 in a week from blowing grass might go dead in a month. Rechargables wont ruin your camera like alkaline will.

If you don't want to do that, just get lithiums. Energizer lithiums are as good as they come, and one set can pretty much last a year. They don't die in the winter, and they don't leak goo.

 

[Belton45]

I am hesitant to run alkaline. Energizer lithium is what I normally use.

 

[Swamp Fox]

Duracells have a warranty that covers leakage.

Is this camera manufacturer claiming that Quality Control has declined since everyone started wanting to work from home or get paid for not working at all?

This would shock me.

I've never had a problem with Duracells pre-Covid. Haven't used trail cams enough post-Covid to have an opinion. I have always thought Duracells were the best batteries I could get my hands on easily, though.

I've used lithium when I thought the temps, longevity, or power drain justified it. Also have used big honking external batteries when warranted.

 

[Fullfan]

I have been running trail cameras for years, some of my older Browning cameras will take 1000 pics on alkaline batteries. Running 13 tactacams the last 2 years, all on alkaline and no problems.

 

[Aggie007]

My experience that lithiums last 3-4 times longer in cold weather, so I was able to cut weight down not having to carry as many spare batteries in my pack on multiple day hikes, where every ounce counts. And in cameras were you leave them for long periods of time, you don't have to worry about battery acid ruining the camera as mentioned a few times.

 

[Novashooter]

I have been running trail cameras for years, some of my older Browning cameras will take 1000 pics on alkaline batteries. Running 13 tactacams the last 2 years, all on alkaline and no problems.

That's not even good at all. Even my rechargeable batteries go for thousands of pictures. I've never had lithium die in one year, so they go at least 10,000 pictures. Is that at least a cell camera?

 

[rbljack]

Like others have said , drop the money on the LIthiums and be done with it. Less headaches, better performance and I havent had a single one leak. Not sure if they can or not, but for the other reasons mentioned they are worth it. They last way longer in the cold too. I live in Texas and have a trail camera over in the MTNS of New Mexico that has been taking pictures and sending photos to my phone for over a year. Because I dont get out there often, I do keep the settings on Picture only, and dont do videos except in September when the Elk are bugling if I want to capture that.
Nothing worse than trail cam batteries dying prematurely. Another downside is the more you go in there to change batteries or memory cards, the more you disturbing them and leaving scent around. Just another small factor to consider

 

[N2TRKYS]

I’ve always used Duracells for years. I bought into the hype last year and went lithium. It wasn’t worth the extra cost for me. I’ll be going back to Duracells.

 

[Yoder]

I tried rechargeable Amazon brand batteries. They suck. They have about 1/3 the life of alkaline batteries. I use alkaline in all of my cameras. I only use Energizer or Duracell. They last longer than cheap batteries.

 

[Novashooter]

I tried rechargeable Amazon brand batteries. They suck. They have about 1/3 the life of alkaline batteries. I use alkaline in all of my cameras. I only use Energizer or Duracell. They last longer than cheap batteries.

Well yeah, but then you recharge them. They last 2-3 months which is longer than most people leave a camera unchecked.

 

[Choctawhillfarm]

We run 20-25 cameras so lithium is not cost/reward effective. Have very good luck with Amazon brand AA's.

 

[Yoder]

Well yeah, but then you recharge them. They last 2-3 months which is longer than most people leave a camera unchecked.

I've charged them and right at install they only read 80%. They would be ok if you had a solar panel.

 

[Novashooter]

I've charged them and right at install they only read 80%. They would be ok if you had a solar panel.

That's because they are only 1.2v batteries rather than alkaline that are 1.5v when charged. Your batteries are fully charged, your battery gauge simply isn't displaying accurately. It will say this in your cameras instructions. Even though they start lower voltage, they still have an acceptable battery life, and they will out live an alkaline in the cold. Alkaline batteries fall of the map fast much below freezing. Rechargeable and lithium hold up much better at 0 and lower.

Alkaline under most peoples conditions will last longer than a rechargeable, maybe not 3x as long for most people, but probably about 2x. 2-3 months is about what I get from my rechargeable. I don't get more than 6 months from an alkaline, more like 3-5 months. Only Lithium will go almost a year. I check my cameras more often than once every 2 months, more like every 2 weeks during the season. I try not to let them go dead, and swap batteries as needed. I am speaking for normal cameras. Cell cameras can vary so much depending on cell reception. A cell camera with poor reception eats any battery fast.

 

[10ptr]

Use alkaline with a solar charger.

 

[RCL]

I use alkaline and lithium, depending on the situation.
I tried rechargeable, but they did not last long enough imo.

 

[Louisiana Deerman]

I’ve not seen alkaline battery leakage when in use, during the season. Run em dead - change em out, never an issue.
It’s only been after extended storage with deadish batteries, that the leaking rears its ugly head.

This has been my experience as well. I have run 25 ish cams for the last 5 years, and it's always duracell and energizer that leak during storage after the season. Rayovac has never, once, a single time at any point (during storage or field) leaked acid, so this year I am using them exclusively. Disclaimer - I run in non-cell cams only.

 

[Csgfingers]

I’ve used the Alkaline almost exclusively. They work fine until temperatures start to hover around freezing, then there seems like a fall off in my photo frequency.