{"id":16059,"date":"2015-12-11T08:55:03","date_gmt":"2015-12-11T12:55:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=16059"},"modified":"2015-12-11T08:55:03","modified_gmt":"2015-12-11T12:55:03","slug":"a-note-of-caution-about-thunderbolt-magnum-heavy-duty-batteries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/12\/a-note-of-caution-about-thunderbolt-magnum-heavy-duty-batteries\/","title":{"rendered":"A note of caution about Thunderbolt Magnum Heavy Duty batteries"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AA-Batteries\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Discount hardware store, Harbor Freight<\/a>, sells packs of very affordable Heavy Duty batteries under the Thunderbolt Magnum<\/strong> brand name. Occasionally, Harbor Freight even gives large packs of these batteries away for free (with a coupon).<\/p>\n

This is how I acquired a pack of 24 Thunderbolt Magnum AA cells<\/a> earlier this year: for free during a store promotion.<\/p>\n

In truth, I use quality rechargeable AA cells quite heavily (mainly Powerex <\/a>and Panasonic Enloops<\/a>). If I am reviewing a radio, I buy fresh Energizer or Duracell AA alkaline batteries\u00a0to make sure the radio is receiving full voltage from the batteries during the evaluation.<\/p>\n

But, on occasion, a cheap AA will suffice, right?<\/p>\n

Not these.<\/p>\n

I put three in a shortwave portable in June\u00a0because all of my other batteries were in use. I had just planned to take the portable on a weekend trip. \u00a0Though it shouldn’t have been a problem, I forgot and left the batteries in the radio.<\/p>\n

Tuesday afternoon, I checked the batteries because they were already dead. Turns out they were already leaking!<\/em>\u00a0I then remembered\u00a0that other cells–from the same pack–had leaked in one of my kid’s flashlights.<\/p>\n

It could be that I simply got a bad batch of batteries, but these cells really do feel of poor quality–I bet they weigh half that of most other Heavy Duty cells.<\/p>\n

My advice? Free is too costly for these batteries. Stick with quality cells!<\/p>\n

Now I need to go through my house and find where the remaining four batteries\u00a0are hidden before they damage another device.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Discount hardware store, Harbor Freight, sells packs of very affordable Heavy Duty batteries under the Thunderbolt Magnum brand name. Occasionally, Harbor Freight even gives large packs of these batteries away for free (with a coupon). This is how I acquired a pack of 24 Thunderbolt Magnum AA cells earlier this year: for free during a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8,3],"tags":[486,4493],"class_list":["post-16059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-news","tag-batteries","tag-thunderbolt-magnum"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-4b1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":35097,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/12\/marcus-recommends-panasonic-eneloop-rechargeable-cells\/","url_meta":{"origin":16059,"position":0},"title":"Marcus recommends Panasonic Eneloop rechargeable cells","author":"Thomas","date":"December 6, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor,\u00a0Marcus Keulertz, who writes: I use these special rechargeable batteries [Panasonic Eneloop cells] for almost everything especially in household appliances and think what else? 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